Figure 1.

Simplified illustration of astrocyte-synapse interactions in the human cortex. A) Interlaminar astrocytes (orange) in layer 1 project into multiple layers of the human cortex though the functional consequence remains unknown. B) Large and complex protoplasmic astrocytes (green) signal between the vasculature (red) and synaptic space of possibly millions of synapses per astrocyte domain. C) Synaptic formation (inhibitory neurons in blue, excitatory neuron in yellow) and transmission is dynamically regulated by closely apposed perisynaptic processes.