Type: Personal project
Based on: A review on adult neural stem cells by Hiyaa Ghosh
Field: Neuroscience / neural stem cells
Figure type: Lineage and niche illustration
Why I made it
Hiyaa Ghosh’s review on adult neural stem cells laid out the neurogenesis process so clearly that it read almost like a storyboard. I wanted to see how directly that structure could be turned into a figure.
The challenge
Adult neurogenesis happens in two classic niches, the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the subgranular zone (SGZ), but new neurons can also come from other cells and from transplanted stem cells. Each source follows a slightly different lineage, and a long list of factors speeds the process up or slows it down.
My approach
One brain, two zoom-ins: a coronal section at the top links to the SVZ and SGZ panels, so readers always know where in the brain each process happens.
Parallel lineages: each source runs top to bottom in its own column, from radial glia-like cells (RGL) through intermediate progenitors (IPC) and neuroblasts to neurons. Two further columns show the non-classic sources and transplanted neural stem cells.
A shared ending: all columns converge on the same group of neurons at the bottom, which shows that different routes lead to the same result.
Inducers and inhibitors sit in green and red boxes beside the niches, so the regulators are visible without crowding the lineages.
The result
A clear map of where adult neurons come from and what controls them, suited to a review introduction, a grant background figure, or a lecture on neural stem cells.
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