Abstract
Psychiatric diseases are brain diseases and in many cases they are associated with the abnormality in the neuron or neuronal circuit. Recently, however, glial cells have been shown to play important roles in exerting higher brain functions and thus it is possible that defects in glial function to result in the abnormal brain function, resulting in the development of psychiatric diseases. Here I focus on the oligodendrocyte, the myelin forming cells of the central nervous system. Myelinated fibers form the brain white matter, which has been thought to be merely a pathway between the neurons, residing in the grey matter. This scheme has been challenged by the findings that 1) oligodendrocytes regulate the conduction velocity even after myelination is completed 2) evidences are accumulating showing the connection between the white matter abnormality and psychiatric diseases. It is now inevitable to study the utility of demyelinating disease therapy on the treatment of psychiatric diseases. In this review I will discuss about the integration of information passing through different pathway in the white matter and its relationship to the development of psychiatric diseases.
