Expert researchers critically review and evaluate the most common and important neurotoxins used today in neuroscience research. Each informative chapter thoroughly describes the significant mechanisms of action of a neurotoxin, as well as fully discussing the limits on their use and their clinical applicability. Several clinically oriented chapters are significant for neurologists treating Parkinsonism, for psychiatrists treating drug abuse and neurodegenerative disorders, and for primary care physicians treating patients with appetite suppressants. Highly Selective Neurotoxins provides all...

It is now established that neuroglia are the intimate partners of neurons and that neuronal function is a result of neuron-glia interrelations at several levels of organization. The literature shows that the study of phylogeny has contributed a deeper understand ing of the complex functions of the neuroglia and the neuron-glia unit. It is the purpose of Neuron-Glia Interrelations During Phylog eny: I. Phylogeny and Ontogeny of Glial Cells, as well as its compan ion volume Neuron-Glia Interrelations During Phylogeny: II. Plasticity and Regeneration, to present to the scientific community a...

Distinguished medical researchers from around the world review novel neural reconstructive techniques that appear to be beneficial for Parkinson's disease and hold promise for treating Huntington's disease, pain, demyelinating diseases, and stroke. The contributors focus on those diseases for which clinical trials are either ongoing or likely to occur in the near future. Among the topics reviewed are results and rationale for some of the leading transplant programs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, the use of PET scanning for patient evaluation, autopsy studies of transplant...

In this book, leading-edge investigators offer effective strategies to improve current antidepressive therapies and suggest molecular, biological, and genetic approaches that will lead to the development of novel antidepressants. The contributors' critical reviews and commentaries illuminate our understanding of the mechanism(s) responsible for antidepressant action. The book's goal is to move beyond current biogenic amine-based concepts and therapies to the development of new and improved antidepressants that are more effective and have a more rapid onset than current.

A distinguished panel of internationally recognized neuroscientists comprehensively review the involvement of and changes in glial cells both during the normal aging process and in the major disorders of old age. Topics range from the cellular and molecular changes that occur with aging-especially aging-associated activation of astrocytes and microglia and its relation to neuronal injury and repair-to neuron-glia intercommunication. The contributors show how glial signals may be modulated by hormones, growth factors, neurotransmitters, intracellular metabolism, and intercellular exchanges, as...

Leading neuroscience researchers offer a fresh perspective on neuronal function by examining all its many components-including their pertubation during major disease states-and relate each element to neuronal demands. Topics range from the dependency of neurons on metabolic supply, as well as on both ion and transmitter homeostasis, to their close interaction with the myelin sheath. Also addressed are the astrocytic signaling system that controls synaptic transmission, the extracellular matrix and space as communication systems, the role of blood flow regulation in neuronal demand and in...

Denis Noble Nearly a decade after completion of the first draft of the entire Human Genome sequence we are in a better position to assess the nature and the consequences of that heroic achievement, which can be seen as the culmination of the molecular biological revolution of the second half of the twentieth century. The achievement itself was celebrated at the highest levels (President and Prime Minister) on both sides of the Atlantic, and rightly so. DNA sequencing has become sufficiently c- mon now, even to the extent of being used in law courts, that it is easy to forget how technically...

Ischemic brain damage represents a major source of morbidity and mortality in westernized society and poses a significant financial burden on the health care system. To date, few effective therapies have been realized to treat stroke and promising avenues have not proven clinically useful. Recent evidence, however, suggests that channels, pumps, and ionic exchangers are involved in CNS ischemia and ischemic stroke, but the potential contribution of these channels for curing stroke is far less understood than for many other normal and pathological conditions. New Strategies in...

Psychopharmacology may be defined as the study of the effects of drugs on behavior. As an established scientific discipline, this is a relatively new area of research. Despite its short history, however, psychopharmacology has achieved a considerable degree of sophistication in the variety of experi mental approaches that are currently employed. Consequently, the interpretation of data accumulated through the use of various experimental laboratory techniques has become increasingly difficult and complex. Numerous excelIent texts and review articles are available that serve to outline recent...

Leading experts critically summarize the state of knowledge concerning the molecular, anatomical, physiological, and behavioral aspects of NPY and its congeners. Each article provides a comprehensive and in-depth survey, an overview of the role of NPY in the discipline covered, a discussion of the likely future direction that the field will take, and an up-to-date bibliography.
Chapters include a treatment of the evolution of the PP family of genes, the structure of the NPY gene, and the distribution of NPY on the cardiovascular system, actions of NPY on the electrophysiological...