Edge of the Sun - Brandon McRae The picture you see before you, is one of a brain stained for the NMDA receptor. The image came from the outer cortex of the dorsal side of the brain. This image struck me so quickly and jolted my imagination. When I first saw the image all I could think is, that looks like the edge of a magnificent red giant star. As I stared at the image, I pondered how we look up at stars and relish in the sight of the night sky, but all I could think was: why stare up at the sky when we have something just as magnificent within us all.
Neuronal Dancer- Cree Summerville Caption: This image is a 40x magnified picture of the hypothalamus of a mouse. The three colors represent three different fluorescent staining techniques. The pictures were taken separately and then combined together. In the middle of the image the neurons come together to form what looks like a dancing woman.
Schizophrenia – Nicki Escott This is an image of the substantia nigra. It is a structure in the brain that is important in movement and reward. The substantia nigra is the darker area on the left side of this image which has been stained to show different structures. The blue in the image represents cell nuclei, the green shows where glial (glue) cells are, and the red shows a marker for tyrosine hydroxylase (an important enzyme for communication in the brain).
A Glance at an Alien Landscape – James Hall The picture that I produced and selected came from a mouse brain at 10x magnification. This is an image of a mouse brain that has been stained with a primary and secondary antibody which bind to certain receptors or neuron structure: the objects that appear green are glial cells, the objects that appear blue are the individual nuclei of the cells, and the red objects are NMDA receptors. I selected this image because it has an interesting 3D effect from the shading as if you were gazing across a vast, other-worldly mountainous landscape full of ominous pits and caverns from some higher vantage point.
Peculiar Petals – Millicent Davis This image is part of a mammalian cerebrum and was taken at 4x magnification using a bright-field microscope. When I was viewing this slide under the microscope, this region caught my attention. I liked the shape of the edge of the specimen and it reminded me of flower petals. Just like the petals of flowers, our brains grow and develop over a period of time. It is interesting that so many photographers focus solely on capturing images of flowers, while we as neuroscience students are so focused on capturing images of the brain to understand its function and purpose.
Brain Storm – Kyle R. Kraemer This fluorescent image depicts the hippocampus of a mouse brain stained for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a protein found in glial cells. The image was captured under a fluorescent light microscope. The staining clearly indicates the location of glial cells by highlighting a whispy land of their fibrillary proteins.
The atmosphere – Stephanie Wright What you are looking at are cells from the amygdala of a mouse brain that have been tagged with fluorescent tags. The blue dots represent the nucleus of certain cells, the yellow/red colors represent a neurotransmitter, and the green represent the glial cells. The color's in this picture remind me of our earth when you look at an image of it from space, and the way they are spread out made me think of a the atmosphere.
Volanic Fire - Steven Finley This image shows the outer edge of a sheep brain tissue taken from the hippocampus region of its brain. This image was taken using fluorescent imaging on a microscope. The iamge was chosen because it somewhat resembles something you would see in a volcano. This is the very reason it was given the name Volcanic Fire.
The Lonely Lagoon – Samarra Kinchen The picture is a brightfield image of the hypothalamus region that is stained with a NMDAR1 antibody. The stained regions represent receptor proteins for the neurotransmitter NMDA. This picture is reminiscent of a small, quiet, abandoned lagoon that is void of boats, people, and life.
Purple Rain Stephanie Evans This photo is one of the hippocampus in a mouse brain. The brain was treated with florescent antibodies that targeted and bound to the glial fibrillary acidic proteins (GFAP) in the glial cells. These antibodies, when under fluorescent light, turned a bright green color. After the photo was taken it was then edited using a hue changing technique that turned the green portions of the photo a bright pink color and the darker regions a light white. The photo was then edited again to darken the photo and add borders. The dark purple structures that seem stringy are the glial cells, which are shown lining the edges of the hippocampus.
Eclipe on a Star – Don Adley This image was captured using a fluorescent scope at 10x magnification under a red light. This picture is the fluorescent view of stained tissue near the end of a vacuole from the coronal cut of a mouse’s brain. This image could be damage due to the stress from the process of extraction of the tissue. The image is beautiful because it seems to be taken from somewhere in outer space. The image seems to be taken by a person standing on a star with a camera and a solar flare is erupting in their peripheral view, while they are focusing on a solar eclipse.
The Colored Hypothalamus- Justine Kemp This piece of artwork is actually a picture of the hypothalamus in the brain. It has three fluorescent tags in it. The green marker indicates the presence of neurofilaments, a protein found in neurons. Therefore, in the hypothalamus there are indeed neurons. The blue tag indicates cell bodies. However, because the majority of this blue tag does not have any green tag overlap, these cell bodies must be from glial cells, another cell found in the nervous system. Finally, the red tag indicates the neurotransmitter marker. This tagged tyrosine hydroxylase, an enzyme important in the production of L-DOPA, a precursor to dopamine. The yellow color indicates this enzyme in the neuron itself because it is green and red tag overlapping.
The Phoenix of the Brain - David Burch This picture shows a magnification of 100X of a cross section of the cerebral cortex of a mouse. This picture is a combination of two images. Both of which were taken with a flourescent microscope. The first was through a violet filter which produced the main structure of what looks like a bird in flight. The second was through a red filter which enhanced the rear portion of the image. The images were overlayed to produce the image of a glial cell in the brain. The image looks like a bird flying out of ball of fire.
Brain – Katie Rylee This image was taken with a brightfield microscope of NMDA-1 Receptors in the Amygdalahippocampal region of a mouse brain. After carefully slicing tissues of the mouse brain, it was stained to look for NMDA-1 receptors; which are the primary molecular devices controlling memory and synaptic plasticity. I then uploaded the image into a photosoftware, altering the color and giving it a holographic look.
Behold: An area of the brain that controls ‘lucky’ actions! – Gaurav Shah Above is a piece of tissue from cerebellum stained with hematoxylin and eosin markers and it is viewed using brightfield microscopy. To me, this picture looks oddly similar to a three leaf clover. It made me wonder, is there a part of brain that can somehow makes ‘lucky’ decisions? Like every thought we have, it must originate somewhere from the brain; so, why cannot thoughts dealing with luck and risk? Instead of just betting on a whim, this part does all the processing to somehow foresee all of the risk and anticipate huge rewards in the future. May be this part of the brain is like a lucky charm. Unlike a three leaf clove, those of us that find ourselves extremely lucky have this brain part modified to look like a four leaf clover.
GHypo22- Cecile Thomas This is an image of the glial cells in the hypothalamus. I chose this image because it looks a star cluster.
Do You See What I See - Amanda Futch This image was taken using a stained portion of a monkey eye. The image was captured at 40x magnification. It shows the series of cells which light must travel through to get to the back of the eye. This grouping of cells is collectively known as the retina. The image has not been altered in any way.
