Glial cells are the most abundant type of cell in the central nervous system and provide support to neurons. Researchers looked at one specific type of glial cell, the astrocytes, and found that when those cells overproduce a certain protein, it can have a negative effect on memory and recall. It is this type of memory loss that’s common in Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. Contrastly, decreasing the same protein led to an increase in memory.