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HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms and Clinical Manifestations is a comprehensive volume on the field of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND) as well as its associated comorbidities. Covering clinical manifestations as well as molecular and cellular mechanisms, this book discusses available macaque and rodent animal models of HAND, epigenetic regulation, and signaling pathways underlying symptoms. Chapters also cover prevention and therapeutic strategies, as well as diagnosis and biomarkers associated with disease outcomes. This volume is appropriate for basic research and clinical investigators working in the area of HIV-1 infection. - Provides an in-depth exploration of the clinical manifestations of HAND and its comorbidities - Includes detailed assessments of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying HAND symptoms - Examines animal models for studying HAND, including macaque and rodent models - Presents insights into epigenetic regulation and signaling pathways implicated in HAND - Covers prevention, therapeutic strategies, and diagnostic approaches

This book provides a reference guide describing the current status of medication in all major psychiatric and neurological indications, together with comparisons of pharmacological treatment strategies in clinical settings in Europe, USA, Japan and China. In addition, it highlights herbal medicine as used in China and Japan, as well as complementary medicine and nutritional aspects. This novel approach offers international readers a global approach in a single dedicated publication and is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in comparing treatments for psychiatric disorders in three different cultural areas. There are three volumes devoted to Basic Principles and General Aspects, offering a general overview of psychopharmacotherapy (Vol. 1); Classes, Drugs and Special Aspects covering the role of psychotropic drugs in the field of psychiatry and neurology (Vol. 2) and Applied Psychopharmacotherapy focusing on applied psychopharmacotherapy (Vol. 3). These books are invaluable to psychiatrists, neurologists, neuroscientists, medical practitioners and clinical psychologists.

Natural Products have always played a pivotal role as sources for drug lead compounds. This book is aimed at providing inside purview of the scope of natural products (including herbal and marine) in the possible treatment of neurological disorders. The book explains pre-clinical neuropharmacological investigations done on herbs including Bacopa monnieri, Hypericum perforatum, Passiflora incarnata, Scutellaria baicalensis and Piper methysticum. It provides a comprehensive overview of the role of phytoconstituents like huperzine, curcumin, Salvinorin A, bioflavonoids, sulforaphane, tanshinone IIA, tetramethylpyrazine, tetrahydrocannabinol, and cannabidiol in the treatment of neurological disorders. The book provides a modern concept of herbal medications, neuropharmacology of marine bioactive products and Ayurvedic formulations, herbal drugs with abuse potential and neurotoxic mycotoxins.

Provides a timely overview of critical advances in molecular and cellular neurobiology, covers key methodologies driving progress, and highlights key future directions for research on neuronal injury and neurodegeneration relevant to neuronal brain pathologies. The editors bring together contributions from internationally recognized workers in the field to provide an up to date account of how and why molecular and cellular neurobiology is such an important area for clinical neuroscience. Understanding the molecular aspects of a number of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease for the purpose of improving patient management remains a major challenge of neurobiology be it from the basic or clinical perspective. A strategic evaluation of research contributions and the power of modern methods will help advance knowledge over the next years.

This book presents a new, detailed examination that explains how elegant brains have been shaped in evolution. It consists of 19 chapters written by academic professionals in neuroscience, opening with the origin of single-celled creatures and then introducing primordial types in invertebrates with the great abundance of the brains of vertebrates. Important topics are provided in a timely manner, because novel techniques emerged rapidly—as seen, for examples, in the next-generation sequencers and omics approaches. With the explosion of big data, neural-related genes and molecules is now on the radar. In fact, Europe's big science and technology projects, a €1 billion plan called the Human Brain Project and the Blue Brain Project to understand mammalian brain networks, have been launched in recent years. Furthermore, with the rise of recently advanced artificial intelligence, there is great enthusiasm for understanding the evolution of neural networks. The views from brain evolutionin nature provide an essential opportunity to generate ideas for novel neuron- and brain-inspired computation. The ambition behind this book is that it will stimulate young scientists who seek a deeper understanding in order to find the basic principles shaping brains that provided higher cognitive functions in the course of evolution.

