Relationship between astrocytes and consciousness formation / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Astrocytes were traditionally be deemed as supportive cells in the central nervous system.However,recent researches proved astrocytes exerted more important neurophysiological functions,such as regulation of synaptic transmission and integration of neural information.This paper summarized the researches on the functions of astrocytes related to synaptic transmission and analyzed the new features of astrocyte excitability,the communication between neurons and astrocytes and the effect of general anesthetics on astrocytes.Based on these new findings,this paper also suggested the underlying relationship between astrocytes and the loss of consciousness during general anesthesia.