[a-priori]

I didn't think this was new... I remember hearing about this effect last year and having it attributed to Oligodendrocytes, I believe.

That said, it's a very important development, because until the last few years the glial cells have mostly been considered to be support cells (e.g. supplying nutrients to the neurons, removing waste products and dead cells, myelinating axons, etc.). But, now we know that they can affect the surrounding neurons and may play a role in things like learning and memory.

[ihodes]

This article was from last year (don't know if it's the one you're thinking of), but the paper just theorizes that glia may be involved in the described mechanism.

I think we can be fairly certain that glial cells are involved in neuronal communications, but I'd not say this paper at all proves that.

[a-priori]

Now that I think about it, I believe I was remembering an interview on the Brain Science podcast with Douglas Fields[1], author of The Other Brain[2].

So sorry, but I don't have primary sources for what I said in my earlier comment...

[1]: http://www.brainsciencepodcast.com/bsp/2010/5/12/exploring-g...

[2]: http://theotherbrainbook.com/

[ihodes]

Oh there have definitely been studies on it (a good review: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2062484/), and without a doubt they communicate. It's just that this paper didn't really address that.

What was remarkable about this paper was that they demonstrated action potentials (basically, the neuron's relative charge depolarizing) could start not only in the soma, but in the axon.