These past few years have witnessed a revolution in our understanding of microglia, especially since their roles in the healthy central nervous system (CNS) have started to unravel. These cells were shown to actively maintain health, in concert with neurons and other types of CNS cells, providing further insight into their involvement with diseases. Edited by two pioneers in the field, Marie-Ève Tremblay and Amanda Sierra, Microglia in health and disease aims to share with the broader scientific community some of the recent discoveries in microglia research, from a broad perspective, with a collection of 19 chapters from 52 specialists working in 11 countries across 5 continents.To set microglia on the stage, the book begins by explaining briefly who they are, what they do in the healthy and diseased CNS, and how they can be studied. The first section describes in more details their physiological roles in the maturation, function, and plasticity of the CNS, across development, adolescence, adulthood, neuropathic pain, addiction, and aging. The second section focuses on their implication in pathological conditions impairing the quality of life: neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis; and in leading causes of death: ischemia and stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, as well as trauma and injury.

It is now well known that proteases are found everywhere, in viruses and bacteria as well as in all human, animal and plant cells, and play a role in a variety of biological functions ranging from digestion, fertilization, development to senescence and death. Under physiological conditions the ability of proteases is regulated by endogenous inhibitors. However, when the activity of proteases is not regulated appropriately, disease processes can result, as seen in Alzheimer's disease, cancer metastasis and tumor progression, inflammation and atherosclerosis. Thus it is evident that there is an absolute need for a tighter control of proteolytic activities in different cells and tissues.Aimed at graduate students and researchers with an interest in cellular proteolytic events, Role of Proteases in Cellular Dysfunctions is the second book on Proteases in this series. The book consists of three parts in specified topics based on current literatures for a better understanding for the readers with respect to their subject-wise interests. The first section of this book covers a brief idea about the neuronal disorders and the involvement of proteases such as calpains, caspases and matrix metalloproteases (MMPs). The second section covers the deadly disease cancer and its relation to ubiquitin-proteasome system, MMPs and serine proteases. The last section is about the role of proteases such as calpains, MMPs and serine protease as well as urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) in causing cardiovascular defects.

It has been recognized that viruses can induce neuronal damage by a variety of mechanisms. This volume summarizes, for the first time, the various ways that neurons can degenerate under the influence of viral infection, ranging from acute necrosis and virus-induced apoptosis to chronic damage in persistent infections. The mechanisms of neuronal latency are dealt with as well. The volume also includes chapters that review the chronic damage caused by viral proteins that interfere with differentiated functions of the neuron, including signaling by neurotransmitters and signal transduction by trophic factors. Other chapters deal with the controversial role of cellular immune reactions, which may be helpful in controlling infection, but may also be detrimental to the host nervous system. The specific mechanisms of damage involved in retroviral infections and in prion diseases of the nervous system are reviewed, and finally how autoimmune diseases can lead to neuronal damage.

WHAT HAPPENED IN KANAZAWA? THE BIRTH OF eCAM This book contains the proceedings of the International Symposium on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, (CAM) which was convened in Kanazawa Japan, November 8-10, 2002. The participants were mainly from Japan, USA, China, France, England, Germany, Taiwan, and India. The world of western medicine is gradually opening its doors to new ways of ap­ proaching healing. Since many of these approaches began centuries and even millennia ago in Asia, it was entirely appropriate to open our symposium in Kanazawa, a beautiful, traditional city located on the Sea of Japan. Experts from Asia, Europe and the United States gathered together for true discussions on complementary and alternative medicine and its role developing all over the world. As scientists, we listened to historical perspec­ tives from India, China and Japan, where CAM is still being practiced as it has been for centuries. It is well to mention at the outset that this book will cover a rapidly growing field that has strong advocates but others who are less than enthusiastic. This should be evident by the presentation of chapters that aim to significantly dispel some of the criticisms of pseudoscience and myth that often surround the discipline. It is our purpose to present high quality peer reviewed chapters.

