The Front Cover: THE SURFACE OF A NEURON

Part of the surface of a ciliary ganglion neuron from an embryonic chick reconstructed using serial electron tomography from images taken on the JEOL 4000 high-voltage electron microscope at the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR). These neurons reside in a nucleus near the eye and control muscles that innervate the iris and control lens accommodation. The surface of ciliary ganglion neurons is not smooth as was previously thought, but is characterized by dense mats of somatic spines folded against the surface, as in the reconstruction. (Width shown is less than 10 micrometers.) The Telescience alpha project is creating virtual neuroscience laboratories by joining remote control of scientific instruments, grid computing capabilities, tomographic reconstruction software, and publication into databases. Follow this link for more on the Telescience project.