The memory orchestra: the role of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in parallel to neurons

• Published in: Current opinion in neurobiology Vol. 67; pp. 131 - 137
• Main Authors: Kol, Adi, Goshen, Inbal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2021
• Subjects: Astrocytes; Memory; Neuroglia; Neurons; Oligodendroglia
• ISSN: 0959-4388; 1873-6882; 1873-6882
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.10.022

•Astrocytes and OLs affect the formation of short-term, recent and remote memory.•Both cell types affect hippocampal and prefrontal communications.•Astrocytes are involved in memory allocation.•OLs shape circuit behavior through tuning of conduction velocity. For decades, the study of memory has been neuron-centric, yet neurons do not function in isolation. Today we know that neuronal activity is modulated by the environment within which it occurs, and is subject to modulation by different types of glial cells. In this review we summarize recent findings on the functional roles of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, two major types of glia cells in the adult brain, in memory formation and its cellular underpinnings across multiple time points. We will discuss the different methods that are being used to investigate the astrocytic and oligodendroglial involvement in memory. We shall focus on chemogenetics and optogenetics, which support genetically specificity and high spatiotemporal resolution, attributes that are particularly well suited to the investigation of the contribution of unique cell types at the different stages of memory formation.