Just in case you didn’t know, it seems that astrocytes play a crucial role in regulating behavior. Check out the latest reports about the matter below.
Astrocytes and behavior changes are connected
According to the latest reports coming from NeuroScienceNews, it looks like experts managed to make a groundbreaking discovery regarding the identification of a unique group of astrocytes.
These are located in the brain’s central striatum – this plays an essential role in regulating behaviors such as the ones involved by neuropsychiatric disorders.
Such a subset of astrocytes is expressed by the gene Crym, coding for μ-crystallin, a protein associated with various human diseases.
In a recent study, researchers experimentally reduced the expression of Crym in astrocytes in mice.
The study found that this led to an increase in repetitive behaviors in the mice, which is similar to perseveration seen in humans with conditions like autism and OCD.
This finding challenges the traditional neuron-centric view of brain function and opens up new possibilities for developing targeted treatments for specific astrocyte populations.
Some important key facts that are worth mentioning, according to the scientific publication that we mentioned before are the following:
“Discovery of Behavior-Regulating Astrocytes: Researchers identified astrocytes expressing the Crym gene in the central striatum as key players in behavior regulation.
Link to Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Reduced expression of Crym in these astrocytes led to behaviors in mice that mirror human perseveration, associated with disorders such as autism and OCD.
Potential for New Therapies: The findings offer a new target for developing therapies aimed at alleviating symptoms of various neuropsychiatric conditions by modulating astrocyte function.”
According to the same reports, the study, published in the journal Nature, focused on a group of cells known as astrocytes – star-shaped cells that tile the central nervous system and more than that, offer a support structure for the neural communication networks.
