This image presents a snapshot of immature brain cells as they grow, divide, and migrate through the developing brain. With these images, we were trying to determine if cells that are related to one another stay close together throughout brain development.

This image resulted from a collaboration between two HST students working on totally different, albeit related, projects. While practicing for qualifying exams, we noticed the potential synergy and decided to test out the Expansion Microscopy protocol on this tissue. It ended up working better than expected and even gave us beautiful images from the pilot experiment!

In these images, we can fully appreciate how the developing brain is so densely packed with such beautiful and diverse structures that ultimately give rise to intricate neural networks that regulate all animal behavior.