title: Astrocytic control of synaptic function.
abstract: Astrocytes intimately interact with synapses, both morphologically and, as evidenced in the past 20 years, at the functional level. Ultrathin astrocytic processes contact and sometimes enwrap the synaptic elements, sense synaptic transmission and shape or alter the synaptic signal by releasing signalling molecules. Yet, the consequences of such interactions in terms of information processing in the brain remain very elusive. This is largely due to two major constraints: (i) the exquisitely complex, dynamic and ultrathin nature of distal astrocytic processes that renders their investigation highly challenging and (ii) our lack of understanding of how information is encoded by local and global fluctuations of intracellular calcium concentrations in astrocytes. Here, we will review the existing anatomical and functional evidence of local interactions between astrocytes and synapses, and how it underlies a role for astrocytes in the computation of synaptic information.This article is part of the themed issue 'Integrating Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity'.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA thomas.papouin@tufts.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5288-1944
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papouin
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Jaclyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunphy
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tolman
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Department, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jeannine C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Philip G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Haydon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D002450:Cell Communication; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
keywords: gliotransmission; neuron–glia interactions; sleep; synaptic homeostasis; synaptic islands; tripartite synapse