Essays

Neurological and psychiatric disorders as a neuroglial failure

ALEXEI VERKHRATSKY ; 1_Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK; 2_Achucarro Center for Neuroscience, IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain; 3_University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603022, Russia
VLADIMIR PARPURA orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-2197 ; 1_Department of Neurobiology, Center for Glial Biology in Medicine, Atomic Force Microscopy & Nanotechnology Laboratories, Civitan International Research Center, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA; 2_Depar

Abstract

Neuroglia are a diverse non-neuronal population of cells in the central
and peripheral nervous system. These cells have a variety of functions that can all be summed up as the maintenance of homeostasis of the nervous system. It is the loss of homeostasis that represents the culprit of all disorders.
Thus, neuroglia can be envisioned as the pivotal element in all neural disorders, be that neurological or psychiatric. In this review, we discuss the role of glia in homeostasis and defence of the nervous system as well as changes in the morpho-functional characteristics of these cells in various disorders.

Keywords

neuroglia; astrocyte; oligodendrocyte; microglia; reactive gliosis; NG2 glia; neurological diseases; neurodegeneration; psychiatric diseases

Hrčak ID:

126332

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/126332

Publication date:

31.7.2014.

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