The most noticeably exciting thing I have done in 2019 is probably, using a microscope for neural imaging.
Here’s a photograph taken from my research thesis, Alcohol Induced Neural Correlates in Female Calorie Restricted Rats, showing the Nucleus Accumbens Shell (NAcSH) — a key brain region for reward and addictive processes, where response to alcohol can be seen here, indicated by Fos-positive black nuclei.
This research, which was supervised by Dr. Helen Nasser at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health showed that females responded differently from males, highlighting the need to consider female risk-factors to addiction which may have been historically overlooked. Photographs were taken with a Nikon Eclipse Ti2 Microscope at 10x magnification using Nikon Elements and Adobe Photoship CC software (for this image), based on our tissue segments which we coronally sliced at 40 μm thickness and prepared with immunohistochemistry.
“Grace 1”
The image has been on display at the Under the Coverslip neuroscience and anatomy show at the University of Melbourne Medical Building. The exhibit will also be back on display in 2020.
Thank you!