effects of glial cells on learning and memory
Kauferâs lab focused on neural stem cells in the hippocampus of the brains of adult rats under acute or chronic stress. These stem cells were previously thought to mature only into neurons or a type of glial cell called an astrocyte.However, the researchers found that chronic stress made stem cells in the hippocampus mature into another type of glial cell called an oligodendrocyte, which produces the myelin that sheaths nerve cells.hronic stress decreases the number of stem cells that mature into neurons and might provide an explanation for how chronic stress also affects learning and memory, according to the researchers. âUsually the brain doesnât make much oligodendrocytes in adulthood from those neural stem cells,â according to Kaufer.