Abstract
This chapter discusses the relation between the electrophysiological properties of glial cells in the brain in situ, the properties of the extracellular space and synaptic and volume transmission in the central nervous system (CNS). It has shown that they have distinct electrophysiological and morphological properties, and that they play an important role in different brain functions, a role that was for many years under-estimated.
Astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the extracellular space express voltage, as well as ligandactivated currents that are involved in the maintenance of ionic and volume homeostasis as well as neuronal functions, in the release of neuroactive substances, in energy metabolism, in synaptic transmission and in volume transmission. However, to fully understand how glial cells participate in neuronal signaling, recent studies of glial cells have focused on their role during pathological states, such as anoxia and ischemia, during neurodegenerative diseases, in brain tumors and during aging and regeneration of the nervous tissue.
Such research should help to elucidate the complex relationship between neurons and glial cells in normal, as well as pathologically altered nervous tissue and to establish new transplantation and regeneration procedures in the treatment of the CNS diseases.