Adam R

Abstract Despite major advances in cardiac care and decades of research, neurodevelopmental (ND) outcomes among children with congenital heart disease (CHD) have shown little improvement over time, substantial variability in outcomes remains unexplained, and prediction of individual developmental trajectories remains limited.

Multiple sclerosis is a disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) in which autoreactive immune cells migrate through a damaged blood brain barrier, resulting in focal demyelinating lesions. Beyond focal lesions, there are also diffuse surface-in gradients of pathology in MS, wherein damage is most severe directly adjacent to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-contacting surfaces, such as the subpial and periventricular areas.

1. Introduction Modern cellular neuroscience has turned the spotlight on glial cells, and delineated their varied and critical roles in brain function and disease (Duncan et al., 2022). Yet, one glial cell, called the ependymal cell, has yet to be investigated to nearly the same extent as its other glial counterparts. Ependymal cells make up the ependyma, which is a ciliated epithelial barrier that separates the cavities of the brain and spinal cord from the parenchyma.