The brain is the ultimate control unit of the body. It conducts accurate, fast and reproducible calculations to control motor actions affecting mating, foraging and flight or fight decisions. Therefore, during evolution, better and more efficient brains have emerged. However, even simple brains are complex organs. They are formed by glial cells and neurons that establish highly intricate networks to enable information collection, processing and eventually, a precise motor control. Here, we review and connect some well-established and some hidden pieces of information to set the focus on ion homeostasis as a driving force in glial differentiation promoting signalling speed and accuracy.
Keywords: ephaptic coupling; glial differentiation; glial wrapping; myelin; voltage-gated ion channels.
© 2022 The Authors. The FEBS Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.