Despite everything that has been written about the brain, a very 聽important part of this vital organ has been overlooked in most books - 聽until now. The Other Brain is the story of glia, which make up 聽approximately 85 percent of the cells in the brain. Long neglected as 聽little more than cerebral packing material ("glia" means glue), glia are 聽sparking a revolution in brain science.

Glia are completely 聽different from neurons, the brain cells that we are familiar with. 聽Scientists are discovering that glia have their own communication 聽network, which operates in parallel to the more familiar communication 聽among neurons. Glia provide the insulation for the neurons, and glia 聽even regulate the flow of information between neurons.

But it is 聽the potential breakthroughs for medical science that are the most 聽exciting frontier in glia research today. Diseases such as brain cancer 聽and multiple sclerosis are caused by diseased glia. Glia are now 聽believed to play an important role in such psychiatric illnesses as 聽schizophrenia and depression, and in neurodegenerative diseases such as 聽Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. They are linked to infectious diseases such 聽as HIV and prion disease (mad cow disease, for example) and to chronic 聽pain. Scientists have discovered that glia repair the brain and spinal 聽cord after injury and stroke. The more we learn about these cells that 聽make up the "other" brain, the more important they seem to be.

Written by a neuroscientist who is a leader in the research to reveal the secrets of these brain cells, The Other Brain offers a firsthand account of science in action. It takes us into the 聽laboratories where important discoveries are being made, and it explains 聽how scientists are learning that glial cells come in different types, 聽with different capabilities. It tells the story of glia research from 聽its origins to the most recent discoveries and gives readers a much more 聽complete understanding of how the brain works.