Fig. 1.

Anatomical regions analyzed for neuronal and astrocytic morphology. A, Representative photomicrographs (2×) of a coronal section from a Golgi-Cox–impregnated PN2 rat brain (top) and camera lucida drawings of the ARC and VMN in the coronal plane (bottom). Impregnated neurons were reconstructed with computerized microscopy from the ventrolateral portion of the VMN (vl-VMN) and the ARC. B, Representative photomicrographs (2×) of GFAP-IR in the sagittal plane of a PN2 rat (top) and camera lucida drawings of theARC and VMN in the sagittal plane of a neonatal rat brain (bottom). The astrocyte process length and the degree of differentiation were analyzed in theARC of sagittal sections to avoid the appearance of GFAP-IR tanicytes that are specialized glia present in theARC and median eminence. Scale bar, 500 μm.