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Abstract
Glia are a heterogenous population of non-neuronal cells that is prevalent throughout the nervous system (central and peripheral) across the animal kingdom. Glial cells play critical roles during development, physiology, and diseases/disorders (including regeneration) of the nervous system. Interestingly, the roles that glial cells play during nervous system regeneration is multifaceted depending on several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Studies of glial biology, particularly in context of regeneration, is confined to few model organisms. Planarians are freshwater flatworms capable of robust regeneration of their nervous system. Recent discoveries of glial cells in planarians provides a new avenue to study how glial cells can play a permissive role during nervous system regeneration. In this work, I establish foundational knowledge on planarian glial biology, including uncovering when glial cells regenerate, discovering what molecular regulators and signaling molecules are important for glial regeneration, and elucidating what functions glial cells play within the nervous system.