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Astrocytes are the most abundant cells in the human brain
In this image, star-shaped glia cells called astrocytes (red) are the most abundant cells in the human brain. Young oligodendrocytes (green) are glia that help insulate nerve cell axons. The blue cells are neurons. Recent research suggests that glia play a vital role in brain cell communication and perhaps in the development of human intelligence.
[The U.S. National Science Foundation supported a workshop in 2013 (grant SMA 1258562) which enabled researchers who study learning and memory to get together (many for the first time) and reconsider the function of glia.]
Learn more in the NSF Discovery story The beautiful brain cells you don't know about. (Date of Image: unknown) (Date added to Multimedia Gallery: Sept. 30, 2014)
Credit: Jonathan Cohen, National Institutes of Health
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