Noun, pl. Nissl bodies
1. A large granular body found in neurons. These granules are rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) with rosettes of free ribosomes, and are the site of protein synthesis. It was named after Franz Nissl, a German neurologist who invented the Nissl staining method. (wikipedia.org)
2. Discrete granular bodies of variable size that occur in the cell body and dendrites but not the axon of neurons, are composed of RNA and polyribosomes, are stained with basic dyes (as methylene blue), and give a striped appearance to the cell. (merriam-webster.com)
Syn: Nissl granule, Nissl substance, tigroid substance