from a brain-cell glue to an electric transmitter, these small but mighty cells have a variety of functions and shapes despite all belonging to the category of non-neuronal cells known as glia. named for the Greek word γλοία (glue) by the pathologist rudolf Virchow in 1856, these ever-moving cells were expected to be a connective tissue, and were discovered, with advancing scientific tools, to be connective in that they share information and hold together neurons, but are by no means tissue.

glia have four main functions: they encapsulate and hold in place each and every neuron, they supply the nutrients we eat and the oxygen we breathe to the neurons, they act as an insulator to keep the individual neurons from meeting one another, and they maintain a clean site in the brain, destroying pathogens and removing dead neurons. glia also play roles in breathing, synaptic connections, neurotransmission, and various other forms of bodily processes. for every neuron, there is roughly one glia.

glia

transmission, provision, destruction

The creation and development of new neurons. The formation of the critical Myelin sheath that envelops each neuron. The cells that transmit every action of every neuron. the single-cell units known as glia are the messengers that carry and facilitate the creation of every thought, movement, and memory in your mind and body.