Glial cells: neuroglia

Item Type:	Book Section
Title:	Glial cells: neuroglia
Creators Name:	Kettenmann, H. and Verkhratsky, A.
Abstract:	In the human brain glial cells are as abundant as neurons. The relative number of glial cells has increased with increasing complexity of brains during evolution. In vertebrates three types of glial cells can be distinguished in the central nervous system, namely astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia. In the peripheral nervous system the Schwann cell is the only glial cell type. Astrocytes are a heterogeneous cell population, are most abundant and fulfill different tasks such as providing guiding structures during development, controlling homeostasis of the extracellular space, providing energy substrate for neurons, controlling blood flow and modulating synaptic transmission. Oligodendrocytes in the central and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system form myelin and thereby enable a high conduction velocity within the axons. Microglial cells are the immune competent cells of the brain and are activated during any pathologic process. The activated microglial cells can release many factors which influence the pathologic process. Taken together brain function is only possible by a concerted action of neurons and glial cells.
Keywords:	Antigen Presentation, Astrocytes, Astroglia, Bergmann Glia, Fibrous Astrocytes, Glial Syncytia, Gliotransmission, Microglia, Mueller Cells, Myelin Sheaths, Myelin Sheets, Myelinating Cells and Diseases, Neuroglia, Neuronal-Glial Signaling, Oligodendrocytes, Phagocytosis, Protoplasmic Astrocytes, Radial Glial Cells, Saltatory Conduction and Myelin, Schwann Cells, Tripartite Synapse
Title of Book:	Neuroscience in the 21st Century: From Basic to Clinical
ISBN:	978-1-4939-3473-7
Page Range:	547-578
Date:	27 October 2016
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3474-4_19

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