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 ...

The adage of astrocytes as doting neuronal nursemaids has been supplanted by the view that astrocytes play a muscular part in the function of the brain. Provoke them, and astrocytes can shift from ...

Astrocytes, the so-called helper cells of the brain, permeate the entire central nervous system. How similar are these cells to one another? Not very, according to a new transcriptomic analysis.

In a recent review published in Experimental & Molecular Medicine, researchers reviewed existing data on the neurodegenerative effects of astrocyte-derived lipocalin-2 (LCN-2). Study: Lipocalin-2: a ...

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 ...

When astrocyte function is disrupted, neurons in the brain's motor cortex struggle to execute and refine motion, a new study in mice shows. From steering a car to swinging a tennis racket, we learn to ...

Researchers have uncovered novel aspects of astrocyte function in olfactory, or smell, perception revealing changes in their gene expression patterns that turn these brain cells into a hub of ...