Letter to the Editor (the other cells in your brain)
Reviewed August 2026
Have you ever watched a child wildly cartwheeling across a field? Ponder the contrast with someone who is placing their feet mindfully as they cross the same field, fearful of miss-stepping.
There are many, many, differences between these two brains. Some differences might be age, experience, wisdom...wear and tear, headspace or the hot coffee one might be trying to balance along the way.
A more discrete comparison – one person, before and after a car accident where they suffered a whiplash event that impacted their neck. Before the motor vehicle accident (MVA) there is a freedom of movement and full pain free range of movement (ROM) in their neck. Without good care and advice after the MVA, three months later the person may still have pain and less ROM in their neck.
What's the difference here? Three months after the MVA the tissues should be healed, so it's not damaged muscles or ligaments. Yes, it could be the brain playing it safe and stopping the person challenging those healed tissues by making them feel pain before they can get to the full ROM [to read more about this see our Blog on pain]. Or it could be that the editors in the brain have had a field day tidying up and the brain no longer knows that the original full ROM movements are even an option any more.
We are born with 100 billion cells in our brain. That's as many cells as there are stars in the Milky Way. The cells of the brain can be loosely divided into two types: neurons which carry messages around our brain and through or bodies; and glia cells (including astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes) which support and maintain the neurons and the synapses (connections) between them. The glia cells make up 70-90% of the cells in the brain.
At birth the number of synapses per neuron is 2,500, but by age 2-3 years it's about 15,000 per neuron (1). Memories, knowledge and experiences are stored in those synapses. Our brains learn so much in those first few years. The brain then eliminates connections that are seldom or never used, this is a normal part of brain development. It is the glia cells that do this editing.
In the course of growing up and living life, the glia cells edit out connections between nerves and complete neural pathways when they're not being used. So much so that the adult brain (50+) has lost 14 billion neurons over the course of time and is left with about 86 billion neurons. [As an aside, 14 billion neurons are about the total you'd find in a baboon's head, or about half the number you would find in a gorilla's brain. It's a significant number of cells (3).]
The synapses between the neurons in our brain involve four to five cells. It is in groups of these intricate communications that our memories are laid down. The ones that are revisited lots and involve the most sensory inputs are reinforced and kept by our glia cells. The memories that are not revisited may be edited out by glia cells instead (2). Incidentally, this maintenance of our neural network happens while we sleep – another important function of sleeping.
So, back to our cartwheeler vs coffee balancer and the pre/post MVA neck. A major difference in both cases is the number of connections in the brain. In both comparisons the former has more neural connections than the latter. The coffee balancer may remember cartwheeling in their youth, but that particular coordinated pattern of movements has been edited from their brain through lack of use. During the recovery from whiplash, the post MVA brain has edited full ROM out as an option because the neck has been kept still while the tissues are healing. The coffee balancer and the post MVA neck just don't have the knowledge re how to do what they used to do. In fact, their brains have forgotten those movements are possible.
This is part of the reason why, unless we work at keeping our bodies mobile and active, we lose the full range of movement and function that we had as children. Our glia cells edit out the options while we sleep because we're not using them.
Now, the coffee drinker may not be bothered at all by the idea that their cartwheeling days are done. The person belonging to the post whiplash neck, however, I'm sure they would like to return to normal neck ROM and function. The good news is, this is possible. The brain can be reminded that normal ROM is possible, it can be retaught and the glia cells can recreate the patterns and pathways of normal neck movement again in that person's brain. This is a slow and steady process that requires guidance from a trained professional (chiro, physio) and chiropractic adjustments provide great novel stimuli to the brain which promotes the changes in neuroplasticity in the brain needed to achieve good ROM in the neck again.
This editing by glia cells can affect any function of the brain if you don't keep using those pathways. Physical skills, memories, the ability to speak another language, how to do the Rubik's cube or long division, even a person's optimism – all are at risk. If you get into ruts of thinking or tell yourself a particular thing all the time your brain starts to consider that thought a fact, when often it's just a thought, and there may be other valid perspectives. If you limit yourself to only one sequence of movements then eventually your brain will edit out any other kinds of movement.
Don't let glia cells edit out all your options. Stay mobile, stay active and stimulate your brain each day. Variety and new experiences keep your brain lively, they keep the editing glia cells building possibilities rather than closing doors. So, if you want to be able to sit on the floor with ease and grace to play with grandchildren one day, keep sitting on the floor – reinforce those neural pathways that are an asset to your life! If you'd like to increase the possibilities for movement, have a word with one of our chiropractors at the Adelaide Chiropractic Centre and work with the neuroplasticity of your brain to achieve those changes.
References
(1) https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/4356e/
(2) Professor Mark Hutchinson (neuroscientist), EP3 April 2016 (manual page 33, 38)
(3) https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/feb/28/how-many-neurons-human-brain