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Ependymal cell
Make it clearer
The ependymal cell is a glial cell, that is, one of the support cells of the nervous system, the ones that accompany neurons without being neurons. Its place is the lining: it covers the inside of the ventricles, which are the central cavities of the brain. The ependyma is the tiling that lines the inside of the brain's cavities.
In one specific area it also does something else. In the choroid plexus, a specialized structure inside the ventricles, ependymal cells touch blood vessels and filter components of the blood. That is where cerebrospinal fluid comes from, the fluid that circulates through the central nervous system.
That fluid fills the ventricular system, which has four cavities: two lateral ventricles, one in each hemisphere; the third, in the diencephalon; and the fourth, in the hindbrain, the lower back part of the brain.
In brief
The ependymal cell is a glial cell that lines the ventricles of the brain.
The ependyma is the tiling that lines the inside of the brain's cavities.
In the choroid plexus, these cells contact blood vessels and filter components of the blood to produce cerebrospinal fluid.
That fluid fills the ventricular system: two lateral ventricles, the third in the diencephalon, and the fourth in the hindbrain.
Sources (2)
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityAnatomy and Physiology 2e, 12.2 Nervous TissuePublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingNeuroanatomy, Ventricular System, StatPearlsPublished
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