A Look At Various Cells in the Cerebellum

The first picture displayed on the right is a mid-sagittal section of a rat brain.  The section was Nissl stained using the dye Cresyl Violet.   Here is a close up of the cerebellum of the same section.  Higher magnification of the cerebellum in this section shows the striations of various cell types, which can be seen Here.  Further magnification of this section clearly illustrates a layer of granule cells and a layer of Purkinje Cells.  This section shows those two distinct layers.  Granule cells are small cells whose axons extend to the surface to the cerebellum. The granule cells depicted Here are from a section of a rat brain that was Golgi stained.  The Golgi stained was preformed by adding various sections of the brain to a solution of potassium dichromate, chloral hydrate, gluteraldehyde, and dimethyl sulfoxide.  The sections were later transferred to a silver nitrate solution.  Purkinje Cells are a unique type of cell that projects hundreds of dendrites to the surface of the cell, which form over one-hundred thousand synapses.  These cells and their dendritic spines can be seen in a detailed Golgi Stain Here. One last type of cell found in the cerebellum is the Golgi Cell which is displayed Here. The Golgi Cell has a very sepific shape which is usually only depicted in Golgi Stained tissue.  To return to the original mid-sagittal section click Here.

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