Myelin is made by oligodendrocytes in the CNS and myelinating Schwann cells in the PNS (Fig. 2 ). While each Schwann cell forms myelin around a single axon, an oligodendrocyte can myelinate up to 30–40 axons by carrying processes each of which ends in a myelin sheath. The sheath forms by spiralling movements of a flattened cellular process around the axon and involves several thousand fold increase in membrane area. Extrusion of the cytoplasm and compaction of the stacked membrane bilayers leads to the formation of a myelin segment which provides electrical insulation around the axon. Sodium and potassium channels are concentrated in the axonal membrane at the meeting points between adjacent myelin segments. This alternating arrangement of electrically excitable and insulated areas along the axon leads to a salutatory conduction of electrical signals that is about ten times faster than impulse conduction along an unmyelinated axon of a similar diameter. This difference has undoubtedly provided the evolutionary pressure for the emergence of myelinating cells (Colman, Pedraza, & Yoshida, 2001 ).