Astrid Schepman

Neurons (🟠) and microglia (🔵), brain's immune cells! Check the number of microglia available for each neuron. That's because this photo was taken in the cerebral cortex 🧠🔬. In humans, the glia-to-neuron ratio in the cerebral cortex is 3.72 (72% glia), while that in the cerebellum is only 0.23 (19% glia). @zeiss_micro #SynapticSunday

Two neurons having a conversation, surrounded by some busy microglia doing their job: maintaining neuronal networks and helping with injury, repair, and pruning! The brain is beautiful! 🧠🔬#neuroscience #Microscopy

A micrograph of some groups of neurons from the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), one of the regions in the brain responsible for visual processing! The neurons in the photo are known as magnocellular cells (🟠) and are surrounded by astrocytes (🔵) and other cellular types. Disruption early in life in these neurons makes it especially harder for facial recognition later in life in patients with schizophrenia, complicating for these individuals to differentiate between reality and hallucinations. #FluorescenceFriday

A zoom in the Dentate Gyrus (DG), a region in the mammalian hippocampus that is one of the few sites in the brain for continuous generation of new neurons across lifetime, or neurogenesis! Mature neurons with their long extensions can be seen in cyan 🔵, while immature, newborn neurons are shown in purple 🟣. Because in each phase of the development these neurons express different proteins, we can target these proteins using a technique called immunohistochemistry, and we are able to identify in which stage of development these neurons are :). Microglia, shown in orange🟠, are the brain's immune cells, and are directly involved in helping regulate the whole process. They are removing unnecessary, wrong, or redundant synapses in a process known as synaptic running. All of these and other millions of processes happening at the same time in your brain! #Neuroscience is beautiful 🧠🔬