Apoptosis or programmed cell death is a feature of normal brain development and a response to brain injury. Cells undergoing apoptosis have a characteristic morphology that normally can only be appreciated at high magnification. Using dark-field transmitted light microscopy to examine Nissl-stained material, we detected groups of apoptotic cells at much lower magnifications than often were required in the two injury models we tested. This method was useful for screening entire brain sections to assess regional and global patterns of injury. We predict that this technique in which we detect the clumped chromatin associated with apoptosis can be applied to other types of tissue.