NeuroGLIA Consortium: neuron-astroglia in brain function and dysfunction

Interviews and press coverage

Interview for Neurologie, "Biologie van epilepsie uitgeplozen" (1:4-7, 2009)

Interview for AMC magazine, "Met hersen cellen Europa in: overprikkeld door onstekingsreacties" (2: 14-15, 2/2009) • www

Interview for uni-bonn TV,
"Glia-Zellen kommunizieren" (26/11/2008)

Article in Bild der Wissenschaft, "Neue Stars am Hirnforscherhimmel" (9/2008: 20-26) • • www

Short introduction of the "Neurogliaproject" in Epilepsie, a periodic for professionals (4:4, 2008)

Main Publications

The NeuroGLIA consortium has produced the following publications acknowledging the European Community's FP7 support:

Additional Publications

During the existence of the consortium, the various members of NeuroGLIA have also produced the following publications:

UPCOMING events

Symposia

The NeuroGLIA Consortium is organising a Satellite Symposium at the next FENS Forum. The symposium is entitled
Neuron-astrocyte signaling in the epileptic brain
and will be chaired by Eleonora Aronica and Christian Steinhäuser.
3-7 July 2010, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
FREE ADMISSION
See this document for more information.

PAST events

Consortium meetings

3rd NeuroGLIA Scientific meeting
12-13 October 2009, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2nd NeuroGLIA Scientific meeting
8-9 February 2009, Madrid, Spain

1st NeuroGLIA Scientific meeting
20-21 April 2008, Padua, Italy

Official NeuroGLIA kickoff meeting
25 January 2008, Bonn, Germany
Download the brochure.

Symposia

The NeuroGLIA Consortium organised a symposium at the American Society for Neurochemistry meeting. The symposium was entitled
Neuron-astroglia interactions in brain function and dysfunction
and was chaired by Giorgio Carmignoto and Christian Steinhäuser.
6-10 March 2010, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
See the ASN website for more information.

Courses & Workshops

FENS School on Neuron-Glia Interactions

Scientific Coordinators:
Dionysia T. Theodosis (Bordeaux, France) and
Christian Steinhäuser (Bonn, Germany)

19-24 October 2007, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Additional information is available at the school's website.

Nerve cells of the brain signal to each other by special contact sites, the so-called synapses. It is the activity of this complex neuronal network in our brains which makes us think, decide, learn and remember. If this activity gets out of balance and becomes too strong, it may ultimately cause seizures and lead to a condition called epilepsy.

For a long time, neurons were thought to exclusively do the job of information processing, even though the majority of cells found in the brain are not neurons, but so-called glial cells. Indeed, recent work on neuroglial cell physiology showed these cells are much more actively involved in brain information processing than previously anticipated. This finding has stimulated the novel view that the brain should no longer be regarded solely as a neuronal network, but instead as a circuit of interactive neuron and glial cell networks. In particular the so-called astroglia links neurons to the blood vessels, from which they receive their energy, and are in very close contact to neuronal synapses. In fact, they can sense neuronal activity and can even talk back to the neurons and thereby control the way neurons talk to each other via their synapses.

NeuroGLIA represents a concerted effort of leading European research groups dedicated to increase our knowledge on glial function and to unravel the role of neuron-glia interaction in the healthy and diseased brain. Among other findings, we have described distinct types of astroglial cells in the mouse and human brain with different properties, a role for substances released from astrocytes in the control of synaptic signalling (the so-called gliotransmitters), astrocytic control of blood flow and functional changes of astrocytes in epilepsy. Thus, a clear involvement of astroglial cells not only in normal functioning of the brain but also in neurological disorders is now gradually emerging.