星形胶质细胞与意识形成的关系

Relationship between astrocytes and consciousness formation

星形胶质细胞以往被认为在中枢神经系统中仅起到支持和营养神经元的作用，但新近研究发现星形胶质细胞还参与突触前神经元神经递质释放过程，并能够同时接收、整合相邻神经元多个突触的神经信号。本文总结了星形胶质细胞参与影响突触信号传递的相关研究，从星形胶质细胞兴奋性、与神经元间的信号联系和全身麻醉药物对星形胶质细胞的作用等方面，分析星形胶质细胞的功能与全身麻醉意识消失机制之间可能存在的联系。

Astrocytes were traditionally be deemed as supportive cells in the central nervous system. However, recent researches proved astrocytes exerted more important neurophysiologieal functions, such as regulation of synaptie transmission and integration of neural information. This paper summarized the researches on the functions of astrocytes related to synaptic transmission and analyzed the new features of astrocyte excitability, the communication between neurons and astrocytes and the effect of general anesthetics on astrocytes. Based on these new findings, this paper also suggested the underlying relationship between astrocytes and the loss of consciousness during general anesthesia.