Microglia Essay

The glia cells are one of the most common cell types in the brain that play a very important role in the neuronal functioning. The glia cells can be divided in to three groups that differ in structure and function: microglia, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Several studies showed that there is an involvement of the glia cells in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders, but in this paper the focus lays on the microglia cells (10). The microglia act as the macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS) (11). Recent studies showed that the microglia play a key role in the process of brain development. They contribute to the control of pattering and wiring in the development of the CNS. Pardo et al. and Morgan et al. showed that microglia density is increased in autism and schizophrenia. …show more content…
The reason for the increase of microglia cells can be due to the neuronal dysfunction, or that microglia operate as the mediators of the disorder or both (12, 13). The main function of oligodendroglia is the production and maintenance of myelin in the CNS. It also express muscarinic acetylcholine subtypes (14). The last group of glia cells, the astrocytes has numerous functions in the CNS. An important function is the role in synaptic transmission and information processing (15, 16). In the early stages of development, the radial glia cells that are present transform to astrocytes after neuronal migration is complete. Next to the main groups, glia cells exist also in specialize forms like the ependyma and Schwann cells. In the early stages of neural development the radial glia cells play a crucial role in the neuron-glia interaction during the