| High magnification view of a large multipolar (lower motor) neuron. This is a whole mount of the cell which has a pale-staining central nucleus (N) with prominent nucleolus (No) which is dark staining and circular. The cytoplasm of this cell is filled with granular, blue-stained material called Nissl bodies (Nb); this represents the extensive areas of rough endoplasmic reticulum in this cell. This cell has a number of branching dendritic processes (D) and a single axonal process (Ax); the axon is often identified because it lacks Nissl bodies and there is a void of Nissl material in the cytoplasm of the perikaryon (cell body) of the neuron, and this is referred to as the axon hillock (AH). Small darkly staining nuclei that are abundant in this field of view are those of neuroglial cells, the "connective tissue" of the central nervous system. |
