Brain's connective cells are much more than glue: Glia cells also regulate learning and memory. Glia cells, named for the Greek word for "glue," hold the brain's neurons together and protect the cells that determine our thoughts and behaviors, but scientists have long puzzled over their prominence in the activities of the brain dedicated to learning and memory. Now Tel Aviv University researchers say that glia cells are central to the brain's plasticity -- how the brain adapts, learns, and stores information. According to Ph.D. student Maurizio De Pittà of TAU's Schools of Physics and Astronomy and Electrical Engineering, glia cells do much more than hold the brain together. A mechanism within the glia cells also sorts information for learning purposes, De Pittà says. Banishing consciousness: the mystery of anaesthesia - health - 29 November 2011. Read full article Continue reading page |1|2|3 I WALK into the operating theatre feeling vulnerable in a draughty gown and surgical stockings.
Two anaesthetists in green scrubs tell me to stash my belongings under the trolley and lie down. Giant planet ejected from the solar system.