Glial pathology in neuropsychiatric disorders: a brief review

Abstract

Neurons have been considered the major functional entities of the nervous system that are responsible for most of the functions even though glial cells largely outnumber them. However, recent reports have proved that glial cells do not function just like glue in the nervous system but also substantially affect neuronal function and activities, and are significantly involved in the underlying pathobiology of various psychiatric disorders. Dysfunctional astrocytes and degeneration of glial cells are postulated to be critical factors contributing to the aggravation of depressive-like symptoms in humans, which was proved using animal models. Alteration in glial cell function predominantly targets three main brain regions – the prefrontal cortex, limbic areas including the hippocampus, and the amygdala, which have been extensively studied by various researchers across the globe. These studies have postulated that failure in adopting to the changing neurophysiology due to stress will lead to regressive plasticity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, but to progressive plasticity in the amygdala. In this present review, an effort has been made to understand the different alterations in chronic stress models in correlation with clinical conditions, providing evidence on the defective maintenance of glial function and its potential role in the precipitation of neuropsychiatric disorders.

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