image: This image shows a proliferating oligodendroglial precursor cell (red and green) adjacent to a cortical layer V output neuron (white) following optogenetic stimulation of neuronal firing. The researchers used optogenetic stimulation in the brains of awake mice to promote oligodendrocyte formation. Understanding the mechanisms that control oligodenrocyte proliferation could lead to the development of new methods for neuroregeneration. This image relates to a paper that appeared in Apr. 3, 2014, issue of Science Express, published by AAAS. The paper, by Erin Gibson at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, Calif., and colleagues was titled, 'Neuronal Activity Promotes Oligodendrogenesis and Adaptive Myelination in the Mammalian Brain.' view more
Credit: Christopher W. Mount