Glia

I was very interested in the section of the text where it talked about the cells of the nervous system; especially the glial cells. The first thing that caught my attention was that there are many more glial cells than neurons in the brain. The video about glial cells or "genius cells" provided by Professor Benham, was very interesting how he explained the connection between glia cells and intelligence. The glia or neuroglia are what hold the neurons together. In the video, the neuroscientist explained that Einstein did not have more cells or neurons in his brain which made him more intelligent, but he did have more glia or glue holding neurons together than most people.
Another surprising fact that I found interesting was the different types of glial cells and their different functions. The astrocytes synchronize the activity of the axon which helps with sending messages. The microglia functions similarly to the immune system fighting off unwanted viruses and fungi. The oligodendrocytes work with the Schwann cells to create the myelin sheaths that surround the axon. The most interesting type of glia to me was the radial glial cells developing during the embryonic period and then forms into the oligodendrocytes and astrocytes later on in life. All of these types of glia have special functions, but all work together, that are vital to our nervous system.
I was intrigued by the difference between glial cells and neurons. As mentioned above, there are far more glial cells than neurons, however, the glial cells are much smaller than the neurons. The neurons are responsible for receiving messages and the glia protect and support the functions of neurons. It's interesting to read or hear how neurons communicate through electrical impulses but glial cells do not use electrodes to communicate with one another or with neurons.

I found a video where Neuroscientist Dr. Douglas Fields explains how there has not been much research done to figure everything out about the glia in our brain. However, I did like how he explains some differences between neurons and glia and how recent studies do show the connection between the two.