Previous investigations on the expression and function of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 2 (Satb2) are largely limited to the cerebral cortex. Here, we explore the expression of Satb2 thoroughly by immunohistochemistry in the adult mouse central nervous system (CNS). Besides the cerebral cortex, we found that Satb2 is specifically expressed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, horizontal limb of the diagonal band, lateral hypothalamic area, arcuate nucleus, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, ventral tegmental nucleus, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, dorsal raphe nucleus, rostral periolivary region, and parabrachial nucleus. Double immunostaining showed that Satb2 is exclusively expressed in the excitatory neurons of neocortex. In addition, Satb2 is specifically expressed in A12 group of hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons and in serotonergic neurons in the dorsal part of the dorsal raphe nucleus. Our results present a comprehensive overview of Satb2 expression in the adult brain and provide insights for studying the role of Satb2 in the mature CNS. Anat Rec, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.