Feature

Gray Matters

Neurons get top billing, but lesser-known brain cells also star

By Jessa Netting

- More than 2 years ago

Find your audience. Make a connection. Communicate the message. Like a performer or politician, a nerve cell knows how to make an impression. But is someone pulling the strings behind the scenes?

Steve Goldman

Human astrocytes, like this one grown in culture, extend their branches and touch nerve synapses, modifying nerve function. Steve Goldman

Astrocytes, like these in a slice from a rat brain, wrap the footlike ends of their branches around capillaries (arrow).