Mar 17, 2026 · 26 min · 9 segments
We tend to think of neurons as the sole engine of our thoughts, emotions, and everything in between. For decades, a group of large brain cells called astrocytes have been thought of as mere packing…
Ingrid WickelgrenGuestSamir PatelHost
One way to think of it is that brain activity overall needs to be calibrated so that there isn't so much that it erupts in a seizure.
And so in practice, this is a chemical process in the brain that impacts a lot of neurons at once.
Interestingly, as late as 2018, there was huge controversy about whether astrocytes really played a role in any kind of information processing in the brain.
The Journal of Neuroscience in that year published competing pieces about this, and one of them basically said flat out that gliotransmission does not occur under physiological conditions.
And interestingly enough, though, this was two years after a really seminal finding in fruit flies where they essentially broke it down.
The same startle that we were talking about with a mouse also reliably produces this effect in something as different as a fruit fly.
One way to think of it is that brain activity overall needs to be calibrated so that there isn't so much that it erupts in a seizure.
And so in practice, this is a chemical process in the brain that impacts a lot of neurons at once.
Interestingly, as late as 2018, there was huge controversy about whether astrocytes really played a role in any kind of information processing in the brain.
The Journal of Neuroscience in that year published competing pieces about this, and one of them basically said flat out that gliotransmission does not occur under physiological conditions.
And interestingly enough, though, this was two years after a really seminal finding in fruit flies where they essentially broke it down.
The same startle that we were talking about with a mouse also reliably produces this effect in something as different as a fruit fly.
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3 of 7
How Fish Decide to Give Up
Brains can chemically decide when effort ends.
The Cells That Control Persistence
Astrocytes changed how fish respond to failure.
The Brain's Hidden Signal
A microscope exposed a hidden brain signal.
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