In chemist Paul Weiss's biophysical model of an axon, or nerve fiber, oxidative stress causes the protein cytoskeleton to collapse into a deformed structure resembling a string of beads (right panel). The center panel shows the same degenerative pattern in actual serotonin neurons in the brain. In the mouse brain (left panel), serotonin axons projecting to the hippocampus—a region involved in learning and memory—are visualized as gold thread-like structures.

Courtesy Anat Hatzor, Paul Weiss, and Beth Luellen

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