9-26 Nervous tissue

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

SPINAL CORD – 4

The image shows the interface between the gray matter of the spinal cord (right side) and the white matter (left side).
In the gray matter observe some neuronal cell bodies highlighted in green.

The white matter is almost entirely occupied by bundles of nerve fibers. As many of these fibers are placed along the spinal cord, they are mostly sectioned transversely.
Nerve fibers consist of the axon + the cell that surrounds it. The white matter has a lacy appearance due to the absence of myelin, which was dissolved during the preparation of this histological section. The spaces previously occupied by myelin are highlighted in light blue.
Inside the light space where myelin was present, dark structures (highlighted in dark blue) are observed. They are transversely sectioned axons.