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Brain modulation achieved with biophysical approaches has a huge potential in order to enhance, rescue and modulate cognitive functions. On this regards, the brain modulation approaches has been always focused on neurons. However, studies over the past four decades have lighten-up the attention of neuroscientist towards the role of astrocytes in brain functions at multiple spatio-temporal scales and raised questions on the limits of the classical Neurocentric vision of the brain function. Accordingly, the role of ions, water and structural dynamics of astrocytes is assuming relevance for brain communication processes, typically univocally assigned to neurons. A major obstacle in studying astrocytes is that most of the technologies used to probe and sense them are derived from those developed to study neurons.
In this presentation, I will review the results from my laboratory for Glial Interfaces and Engineering obtained by highly collaborative, truly multidisciplinary, international EU and non-EU countries research effort enabled by the support of AFOSR-Biophysics Program, and more recently, leveraging funding from EU-MSCA. I will overview insight on mechanism underpinning the ability of astrocytes to sense, transduce and respond to chemo-physical stimuli and to communicate with neurons, achieved by pioneered use of materials interface, technologies and approaches ad hoc tailored to stimulate, monitor and modulate the structure and function of astrocytes.
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