It is pointed out that a cancer stem cell is a type within a tumor that possesses the capacity of self-renewal and can give rise to the heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells, which comprise the tumor. It is emphasized that a unique feature of cancer stem cells is that, although conventional chemotherapy kills most cells in a tumor, cancer stem cells remain intact. Vast applications of the following specific stem cells in disease and tissue injury are discussed: embryonic stem cells, human mesenchymal stem cells, cancer stem cells, arterial stem cells, neural stem cells, cardiac stem cells, dental stem cells, limbal stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cells. Because human embryonic stem cells possess the potential to produce unlimited quantities of any human cell type, considerable focus is placed on their therapeutic potential in this volume. These cells are used in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, pharmacological and toxicological studies, and fundamental studies of cell differentiation. It is pointed out that the formation of embryoid bodies, which are three-dimensional aggregates of embryonic cells, is the initial step in the differentiation of these cells. Therapeutic implications of signalling pathways in cancer stem cells are pointed out. Targeting self-renewal pathways in cancer stem cells are also included. Application of mesenchymal stem cells for treating ischemic brain injury is explained. Neural stem cells proliferation into the surrounding area of the traumatic brain injury is explained.

It can be reasonably anticipated that, over the next generations, the proportion of elderly people will remarkably increase and, with this, the number ofpersons suffering from acute (e.g. cerebral ischemia) or chronic neurodegenerative disorders. To date, approved drugs only alleviate the symptoms ofthese diseases (for instance, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in Alzheimer disease and L-dopa and dopamine-agonists in Parkinson disease), while none seems to stop the progression of the degenerative processes underlying them. The development of effective preventive or protective therapies has been impeded by the limitations of our knowledge of the causes and the mechanisms by which neurons die in neurodegenerative disorders. Evidence accumulated in the past 20 years indicated that the major excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate may play a role as neurotoxin in several conditions. In particular, the glutamatergic system dysfunction seems to be an early event working as a common pathway in the pathogenesis ofa large number ofacute and chronic neurological disorders, in strict conjunction with other important mechanisms, such as oxidative stress and energetic failure, and probably triggered by different mechanisms in various diseases. In consideration of that, drug discovery efforts over the last decade have been focused on the search for drugs that either reduce glutamate synaptic levels or block its postsynaptic effects. Despite numerous reviews on basic mechanisms and clinical aspects ofthe excitotoxic phenomenon, so far no comprehensive book has covered the topic in all its complexity, starting from basic pharmacological mechanisms, to.animal models of diseases and finally to clinical pathogenic and therapeutic implications.

The serotonin transporter is a key brain protein that modulates the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin from synaptic spaces back into the presynaptic neuron. This control over neuronal signalling makes it a prime area of neuroscientific study. In this book an international team of top experts introduce and explicate the role of serotonin and the serotonin transporter in both human and animal brains. They demonstrate the relevance of the transporter and indeed the serotonergic system to substrates of neuropsychiatric disorders, and explain how this knowledge is translated into valid animal models that will help foster new discoveries in human neurobiology. Writing for graduate students and academic researchers, they provide a comprehensive coverage of a wide spectrum of data from animal experimentation to clinical psychiatry, creating the only book exclusively dedicated to this exciting new avenue of brain research.

Collectively, neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by chronic and progressive loss of neurons in discrete areas of the brain, producing debilitating symptoms such as dementia, loss of memory, loss of sensory or motor capability, decreased overall quality of life eventually leading to premature death. Two types of cell death are known to occur during neurodegeneration: (a) apoptosis and (b) necrosis. The necrosis is characterized by the passive cell swelling, intense mitochondrial damage with rapid loss of ATP, alterations in neural membrane permeability, high calcium influx, and disruption of ion homeostasis. This type of cell death leads to membrane lysis and release of intracellular components that induce inflammatory reactions. Necrotic cell death normally occurs at the core of injury site. In contrast, apoptosis is an active process in which caspases (a group of endoproteases with specificity for aspartate residues in protein) are stimulated. Apoptotic cell death is accompanied by cell shrinkage, dynamic membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation, DNA laddering, loss of phospholipids asymmetry, low ATP levels, and mild calcium overload. This type of cell death normally occurs in penumbral region at the ischemic injury site and in different regions in various neurodegenerative diseases.

