Introducing the brain: new astrocyte functions (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, April 28, 2022, 22:25 (938 days ago) @ David Turell

Not a neuron but contributes:

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-function-brain-cells.html

"Until now, scientists believed astrocytes were important, but lesser cast members in this activity. Astrocytes guide the growth of axons, the long, slender projection of a neuron that conducts electrical impulses. They also control neurotransmitters, chemicals that enable the transfer of electrical signals throughout the brain and nervous system. In addition, astrocytes build the blood-brain barrier and react to injury.

"But they did not seem to be electrically active like the all-important neurons—until now.

"'The electrical activity of astrocytes changes how neurons function," says Chris Dulla, associate professor of neuroscience at the School of Medicine and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and corresponding author on a paper published today published today by Nature Neuroscience. "We have discovered a new way that two of the most important cells in the brain talk to each other. Because there is so much unknown about how the brain works, discovering new fundamental processes that control brain function is key to developing novel treatments for neurological diseases."

***

"Dulla describes astrocytes as "making sure everything is copacetic in the brain, and if something goes wrong, if there's an injury or viral infection, they detect it, try to respond, and then try to protect the brain from insult. What we want to do next is determine how astrocytes change when these insults happen."

"Neuron-to-neuron communication occurs through the release of packets of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Scientists knew that astrocytes control neurotransmitters, helping to make sure that neurons stay healthy and active. But the new study reveals that neurons also release potassium ions, which change the electrical activity of the astrocyte and how it controls the neurotransmitters.

"'So the neuron is controlling what the astrocyte is doing, and they are communicating back and forth. Neurons and astrocytes talk with each other in a way that has not been known about before," he says.

***

"The researchers are now screening existing drugs to see if they can manipulate the neuron-astrocyte interactions. "By doing so, can we one day help people learn faster or better? Can we repair a brain injury when it occurs?" Dulla asks.

"The new technology used to make this discovery not only opens up new ways to think about astrocyte activity, it also provides new approaches for imaging activity through the brain. Before now, there was no way to image potassium activity in the brain, for example, or study how potassium is involved in sleep, metabolism, or injury and infection in the brain."

Comment: the brain is so complex, the research has to peck away bit by bit. Previously we have seen another method of synapse modulation. Each modulation step increases the abilities of individual neurons to influence brain activity in several ways enlarging their influence. It is as if 100 billion act like 120 billion or more. Only design explains this.