How Do Glial Cells Affect Our Nervous System?

Our bodies are made up of many different components, but our nervous system has cells that serve as protective barriers for our bodies. Glial cells do not directly participate in our synaptic interaction and electrical signs. Their function is mainly to support function in order to define contacts and maintain signaling abilities in neurons. There are too many “glia” to count in our nervous system. These cell are much smaller than a neuron, and do not have axons or dendrites. The term “glia” (from the Greek word meaning “glue”) reflects the nineteenth-century presumption that these cells held the nervous system together in some way. This word has lived on through the years although it has never been proven that binding cells together is in any way their main jobs. …show more content…
(NCBI Bookshelf .A service of the Nation Library of Medicine.)Astrocytes are mainly restricted to the brain and spinal cord. Their main function is to keep chemical environments for neuronal signaling balanced. Oligodendrocytes are our lipid-rich wrapping found in our nervous systems. Myelin has important effects on the speed of action potential conduction. Microglial cells are much smaller cells derived from hematopoietic stem cells. These cells have a lot in common with macrophage tissue. They are basically scavenger cells which remove cellular debris from any site of injuries or normal cell turnover. Many microbiologists consider these cells as a type of macrophage. Whenever we have a severe or traumatic brain injury, our bodies produce more of these cells in order to compensate for the overwhelming damage done to our brain and body. Our bodies require constant maintenance that all of these amazing little cells work together constantly to maintain. (Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, et al., editors. Neuroscience. 2nd edition. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates;