Somatostatin Showcase
If only brain cells came in vivid iridescent colors like these! Unfortunately, most brain cells look the same under a microscope, so researchers use processes to distinctively label different types of neurons to help them learn how they communicate with each other. This image shows neurons that produce a neuropeptide called somatostatin in purple and pyramidal neurons in green.
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If only brain cells came in vivid iridescent colors like these! Unfortunately, most brain cells look the same under a microscope, so researchers use processes to distinctively label different types of neurons to help them learn how they communicate with each other. This image shows neurons that produce a neuropeptide called somatostatin in purple and pyramidal neurons in green.
What am I looking at?
This image shows a 1-millimeter-thick coronal slice (from top to bottom) through the brain of a mouse, with neurons that produce somatostatin in purple (1) and pyramidal neurons in green (2). You can see the hippocampus, enriched with fibers from pyramidal neurons (3). You can also see a clear distinction between the medial (4) and the lateral (5) amygdala – structures that are involved in regulating emotion and motivation.
Click on the right arrow to see images with just pyramidal neurons and just somatostatin-producing neurons, as well as an image with both types of neurons from a section closer to the back (rostral) of the brain.
Biology in the background
The main way that neurons in the brain communicate with each other is through chemicals called neurotransmitters. Some of these are excitatory, which means they increase the activity of neurons they interact with, and some are inhibitory, which means they decrease the activity of neurons they interact with. An intricate balance in the production and availability of these two types of neurotransmitters allows the brain to function properly.
Somatostatin acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, where it is involved in memory, among other processes. It is also important in the endocrine system, inhibiting the release of many hormones involved in growth and digestion.
Pyramidal neurons are one of the most common types of neurons in the brain and are named for their pyramid-shaped cell bodies. These neurons are involved in a wide range of cognitive functions, including processing sensory information, memory, movement, and much more.
The entangled nature of these two types of neurons highlights the interplay between inhibitory neurons and their targets.
In both mice and humans, the cell bodies of somatostatin-producing neurons can be up to 15 microns across, or roughly five times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Technique
These images were created using confocal microscopy.
Andrew K. Recknagel, Glassy Mountain Fire Department