As our brains develop, cells within it ‘eat’ neuronal elements to clear out debris, pathogens and help improve efficiency. A recent study showed that motor learning in mice helped enhance the engulfing of synapses by Bergmann glial cells.

Tohoku University researchers have shown that Bergmann glial cells, astrocyte-like cells in the cerebellum, ‘eat’ their neighboring neuronal elements within healthy living brain tissue.

Synapses — structures that allow neurons to pass signals to one another — are regularly pruned throughout a brain’s development to improve its efficiency. Disruption of this is thought to lead to various brain disorders.

The researchers’ findings, which were detailed in the journal Nature Neuroscience, discovered that Bergmann glial engulfing of synapses was enhanced during motor learning in mice’s cerebellum, an important brain region for learning.

Moreover, pharmacological blocking this engulfment inhibited synaptic structural changes, resulting in part of the learning and memory process being lost.

Glial cells, non-neuronal cells occupying about half of the brain, were previously believed to be like glue — merely filling the gap between neurons. However, recent findings show that glia encode information in their own unique way.

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