Glial cells and the Integrity of the CNS -- NG2-glia: More than Progenitor Cells -- Pharmacological tools to study the role of astrocytes in neural network function -- "Microglia function in the normal brainy -- Physiological functions of glial cell hemichannels -- Role of astrocytes in central respiratory chemoreception -- Purine signaling and microglial wrapping -- Oligodendrocytes, functioning in a delicate balance between high metabolic requirements and oxidative damage -- Schwann cell and axon: an interlaced unit, from action potential to phenotype expression -- Age-dependent changes in the activation and regulation of microglia -- Astrocyte dysfunction in developmental neurometabolic diseases -- Microglia in cancer: for good or for bad? -- Peripheral inflammation and demyelinating diseases -- Regulation of oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination by nuclear receptors: role in neurodegenerative disorders -- The Role of Galectin-3: from Oligodendroglial Differentiation and Myelination to Demyelination and Remyelination Processes in a Cuprizone-Induced Demyelination Model -- Prenatal systemic hypoxia-ischemia and oligodendroglia loss in cerebellum

A timely overview covering the three major types of glial cells in the central nervous system - astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes. New findings on glia biology are overturning a century of conventional thinking about how the brain operates and are expanding our knowledge about information processing in the brain. The book will present recent research findings on the role of glial cells in both healthy function and disease. It will comprehensively cover a broad spectrum of topics while remaining compact in size.