VIEW FROM THE LATERAL VENTRICLE |
Angela Tang-Tan

“ ‘View from the Lateral Ventricle’ merges neuroscience with nature, combining an immunofluorescence stain of a mouse brain and a photograph of Death Valley National Park. A sunset fills the lateral ventricle, which lies above the broad stripe of the corpus callosum. The red of degraded myelin protein melds into the rocky foreground, while the bright blue of the nuclear stain complements the approach of night. Microscopic cells and axons achieve visual harmony with the vastness of mountains and sky. Having learned the painstaking technique of immunofluorescence staining in my neuroscience laboratory, I often marvel at the vibrant hues that result. This piece highlights the intricate structures of the brain and how they allow us to see and experience the beauty of the world around us.”

Angela Tang-Tan is a fourth-year medical student at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 2020 with a dual degree in neurobiology and psychology before becoming an ambulance EMT during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is pursuing a residency in neurosurgery. Tang-Tan’s poems, “Code OB" and "Pediatric Hemicraniectomy," appeared in the Spring 2024 Intima. Her Field Notes essay "Top Surgery” and artwork “White Coat Ceremony” appeared in the Fall 2024 Intima.

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