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SHOULD you ever travel back in time to ancient Rome and you get a headache while you鈥檙e there, you might want to just grin and bear it. If you visit a doctor, he will likely go to his saltwater tank, carefully scoop up an electric fish, and press it to your forehead in the hope of shocking the headache out of you.

This is one of the examples uses to guide us through the history of the brain, showing how, when it comes to understanding our own grey matter, we are so easily led astray.

In the study of brain cells, neurons have always hogged the limelight, even though glial cells make up 90 per cent of the brain. This, Koob says, is the origin of the myth that we only use 10 per cent of our brains. For years, were thought to serve as little more than scaffolding to hold the brain together. Now scientists are realising that they might underlie our dreams and imagination. They might even hold the key to curing diseases like Alzheimer鈥檚 and 笔补谤办颈苍蝉辞苍鈥檚.

Why has this notable cell been ignored for so long? Koob tackles this question with remarkable clarity. From the ancient Greeks to today鈥檚 leading neuroscientists, Koob provides a fascinating round-up of the events that have led to the silencing of the glia.

For instance, , a scientist working at the turn of the 20th century and considered the forefather of the neuron, was competitive with his colleagues, including fellow Nobel laureate . Had the two not been so eager to prove one another wrong about how neurons work, they may have noticed the significance of the glia.

Today, glial cells are known to be involved with both cell regeneration and cell death in the brain, Koob explains. Their destructive side is perhaps most intriguing. Koob describes them as a guerrilla army setting up shop in your skull, 鈥渨rapping themselves around blood vessels and consuming all the energy and oxygen meant to keep your brain healthy鈥�. If we can unlock their secrets, perhaps we will also find the key to curing brain diseases.

For anyone with an interest in neuroscience, Koob鈥檚 ability to dip in and out of history without losing sight of his destination, together with the odd sprinkling of comedy, makes this a very enjoyable read.

Glial cells are remarkable 鈥� perhaps even, as the title suggests, the root of thought. 鈥淓instein鈥檚 brain,鈥� Koob notes, 鈥渨as discovered to contain significantly more glia than normal brains in the left angular gyrus, an area thought to be responsible for mathematical processing and language.鈥� No matter what scientists uncover, though, it is clear that the brain is a far more subtle structure than the neural lightning storm it was once thought to be.