What did Alice found in the marvellous land of ponderland?
She learned how complex her brain was!
Before falling down
the rabbit hole she believed that it was mostly neurons forming the most part
of her brain, allowing it to function. But Oh! Once down there she discovered a
new group of cells which called themselves the neuroglia. Cells like
oligodendrocytes and astrocytes were actually the carers of the neurons,
supporting them and regulating their behaviour. They were in fact more numerous
than the neurons themselves! Amazingly Alice also found out that these cells had
a bad side too: they were involved in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease…
There is definitely still a lot to learn about our brains
and surely every quest will always be a wonderful adventure!