The study of drug effects on behavior is truly a confluence of streams of neuroscience research. The material in this volume covers a broad range of methodology representative of practically the entire scope of psychopharmacology for conscious animals. The contributions in this book represent careful evaluations by experts who were invited to participate because of their excellent practical application of research design and methodology. In each case, a particularly useful and well-written contribution has been forthcoming, and should serve either as a valuable introduction to developing...

we might seek alternative sources of donor tissues. Genetic en- neering, expansion of precursor cells, generation of immortalized cell lines, and transplantation between species are all under active investigation. Although significant difficulties remain for each of these alternatives, the problems appear soluble and relevant knowledge is expanding rapidly. As we enter the twenty-first century, the place of neural tra- plantation in experimental neuroscience is continuing to evolve. Rather than being a topic in its own right, neural transplantation increasingly serves as just another...

The two Animal Models in Psychiatry volumes are loosely organized by subject. The first volume contains a number of chapters concerned with schizophrenia, psyc- ses, neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesias, and other d- orders that may involve dopamine, such as attention deficit disorder and mania. The second volume deals with affective and anxiety disorders, but also includes chapters on subjects not easily classified as either psychotic, or affective, or an- ety-related, such as aggression, mental retardation, and memory disorders. Four chapters on animal models of schizophrenia or...

The field of neurotrophic factors has witnessed exp- sive growth in the past decade. As is usual in scientific in- vation, this progress has been closely associated with methodological advances. The introduction of molecular b- logical techniques into the neurotrophic factor field led to the discovery of new families of neurotrophic growth f- tors and their receptors. Production of growth factors by recombinant technology played a crucial part. The example of nerve growth factor, the paradigmatic neurotrophic factor, illustrates this point. A decade ago investigators were forced to purify...

The use of animal models continues to be the most reliable way of studying pathophysiologic mechanisms as well as treatments for neurological disorders. In two companion volumes, Animal Models of Neurological Disease highlights new information and techniques available in this rapidly growing area.
This volume of Neuromethods focuses on commonly studied neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting the similarities and differences between the human condition and that obtained using animal models. Chapters are contributed by experts in the field and cover a variety of topics, including: the...

E. Neher and B. Sakman were the first to monitor the opening and closing of single ion channels and membranes by conductance measurements. In 1976, they used firepolished micropipets with a tip diameter of 3-5 pm to record currents from a small patch of the membranbe of sk- etal muscles, thereby decreasing background membrane noise. In order to reduce the dominant source of background noise-the leakage shunt under the pipet rim between m- the muscle membrane had to be treated brane and gla- enzymatically. Despite these early limitations, a new te- nique was born -the patch-clamp technique....

It goes without saying that the principles and techniques of molecular biology are having and will continue to have a major impact on investigations into nervous system structure and func tion. It is becoming increasingly apparent to neuroscientists in all subdisciplines that a working knowledge of the language, approaches, and techniques of molecular biology is indispensable for their work. For these reasons, the editors have decided to devote this volume of Neuromethods to the techniques of molecular biology and their application to neural systems. There currently exist a number of...

If one envisages neuroscience as a pyramid, with the more mole- lar disciplines forming the base and the more integrative d- ciplines positioned above, then neuropsychology clearly would be near the tip. Neuropsychology seeks to find order in the ultimate product of all neural systems, namely behavior, and to relate that product to its neural substrate. Relationships between brain and behavior are sought, but reductionistic explanations are eschewed. Attempting to "explain" complex behaviors in terms of neuronal activity is no more satisfying than attempting to "explain" artificial...

Lipids m the nervous system are major components of the m- branes. The presence of glycolipids in high concentrations is unique for the nervous system. Recent discoverres of the functronal and pathological importance of lipids such as diacylglycerols, polyphosphoinositides, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, docosahexaenoic acid, platelet activating factor, and gangliosides have markedly increased the number of publications on nervous system lipids. Many new methods have been developed. Thus, there IS a need for this volume that is dedicated to that methodo- gy. This volume places all of the...

Techniques in the neurosciences are evolving rapidly. There are currently very few volumes dedicated to the methodology - ployed by neurosclentlsts, and those that are available often seem either out of date or limited m scope. This series is about the methods most widely used by modern-day neurosclentists and 1s wrltten by their colleagues who are practicing experts. Volume 1 will be useful to all neurosclentists since It concerns those procedures used routinely across the widest range of subdisciplines. Collecting these general techniques together m a single volume strikes us not only as a...