An investigation into the effective role of astrocyte in the hippocampus pattern separation process: A computational modeling study.

A physiologically realistic three layer neuron-astrocyte network model is used to evaluate the biological mechanism in pattern separation. The innovative feature of the model is the use of a combination of three elements: neuron, interneuron and astrocyte. In the input layer, a pyramidal neuron receives input patterns from stimulus current, while in the middle layer there are two pyramidal neurons coupled with two inhibitory interneurons and an astrocyte.

Tailoring synthetic polymeric biomaterials towards nerve tissue engineering: a review.

The nervous system is known as a crucial part of the body and derangement in this system can cause potentially lethal consequences or serious side effects. Unfortunately, the nervous system is unable to rehabilitate damaged regions following seriously debilitating disorders such as stroke, spinal cord injury and brain trauma which, in turn, lead to the reduction of quality of life for the patient. Major challenges in restoring the damaged nervous system are low regenerative capacity and the complexity of physiology system.

Mechanisms of hippocampal astrocytes mediation of spatial memory and theta rhythm by gliotransmitters and growth factors.

Our knowledge about encoding and maintenance of spatial memory emphasizes the integrated functional role of the grid cells and the place cells of the hippocampus in the generation of theta rhythm in spatial memory formation. However, the role of astrocytes in these processes is often underestimated in their contribution to the required structural and functional characteristics of hippocampal neural network operative in spatial memory. We show that hippocampal astrocytes, by the secretion of gliotransmitters, such as glutamate, d-serine, and ATP and growth factors such as BDNF and by the expression of receptors and channels such as those of TNFα and aquaporin, have several diverse fuctions in spatial memory.

New role for astroglia in learning: formation of muscle memory.

Muscle memory can be described as gradual adaptation of muscles over a period of time to perform a new movement or action. Its precise mechanism is unknown; however, it is now known that when a motor skill is learned it leads to significant brain activity. Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell types in the CNS that play an associative active role with neurons in learning and memory.