Fig. 1.1. A pyramidal cell in layer 3 of area 46 of prefrontal cortex in a 5 year old monkey. The cell has a pale rounded nucleus surrounded by a cytoplasm in which mitochondria are intermingled with the Nissl bodies. Pyramidal cells are excitatory neurons and have spiny apical and basal dendrites. The apical dendrites extend into layer 1, where the dendrite forms its apical tuft. As is typical of young monkeys, this neuron has few lipofuscin (age pigment) granules in its cytoplasm. Note the astrocyte adjacent to the apical dendrite of the neuron.
