When researchers learned about the brain, they wanted to know about neurons! It was what everyone was interested in and the focus when it came to seeing the activity of the brain and how it functions. The truth is that neurons only constitute 15% of brain cell and the rest is made up of glia cells or "glue" cells. They were named like that because it was believed that they were the glue that held the neurons together but recent discoveries and research show that they do much more and that idea is non-existent now.
Because neurons communicate through electrical activity and glia don't, neuroscientist over looked glia cells. The way that they studied activity in the brain was via electrodes that recorded electrical activity between neurons. Now, they have found new ways to study communication between glia cells and neurons like "laser and video microscopes". This is a breakthrough in the processing of brain function and a eye opener of how much more we can learn about the complexity of our brain. Dr. Douglas Fields is one of the leaders neuroscientists who have taken the challenge of understanding the role of glia cells and how important it might be for future understanding of behavior and brain functions. He has recently written a book named The Other Brain. The following video is him explaining glia cells:
Norma, I found your post very interesting because our brain is what helps us control our activities, responses to stimulus, and many other functions that are crucial to us, and it is important to know what our brain is composed of and what are their functions in order to figure out what changes should be made if there is a problem with a part of the brain or to see how the brain (or parts of it) react in response to a stimulus reaction.
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