Two ISU professors have been receiving attention recently for their research on brain functions.

Vladimir Parpura, affiliated assistant professor of zoology and genetics, and Philip Haydon, professor of zoology and genetics, had their research published in the July issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Their paper, “Physiological Astrocytic Calcium Levels Stimulate Glutamate Release to Modulate Adjacent Neurons,” shows evidence that glial cells, which compose 90 percent of the human brain, play a much larger role in brain functions than previously thought, Parpura said.

“Basically, there are two types of cells — neurons and glial cells. Neurons contain neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that trigger signals to pass messages to the body,” Parpura said. “Until now, it was thought that glial cells were subservient to the neurons. We found that the glial cells are a little more active than that.”

Parpura said he and Haydon found that astrocyte, a type of glial cell, causes reactions that are a part of everyday life.

“The astrocytes release glutamate, a neurotransmitter. This reaction if a part of our lives and physiology.

“We found the release of glutamate is controlled by the amount of calcium, so we checked the calcium levels necessary for this to occur and found that they were within the normal range,” Parpura said.

“This means that the astrocytes are part of the brain’s communication network.”

Haydon said an easy way to explain this new information is to think about the ISU men’s basketball team.

“They wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did in the championship and done as well as they did without a coach. Think of the coach as the glial cell and the players as the neurons.

“For the players and the team to be successful, the coach needs to modulate them. That is how glial cells work in our brain,” he said.

Haydon also said his and Parpura’s findings have opened many new doorways to brain research.

“This is a new way to look at 90 percent of the brain. Astrocytes make up 80 of the 90 percent of the brain composed of glial cells,” he said. “Now, people are starting to think about the brain and how it functions in a different way. It’s very exciting.”

Parpura said he and Haydon have been working on their research for about two years.

Some scientists have said this research may lead to new treatments for medical conditions including stroke and epilepsy, Parpura said, but that is still far in the future.