Researchers have discovered that astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the brain, play a direct role in the regulation of adult neuronal circuits involved in learning and memory. Researchers at ...

A new platform for screening astrocyte reactivity helps researchers uncover potential therapeutic interventions to treat neurodegenerative conditions. Led by postdoctoral researcher Benjamin Clayton, ...

Astrocytes are star shaped cells that make up around 35% of human brain cells. They were once thought of as cells that simply supported neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). But in recent years ...

Astrocytes are highly heterogeneous neuroglial cells with distinct functional and morphological characteristics in different parts of the brain. They are responsible for maintaining a number of ...

Astrocytes are found throughout the brain. Each astrocyte is in contact with several neurons and more than 100'000 synapses. A new study shows that, at the microscopic level, dozens of synapses from ...

New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial ...

Imagine the brain as the night sky—an expansive sea of tissue dotted with cells of all shapes and sizes. Perhaps the most well known are the filamentous neurons that intertwine with their neighbors to ...

Astrocytes have been implicated in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, but these beautiful, star-shaped cells are notoriously difficult to study. Animal models are little help, because ...

A collaborative French–Swiss study reveals a previously unknown role for astrocytes in the brain's information processing. Published in the journal Cell, the research shows that these glial cells are ...