Glial Synapses Found Plastic

摘要

Although accounting for 90 percent of the human brain cells, the glial cells were once characterized as inert, only sticking around the neurons like glue to support or nurture them. The cells per se were regarded as having nothing to do with neural signal transmission and processing. Although a direct synaptic connection has been found recently between neurons and NG2 glial cells, a distinct population of macroglia-like cells widely distributed in the brain, it is not clear whether these synapses have plasticity and, if they have, what the underlying mechanisms are.