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Astrocytic control of synaptic function.

Thomas Papouin1, Jaclyn Dunphy2, Michaela Tolman2

  • 1Neuroscience Department, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA thomas.papouin@tufts.edu.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|January 18, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Astrocytes interact with synapses, influencing brain information processing. This review explores how astrocyte-synapse interactions, despite investigation challenges, contribute to synaptic computation.

Keywords:
gliotransmissionneuron–glia interactionssleepsynaptic homeostasissynaptic islandstripartite synapse

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology
  • Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

  • Astrocytes exhibit close morphological and functional interactions with synapses.
  • Astrocytic processes ensheath synaptic elements, sensing and modulating synaptic transmission via released signaling molecules.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review anatomical and functional evidence of local astrocyte-synapse interactions.
  • To elucidate the role of astrocytes in synaptic information processing.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing anatomical and functional literature.
  • Analysis of astrocyte calcium signaling in relation to synaptic activity.

Main Results:

  • Astrocytes dynamically influence synaptic transmission through localized signaling.
  • Challenges in studying distal astrocytic processes and astrocyte calcium encoding persist.

Conclusions:

  • Astrocyte-synapse interactions are crucial for brain information processing.
  • Further research into astrocyte calcium dynamics is needed to fully understand their computational role.