Sprinkled like confetti throughout this image are dozens of green, yellow, and red-ringed axons—nerve cell fibers that transmit electrical signals throughout the nervous system. The axons are bundled in a human cranial nerve, shown here in a cross-section view (see illustration below for context). Nerves like this exit the brainstem and project to areas of the tongue, mouth, and throat, where taste signals are detected and relayed back to the brain.
Credit: Lynn Vitale-Cross, Ildiko Szalayova, and Aiden Scoggins
