Pain is the most common reason people seek medical help.The treatment of chronic pain is a major unmet clinical need and its impact on health, well-being, society and the economy is immense. Pain is an integrative, whole-systems (patho)physiological phenomenon and behavioural neuroscience plays a key role in advancing our understanding of pain. This volume brings together a series of authoritative chapters written by leading experts in preclinical and clinical aspects of pain neurobiology. Behavioural approaches to the study of persistent or chronic pain in animal models or humans are at the...

The primary purpose of this book and its companion volume The Behavioral Genetics of Nicotine and Tobacco is to explore the ways in which recent studies on nicotine and its role in tobacco addiction have opened our eyes to the psychopharmacological properties of this unique and fascinating drug. While The Behavioral Genetics of Nicotine and Tobacco considers the molecular and genetic factors which influence behavioral responses to nicotine and how these may impact on the role of nicotine in tobacco dependence, the present book focuses on the complex neural and psychological mechanisms that...

Motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment are major symptoms in both Huntington's Disease (HD) and Parkinson's Disease (PD). A breakthrough in HD research was the identification of the gene that causes this devastating monogenetic illness. Similarly, several genes were found to cause familial forms of PD. With their identification, a plethora of genetic animal models has been generated and has revolutionized the understanding of the pathobiology and pathophysiology of these disorders. The models allow us to study the earliest manifestations of the diseases behaviorally and...

This book reviews current knowledge on the importance of sleep for brain function, from molecular mechanisms to behavioral output, with special emphasis on the question how sleep and sleep loss ultimately affect cognition and mood. It provides an extensive overview of the latest insights in the role of sleep in regulating gene expression, synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis and how that in turn is linked to learning and memory processes. In addition, readers will learn about the potential clinical implications of insufficient sleep and discover how chronically restricted or disrupted sleep...

The book highlights important new research using current state-of-the-art approaches by prominent researchers in the field of depression. A broad range of topics is covered, beginning with a description of the phenotypic features of clinical depression, followed by chapters on the cellular and molecular basis, functional neuroimaging correlates and information-processing accounts. Finally, existing and novel treatment approaches are covered. In this way the volume brings together the key disciplines involved in the neurobiological understanding of depression to provide an update of the field...

Over the past decade, we have made great advances in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS) research, and this book focuses on those advances in MS pathogenesis and treatment.

This volume covers the current status of research in the neurobiology of motivated behaviors in humans and other animals in healthy condition. This includes consideration of the psychological processes that drive motivated behavior and the anatomical, electrophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms which drive these processes and regulate behavioural output. The volume also includes chapters on pathological disturbances in motivation including apathy, or motivational deficit as well as addictions, the pathological misdirection of motivated behavior. As with the chapters on healthy...

This book surveys the underlying mechanisms and functions of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis in the adult brain, and looks ahead to the possibility of harnessing these phenomena to reduce the impact of aging and to provide mechanisms for repairing the brain.

A new paradigm is advocated that stresses the importance of intermediate staging points between these extremes that depend on suitable translation of findings from animal studies to Phase 1 or Phase 2 studies utilising experimental medicine.