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 ...

Recent work has revealed some of the many crucial functions of astrocytes, brain cells that were once thought to play primarily supportive roles for neurons. Astrocytes do handle debris around neurons ...

Scientists have engineered a nanowire platform that mimics brain tissue to study astrocytes, the star-shaped cells critical for brain health, for the first time in their natural state. Astrocytes are ...

In the brain, neurons and astrocytes work together to process information and enable complex behavior and cognitive abilities. Astrocytes have many functions like controlling the blood-brain barrier, ...

Research in mouse models suggest that astrocytes, a type of cell usually characterized as the brain’s support system, may play an important role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related ...

Researchers have shown that astrocytes in the mouse brain exhibit an acid response with intensified epileptic seizures. The astrocytes' acid response could lead to the amplification of excitatory ...

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 ...

Delivering a connection-building protein to star-shaped cells in the brain could reverse changes to neural circuits seen in ...

A new study found that cannabis affects brain development by interacting with CB1 receptors on astrocytes. The findings indicate that disrupting CB1 receptor activity during development, such as via ...

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 ...

Researchers at Tohoku University have shown that astrocytes in the mouse brain exhibit an acid response with intensified epileptic seizures. The astrocytes' acid response could lead to the ...