Nautilus

Nature Neuroscience focus on glia and disease

“A decade ago, glia were the neglected stepchildren of neuroscience. Although glia outnumber neurons by about ten to 1 in the adult human brain, providing support for neurons has traditionally been viewed as their primary function. Glial biology has come into its own recently, as researchers have shown that glia are critical for the development of the nervous system and have key roles in various disorders.” So writes Sandra Aamodt, Editor of Nature Neuroscience, in her introductory Editorial to the journal’s focus on glia and disease (November 2007), which highlights recent efforts and discusses how advances in understanding glial biology may lead to new treatments.

Glial cells regulate brain vasculature and the blood-brain barrier, modulating ischemia and blood flow changes in response to neural activity. Moreover, they are important in brain repair after injury and contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. The Nature Neuroscience special focus on glia and disease contains four reviews and two perspectives that highlight recent research in these areas and discuss how advances in understanding glial biology may lead to new treatments.

The November issue of Nature Neuroscience is available online here.

Comments

Comments are closed.