ChitChaT with Pyramids
Pyramidal neurons, shown in green in this image, account for about two-thirds of all neurons in a mammal’s cerebral cortex, making them important for many cognitive processes. The purple cells produce an important neurotransmitter involved in communication among brain cells – including pyramidal neurons.
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DownloadChitChaT with Pyramids
Pyramidal neurons, shown in green in this image, account for about two-thirds of all neurons in a mammal’s cerebral cortex, making them important for many cognitive processes. The purple cells produce an important neurotransmitter involved in communication among brain cells – including pyramidal neurons.
What am I looking at?
These images are a series of 1-millimeter-thick slices (from top to bottom) through the brain of a mouse – with neurons containing an enzyme called choline acetyltransferase (whose abbreviation is, appropriately, ChAT) shown in purple (1) and pyramidal neurons in green (2). The main, annotated image is a slice taken from about the middle of the brain.
Click on the right arrow to see additional slices taken while moving from the front of the brain to the back of the brain.
Biology in the background
The purple neurons in this image produce a neurotransmitter molecule called acetylcholine, which is involved in many different neurological processes, including memory, motivation, arousal, and attention. Outside the brain, acetylcholine is a major player in communication between your nerve cells and your muscles.
Pyramidal neurons are one of the most common types of neurons in the brain and are so named because of their pyramid-shaped cell bodies. These neurons are involved in a wide range of cognitive functions, including memory, movement, the processing of sensory information, and much more.
These two types of neurons communicate extensively in the brain to achieve their overlapping functions.
Neurons that produce acetylcholine vary in size a great deal; the cell bodies of the smallest ones are about 8 micrometers long, or roughly seven times smaller than the width of a human hair, and the largest are about 45 micrometers long, or roughly two times smaller than the width of a human hair. Pyramidal neurons also vary in size but on average have cell bodies that are about 20 micrometers across, or roughly 3.5 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Technique
These images were created using confocal microscopy.
Andrew K. Recknagel, Glassy Mountain Fire Department