The famous 17-hour lesion above, is visible in the critical part of the brain called the medulla; the part of the brain that controls vital functions like breathing. The reduction in myelin in the lesion on the left appears pale, or almost white. Compare this to right side where the normal myelin stains blue. In the high-power picture below we see the myelin producing cells, oligodendrocytes, showing the characteristic signs of programmed cell death or apoptosis. There is a lack of lymphocytes in this area of the lesion.