title: A New Outlook on Mental Illnesses: Glial Involvement Beyond the Glue.
abstract: Mental illnesses have long been perceived as the exclusive consequence of abnormalities in neuronal functioning. Until recently, the role of glial cells in the pathophysiology of mental diseases has largely been overlooked. However recently, multiple lines of evidence suggest more diverse and significant functions of glia with behavior-altering effects. The newly ascribed roles of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia have led to their examination in brain pathology and mental illnesses. Indeed, abnormalities in glial function, structure and density have been observed in postmortem brain studies of subjects diagnosed with mental illnesses. In this review, we discuss the newly identified functions of glia and highlight the findings of glial abnormalities in psychiatric disorders. We discuss these preclinical and clinical findings implicating the involvement of glial cells in mental illnesses with the perspective that these cells may represent a new target for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Maha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elsayed
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroenergetics and Cellular Dynamics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneLausanne, Switzerland; Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwal, Saudi Arabia; Department of Psychiatry, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, University of LausanneLausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pierre J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Magistretti
keywords: NG2 glia; astrocyte; cognition; glia; microglia; mood; oligodendrocyte; psychiatric disorder