This study extends the known roles

This study extends the known roles of glial cells to include aspecific computation (temporal integration of a behaviorallyrelevant mismatch signal), resulting in a direct, fast effect onbrain and behavioral state (induction of passivity within seconds).The traditional view of astrocytes as supporting cellsfor neurons is known to be incomplete (Araque et al., 2014;Kjaerby et al., 2017), as they actively influence neuronal activity.In the hippocampus, astrocytes can be intermediates betweencholinergic input and interneurons (Pabst et al., 2016). Glialcells in zebrafish are activated before and during generalizedseizures (Verdugo et al., 2019). These and other studies (Adamskyet al., 2018; Ding et al., 2013; Paukert et al., 2014; Poskanzerand Yuste, 2016; Srinivasan et al., 2015) point to anintegrated role for astrocytes in information processing in braincircuits.Our study establishes radial astrocytes as essential computationalelements in a circuit that mediates an adaptive behavioralresponse. The algorithm implemented by the radial astrocyteshere is surprisingly analogous to that observed in mouse