Abstract
Exploring the secrets of the brain has long been a dream of neuroscientists. Our brains consist of neurons and glial cells, which comprise approximately 10% and 90% of total brain cells, respectively. During the past century, neurons have been regarded as the leading brain cells responsible for advanced brain functions such as learning and memory, whereas glial cells have been believed to be supporting brain cells providing supportive, nutritional, protective, and clearing contributions to neurons. However, recent studies have revealed novel functions of astroglial cells, the major subtype of glial cells. This review will discuss recent in vitro evidence showing the direct modula-tion of neuronal synaptic transmission by astroglial cells, evaluate the importance of astroglial regulation of sleep, analyze our recent in vivo data published in the 2012 March issue of Cell demonstrating direct regulation of working memory by astroglial cells, and comment on their scientific inspiration: we are now witnessing a crucial time in neuroscience research history in which mankind is starting to explore the active regulation of advanced brain functions by glial cells.
Published Version
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