The Winner

Miss Rosellina Guarascio, Institute of Ophthalmology

Red poppies in the mouse brain

Pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus play a fundamental role in the formation of long-term memory. They are tree shaped with neuronal branches called dendrites emanating from a central body that includes the nucleus. The trunk is called the axon. Axons are connected with dendrites of neurons in different regions of the hippocampus to transfer information and form circuits to store this information. Mouse hippocampi are frequently studied to understand the process of memory formation and how this is disturbed during the onset and development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. In this picture a section of the hippocampus from adult mice was acquired with a confocal microscope. Nuclei are stained in red and blue, and the axons shown in green.

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