Spongioblast

SPONGIOBLAST (from Greek spongia-sponge and blastos-sprout, germ), a histological term denoting cells which give rise to the spongy framework in the nervous system. 1) By this name, W. Müller (1875) first named the cells located at the boundary of the inner nuclear layer of the retina, which he assumed to participate in the formation of its framework. Subsequently, Ramon y Cajal proved that Müller's spongioblasts are nerve cells of the associative type with one strongly branching process and named them amacrine cells; however, the name S. despite its inaccuracy is applied to these cells and at present. 2) Later, W. His (1889) in his classic investigation on the development of the nervous system named S. embryonic cells giving rise in the spinal and brain to the supporting elements—ependymal and neuroglial cells.