Astrocytes: Form, Function and Failure in Neural Circuits
Baljit S. Khakh PhD
Eleanor I. Leslie Chair in Neuroscience
Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology,
David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
The study of the brain has witnessed spectacular advances in the last few decades. Despite this laudable progress, severe blind spots in our understanding of basic brain function and disease remain. Many cell types that make up the brain are non-neuronal, and many aspects of these cells have been understudied or overlooked. The brain’s non-neuronal cells include glia, which represent about half of all brain cells. I will describe recent studies from my laboratory that provide new insights on predominant glial cells called astrocytes. I will address long-standing questions in neuroscience concerning the functions of astrocytes in the brain, their form, and their failures in disease. After a period of intense exploration, it is now clear that signaling between astrocytes and neurons plays pivotal roles in both normal brain physiology and in disease conditions.