For more than a century, the story of the brain has been told as a tale of neurons, with every thought and memory traced to their electrical chatter. That narrative is now being rewritten as evidence ...

New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest ...

Resting brain stem cells hardly differ from normal astrocytes, which support the nerve cells in the brain. How can almost identical cells perform such different functions? The key lies in the ...

Astrocytes, the predominant glial population in the human central nervous system, play crucial roles in neuroprotection, immunity, and homeostasis. However, when exposed to certain neuroinflammatory ...

As a neuromodulator, norepinephrine is a powerful force in the brain. We all know it orchestrates rapid changes in behavior such as the fight-or-flight response. Fewer people know that astrocytes ...

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 ...

An international research team has uncovered new insights into healthy brain aging. The researchers found that aging leads to ...

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

To enjoy the scent of morning coffee and freshly baked cookies or to perceive the warning smell of something burning, the brain needs two types of cells, neurons and astrocytes, to work closely with ...

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 ...