Astroglial modulation of synaptic transmission.

Brain astrocytes appear as a class of cells with the capacity to produce integrated responses to multiple stimuli. The cells interact dynamically with neurons, sense and support synaptic transmission. The anatomy of the cells, their formation of an electrically coupled syncytium with long-distance, slow speed transfer of information within the syncytium together with their well-developed capacity for cell volume regulation, and thereby an indirect influence on extracellular volume, has made us put forward the possibility that this syncytium constitutes an extraneuronal system for excitability control.