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The human brain is made up of billions of neurons that communicate with each other through chemical messengers, which are referred to as neuroactive substances. These neuroactive substances include neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, and neurohormones. Some neurotransmitters also act as neuromodulators and neurohormones. It is unlikely that there would ever be a consensus about the meanings of these neuroactive substances, including neurotransmitters, since the term ‘neurotransmitter'has traditionally been used very loosely indeed, to include neurotransmitters, neurohormones, and neuromodulators. Any alterations in the functioning of these neuroactive substances can cause diseases.The brain is the ultimate center that regulates all neurological and behavioral aspects of the body through neuronal communications mediated via various neurochemicals. Thus, neurological and psychiatric disorders are, in most cases, the result of disturbed neurochemical balance. Besides the multifaceted involvement of billions of neuronal cells, the central nervous system is a complex organization with a diverse number of neurotransmitter systems, as compared to the autonomic nervous system, in which the parasympathetic system works on the ‘rest and digest'phenomenon, and the sympathetic system works on the ‘fight or flight'phenomenon. There are more than 20 neurotransmitter systems and multiple receptors for each neurotransmitter. Any alterations in neurochemical balance are expressed in the form of neurological or psychiatric disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, psychosis, depression, etc. Acetylcholine, noradrenaline, dopamine, and 5-HT are of the utmost importance among neurotransmitters for their profound role in the pathogenesis of various neurological and psychiatric disorders in humans. Yet the involvement of various proteins and peptides, such as neurotrophic factors, growth factors, and endogenous chemical compounds, cannot be ignored.Day by day, the suffering of people due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters is increasing. Various factors, for example stress, diet, genetics, and toxins such as alcohol and nicotine, contribute to this imbalance. This imbalance may lead to mental health complaints. The main purpose of this book is to give a comprehensive overview of the neurological diseases associated with neurochemical imbalances. This book will help readers gain a comprehensive understanding of neuronal signaling and related neurological disorders, as well as status and future opportunities and challenges. It will provide a brief account of neurotransmission, as either a study or high-yield revision aid.

More than fifty years after its initial discovery by Rita Levi Montalcini and Stanley Cohen and the proposal of the neurotrophic theory, nerve growth factor (NGF) has become the prototype of a family of biologically active molecules called neurotrophic factors (NTFs).This book addresses important advances in NTF research, from basic science to clinical medicine. It focuses mainly on NGF, but also includes individual chapters dealing with the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and ligands of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family, which have attracted increasing interest in the neuroscience community because of their diverse effects in the normal and diseased brain.In the first part of the book, the authors provide the necessary background for the following chapters and discuss the basic mechanisms and pathways of NGF signal transduction. In the following sections, they then examine the regenerative activity and neuroprotective capacity of NGF during development and in normal and diseased tissues in adulthood and discuss the role of NGF in Alzheimer's disease and nociception. In addition, the role of NGF in processing sensory information and its influence on behavior is further discussed. The book concludes with an overview of the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of NTF in psychiatric disorders and obesity management, as well as a highlight of NGF research in veterinary medicine. Many of the authors of this volume participated in the Second International Rita Levi-Montalcini Meeting, held in Bologna, Italy, in 2019. The book covers a wide range of important topics in past and current NTF research and will appeal to basic researchers and clinicians alike.

Neurobiology of Depression: Road to Novel Therapeutics synthesizes the basic neurobiology of major depressive disorder with discussions on the most recent advances in research, including the interacting pathways implicated in the pathophysiology of MDD, omics technologies, genetic approaches, and the development of novel optogenetic approaches that are changing research perspectives and revolutionizing research into depression. These basic foundational understandings on the neurobiology underlying the disorder, along with a comprehensive summary of the most recent advances in research are combined in this book to aid advanced students and researchers in their understanding of MDD. Depression is one of the most common mental-health disorders caused by a variety of genetic, biological, environmental and psychological factors. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is typically treated with first-line antidepressant agents that primarily target monoamine neurotransmission. However, only approximately one-third of patients with MDD achieve remission following a trial with such an antidepressant. Furthermore, MDD is a heterogeneous phenotype, and new frameworks, such as the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) may provide a more accurate, biologically based comprehension of the symptomatic heterogeneity of this devastating illness. - Aids readers in understanding major depressive disorder in the context of NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) recommendations - Covers a range of existing and potential pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment options, from lifestyle adjustments, to antidepressants and novel therapeutics - Synthesizes discussions on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying symptoms with the clinical aspects of depression

