Sagittal section of a rat olfactory bulb

My picture is a confocal image of a rat olfactory bulb section stained for the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (green) and a nuclear counterstain (red). The olfactory bulb is a brain structure located in the forebrain that receives neural inputs from odours detected by receptors in the nasal cavity and it is the key part of the brain involved in social odour recognition. Complex social behaviours often depend on the recognition of the individual’s odour signatures. Immunohistochemistry combined with confocal imaging is a very beautiful and powerful approach to show the morphology of neuroanatomical structures involved in important endocrine and behaviour regulations. I believe that this image is not only of scientific interest, but also very esthetic.