Many a time I've heard that we only use 10% of our brains. Now when I first heard this years ago I accepted it. I did not question it because I trusted the source that was feeding me that information. Well, time has passed since then and I have come to learn that you can't trust everything you hear or read. I've learned that the only true sources to trust for information are from the direct source or researcher. Even at that there is always room for human error.
Nonetheless, I reach my topic. Our text
Biological Psychology, 11th Edition by Kalat has a brief portion in chapter two dedicated to the discussion of glia. What is glia you might ask? Well friends glia (also known as neuroglia) are a type of cell in the nervous system that have several functions. To date there are five types of glia that scientists have named, they are as follows:
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| Astrocytes |
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| Microglia |
- Astrocytes are star shaped and wrap around the presynaptic terminals of a group of axons who relate functionally.
- Microglia are microscopic in size as their name hints who remove waste material along with viruses, fungi and other microorganisms.
- Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells are briefly mentioned in the text as cells that aid in the production of the myelin sheath which covers the axons.
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| Oligodendrocytes |
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| Radial Glia at work |
- Radial Glia are especially important during embryonic development because they guide the migration of neurons and their systems. After embryonic development they themselves mature into either neurons or other forms of glia.
In a
lecture by Dr. Doug Fields he goes into further detail about the importance of glia cells. What really intrigued me about his lecture is his enthusiasm about the topic. That captured my attention because for the longest time neurologists have thought that the most important part of the brain are the neurons. One of the first things Dr. Fields mentions is that the human brain is 10% to 15% composed of neurons. The remaining percentage is glia. Now glia are still very new to the field of neurology because there is still so much to be learned about them, mostly due to our inability to study them in the brain. Hopefully as science progresses we will be able to better understand them and their over all importance.
So the idea that we only use 10% of our brains still remains to be refuted and proved. I hope that comes sooner than later. Time only knows how many lives depend on it.
Mariza i loved the title of your topic! It's very catchy! I also believed we only used 10 percent of our brain since that's the percentage of the brain neurons make up for. However, after seeing the lecture of Dr. Fields who knew glia cells played a huge role in different mental disorders. This was an interesting video because I didn't know the important role glia cells played to certain psychological disorders such as schizophrenia. Hopefully, sooner than later scientist will be able to give us a better explanation as to why only 10 percent of our brain is being used, or maybe even refute this possibility since research in the importance of glia cells is shocking the scientific world each time.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting, I have heard the same thing all my life and believed that source as well. Of course, this was before all the new research technology we have now too. I like the idea of glia being an added source of our brain and ways we use it. I hope too that more information can come back from researching further because I believe we are more than just that 10%!
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