Coursekit is now Lore.
What’s the Story?
A discovery engine for meaningful knowledge, fueled by cross-disciplinary curiosity.
A Brain Pickings project edited by Maria Popova in partnership with Noodle.
Twitter: @explorer
science and technology history and literature science history neuroscience
Human hippocampus stained with a method pioneered by Italian physician Camillo Golgi in 1873. Golgi discovered a chemical reaction that allowed him to examine nervous tissue in much greater detail than ever before. For some reason, hardening a piece of brain in potassium dichromate, and subsequently dousing it with silver nitrate, dyed only a few cell bodies and their respective projections in the tissue sample, revealing their complete structures and exact arrangement within the unstained tissue. If the reaction had stained all the neurons in a sample, Golgi would have been left with an unfathomable black blotch, as though someone had spilled a bottle of ink. Instead, his technique yielded neat black silhouettes against a translucent yellow background. More in Scientific American’s Know Your Neurons series.

Human hippocampus stained with a method pioneered by Italian physician Camillo Golgi in 1873.

Golgi discovered a chemical reaction that allowed him to examine nervous tissue in much greater detail than ever before. For some reason, hardening a piece of brain in potassium dichromate, and subsequently dousing it with silver nitrate, dyed only a few cell bodies and their respective projections in the tissue sample, revealing their complete structures and exact arrangement within the unstained tissue. If the reaction had stained all the neurons in a sample, Golgi would have been left with an unfathomable black blotch, as though someone had spilled a bottle of ink. Instead, his technique yielded neat black silhouettes against a translucent yellow background.

More in Scientific American’s Know Your Neurons series.

5-15-2012
117 notes
  1. alinotalibaba reblogged this from butterfliesthatdiednaturaldeaths and added:
    I remember this image from class a few years ago :)
  2. chepedaja reblogged this from neuroimages
  3. astronomyisbollocks reblogged this from neuroimages
  4. rock7ch reblogged this from mucholderthen
  5. mucholderthen reblogged this from neuroimages and added:
    Human hippocampus stained with a method pioneered by Italian physician Camillo Golgi in 1873. Golgi discovered a...
  6. butterfliesthatdiednaturaldeaths reblogged this from neuroimages
  7. mylawlessheart reblogged this from neuroimages and added:
    Like a strange forest in winter.
  8. shakeouttheblues reblogged this from neuroimages
  9. plusrien reblogged this from neuroimages
  10. bcardoso reblogged this from neuroimages
  11. fragilityofart reblogged this from fletchingarrows
  12. seguidila1 reblogged this from neuroimages
  13. longsnowsmoon reblogged this from fletchingarrows
  14. quarianfleet reblogged this from drtuesdaygjohnson
  15. drtuesdaygjohnson reblogged this from fletchingarrows
  16. iwokeupnear-leightonantelman reblogged this from fletchingarrows
  17. echovalley reblogged this from neuroimages
  18. sternstundendeskapitalismus reblogged this from neuroimages
  19. akai-mori reblogged this from mylittlecorner-j
  20. mylittlecorner-j reblogged this from doctor-caos
  21. doctor-caos reblogged this from pablets
  22. pablets reblogged this from neuroimages
  23. lomticks reblogged this from neuroimages
  24. neuroscience reblogged this from neuroimages
  25. chubbell reblogged this from scienceing
  26. scienceing reblogged this from explore-blog
  27. aliciadecia reblogged this from explore-blog
  28. geozilla reblogged this from explore-blog and added:
    From explore-blog:...“Golgi discovered a chemical reaction that allowed him to examine...
  29. brainfoods reblogged this from neuroimages and added:
    A beautiful brain image, from explore-blog:
  30. phoebix reblogged this from explore-blog