Evolutionary Neuroscience is a collection of articles in brain evolution selected from the recent comprehensive reference, Evolution of Nervous Systems (Elsevier, Academic Press, 2007). The selected chapters cover a broad range of topics from historical theory to the most recent deductions from comparative studies of brains. The articles are organized in sections focused on theories and brain scaling, the evolution of brains from early vertebrates to present-day fishes, amphibians, reptiles and birds, the evolution of mammalian brains, and the evolution of primate brains, including human brains. Each chapter is written by a leader or leaders in the field, and has been reviewed by other experts. Specific topics include brain character reconstruction, principles of brain scaling, basic features of vertebrate brains, the evolution of the major sensory systems, and other parts of brains, what we can learn from fossils, the origin of neocortex, and the evolution of specializations of human brains. The collection of articles will be interesting to anyone who is curious about how brains evolved from the simpler nervous systems of the first vertebrates into the many different complex forms now found in present-day vertebrates. This book would be of use to students at the graduate or undergraduate levels, as well as professional neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, and psychologists. Together, the chapters provide a comprehensive list of further reading and references for those who want to inquire further. - The most comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date single volume collection on brain evolution - Full color throughout, with many illustrations - Written by leading scholars and experts

Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipases A2 in Neurological DisordersAkhlaq A. Farooqui and Lloyd A. Horrocks Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipases A2 in Neurological Disorders provides a synthesis of material on the metabolism of phospholipids in the brain which has previously only been available in a scattered number of original papers and reviews. Here, the research of over 25 years is collected in one volume from two of the leading researchers in the field— Akhlaq A. Farooqui and Lloyd A. Horrocks Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipases A2 in Neurological Disorders comprehensively describes: metabolism in brain of glycerophospholipids, including those containing a vinyl ether group (plasmalogens) cutting-edge information on the properties and roles of phospholipases A2 in the central nervous system release by phospholipases A2 of second messengers (arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and lysophospholipid) from neural membrane phospholipids and their neurochemical effects on brain metabolism and function involvement of phospholipases A2 in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, and the use of phospholipase A2 inhibitors for the treatment of diseases associated with altered phospholipid metabolism methods for the assays of phospholipases A2 and their clinical significance This unique volume will be invaluable not only to those interested in biochemical properties of phospholipases A2, but also their involvement in neurological disorders. Students will benefit from it as a supplement for a range of neuroscience courses. Clinicians will find it invaluable as well for understanding molecular aspects of neurodegeneration in acute neural trauma(stroke) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer disease) that are mediated by phospholipases A2. The information in Glycerophospholipids in Brain: Phospholipases A2 in Neurological Disorders is presented in a lively manner that has never been attempted until now in this specialized format. It will be the essential text for the authoritative research in the field. About the Authors Akhlaq A. Farooqui and Lloyd A. Horrocks are leaders in the fields of phospholipid metabolism and phospholipases A2 in brain. They have published cutting edge research on phospholipases A2 and their involvement in neurological disorders in brain tissue. In collaboration with Dr. Yutaka Hirashima, they have discovered a plasmalogen-selective phospholipase A2 in brain. They have also studied phospholipids composition of neural membranes and activities of phospholipases A2 in neural membranes. Lloyd A. Horrocks is the founding editor of Molecular and Chemical Neuropathology and has edited seven books.

Hypericum extract preparations are used extensively in many countries to treat mildly to moderately depressed patients. While this was based previously on traditional experience, extensive research over the last 10 years has given a broad preclinical and clinical basis to justify the use of Hypericum as an antidepressant. This book reviews the available data related to the biochemical, functional, and behavioural pharmacology of Hypericum and its active constituents. The clinical chapters overview the evidenced basis for its use as an antidepressant, initial data in anxiety and somatoform disorders, and the site effect profile of Hypericum and its possible relevant drug interactions. The known pharmacokinetics of the relevant constituents and the biopharmaceutical quality of commercially available Hypericum preparations are also discussed.

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 blood-brain barrier function, and inflammation and the neuroimmune system. Insightful and integrative, The Neuronal Environment: Brain Homeostasis in Health and Disease demonstrates a clear new understanding that neurons do not work in isolation, that they need constant interactions with other brain components to process information, and that they are not the only information processing system in the brain.