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.
