Identifying L4-L6 in Mouse spinal cord

Looking to see if anyone has any good tips on identifying different regions of the mouse lumbar spinal cord. To me, L4 and L6 look almost identical. Do any of you use markers to see the differences in these regions?

@ShanTan Cord or DRG?
For DRG, watch my video where I explain how to find the DRG:
http://forum.painresearcher.net/t/mouse-spinal-cord-and-drg-dissection-video-active-users-only/196?source_topic_id=336

For spinal cord, it’s strain dependent. The only way to be really sure is to find the DRG and then trace back the root to the spinal level.

I found this paper helpful:

In practice, I got to the last rib and cut slightly below that, and then take a 1 mm segment, which gets me L3-L5 roughly. That’s usually enough.

It depends on your needs though. if you need to be really precise, you need to trace back the roots. Note that if you trace back the root to the cord, where it initially looks like it’s entering the cord is not the true insertion. You need to gently pull on the root and you’ll see it will keep going up the cord as it pulls back from the dura. When you can’t pull anymore (gently), that’s the real insertion.

@tberta @zhzhj131421