Long description

This is a composite of two images of brain tissue taken through a microscope in which neurons are clearly visible as black structures against a lighter or white background. In image (a), three clearly distinguishable neurons are seen with distinctive pyramidal-shaped cell bodies, branching dendrites and a single axon projecting away from the cell body. Further cells are visible in the background but these can’t be clearly identified. In image (b), ‘forests’ of many neurons are seen in distinct roughly horizontal curving layers. The layers can be distinguished by differences in the density and morphology of the neurons. There are also distinct gaps between some layers where almost no neurons are seen.