The Brain's Silent Majority

Glial cells make up almost 90% of the brain, yet these cells have been a mystery to scientist for many years. Once thought of as just "nerve cement" there is now evidence that glial cells do much more. The new evidence in astrocytes, a certain type of glial cell, is shedding new light on how neurons actually work and how neurodegenerative diseases happen.

This article is very interesting as it concentrates on the 90% of the brain that most people don't know about. As you go up the evoltionary complexity ladder, the more complex the organism, the more glial cells they have. If the scientific community can figure out exactly the role glial cells play in the brain, there may be substantial breakthroughs in treating diseases such as Alzheimers, ALS, glaucoma, MS, and many others.

Link
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3ZeMYw/stanmed.stanford.edu/2009fall/article6.html

http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2009fall/article6.html