The perioperative care of individuals with neurologic compromise is critically important, yet it is only one dimension of the rich relationship between anaesthesiology and the neurosciences. The mechanism of everyday therapeutic interventions such as anaesthesia and analgesia is exciting neuroscience in its own right. At the new frontier of outcomes studies lies the question of how the perioperative period might impact the brain. For example, questions related to anaesthetic neurotoxicity, delirium, and cognitive dysfunction pose critical challenges for the field. The Oxford Textbook in Neuroscience and Anaesthesiology addresses the exciting field of neuroanaesthesiology in a new and stimulating way. In twenty eight chapters, the neuroscientific basis of anaesthesiology, the full spectrum of clinical neuroanaesthesia, and the care of neurologic patients undergoing non-neurologic surgery are explored in one comprehensive textbook for the first time. The first section considers the neural mechanisms of general anaesthetics, cerebral physiology, the neurobiology of pain, and more. The second section explores the care of patients with neurologic disease in the operating room or intensive care unit. These clinical chapters systematically treat the perioperative considerations of both brain and spine surgery, and provide introductions to neurocritical care and pediatric neuroanaesthesia. The final section outlines the care of neurologic patients undergoing non-neurologic surgery. It examines key connections of neurology and anaesthesiology, examining how conditions such as dementia, stroke, or epilepsy interface with the perioperative period. Each chapter has been carefully crafted to be concise yet highly informative, reflecting the cutting edge of neuroscience and neuroanaesthesiology. This international textbook gathers the best available expertise of authors and leaders worldwide. Includes access to online-only content, including more than 20 cases and more than 90 questions that can be used in presentations and teaching sessions. By activating your unique access code, you can access and use the material.

This book, in two volumes, focuses on contemporary issues and dilemmas in relation to depression. The aim is to equip readers with an up-to-date understanding of the clinical and neurobiological underpinnings of depression, the clinical manifestations, and the development of more effective treatments. This second volume is devoted specifically to clinical and management issues. Readers will find detailed information on a wide range of frequently encountered and more complicated clinical presentations, with examination of risk factors and links to other conditions. Diagnostic aspects, including progress toward biological classification and the role of neuroimaging, are explored. Current trends in therapy are examined at length, drawing on the latest evidence and covering not only antidepressant medications but also the roles of neurostimulation, combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and complementary and alternative medicine. The companion volume is dedicated to the underlying biomedical and neurobiological basis of depression. Understanding Depression will be an excellent source of information for both researchers and practitioners in the field.

This book is written for researchers, undergraduate students and postgraduate students, physicians and traditional medicine practitioners who develop research in the field of neurosciences, phytochemistry and ethnopharmacology or can be useful for their practice. Topics discussed include the description of depression, its biochemical causes, the targets of antidepressant drugs, animal and cell models commonly used in the research of this pathology, medicinal plants and bioactive compounds with antidepressant activity used in traditional medicine, advances in nanotechnology for drug delivery to the brain and finally the future challenges for researchers studying this pathology.

Throughout the history of economics, a variety of analytical tools have been borrowed from the so-called exact sciences. As Schoe?er (1955) puts it: “They have taken their mathematics and their ded- tive techniques from physics, their statistics from genetics and agr- omy, their systems of classi?cation from taxonomy and chemistry, their model-construction techniques from astronomy and mechanics, and their methods of analysis of the consequences of actions from en- neering”. The possibility of similarities of structure in mathematical models of economic and physical systems has been an important f- tor in the development of neoclassical theory. To treat the state of an economy as an equilibrium, analogous to the equilibrium of a mech- ical system has been a key concept in economics ever since it became a mathematically formalized science. Adopting a Newtonian paradigm neoclassical economics often is based on three fundamental concepts. Firstly, the representative agent who is a scale model of the whole society with extraordinary capacities, particularly concerning her - pability of information processing and computation. Of course, this is a problematic reduction as agents are both heterogeneous and bou- edly rational and limited in their cognitive capabilities. Secondly, it often con?ned itself to study systems in a state of equilibrium. But this concept is not adequate to describe and to support phenomena in perpetual motion.