Neural Plasticity and Memory


Book Description

A comprehensive, multidisciplinary review, Neural Plasticity and Memory: From Genes to Brain Imaging provides an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the study of the neurobiology of memory. Leading specialists share their scientific experience in the field, covering a wide range of topics where molecular, genetic, behavioral, and brain imaging techniq




Clinical Relevance of the Immune-to-Brain and Brain-to-Immune Communications


Book Description

Experimental and clinical evidence demonstrates an intense crosstalk among the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. The central nervous system (CNS) not only has the capacity to affect peripheral immune function, but is also able to sense and process signals from the peripheral immune system. The bi-directional interaction between the CNS and the peripheral immune system has gained great interest as it can help better understand disease pathophysiology as well as improving health and treatment outcomes in patients. On the one hand, inflammatory factors are known to affect CNS functions and to induce neuropsychiatric symptoms, making immune-to-brain communication highly relevant for psychiatric diseases and their treatments. On the other hand, analyzing pathways of brain-to-immune communication will help to understand the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory disorders and will form the basis for optimizing treatment of these diseases.




Insect Immunology


Book Description

This work is the first book-length publication on the topic of insect immunology since 1991, complementing earlier works by offering a fresh perspective on current research. Interactions of host immune systems with both parasites and pathogens are presented in detail, as well as the genomics and proteomics, approaches which have been lacking in other publications. Beckage provides comprehensive coverage of topics important to medical researchers, including Drosophila as a model for studying cellular and humoral immune mechanisms, biochemical mediators of immunity, and insect blood cells and their functions. - Encompasses the most important topics of insect immunology including mechanisms, genes, proteins, evolution and phylogeny - Provides comprehensive coverage of topics important to medical researchers including Drosophila as a model for studying cellular and humoral immune mechanisms, biochemical mediators of immunity, and insect blood cells and their functions - Most up-to-date information published with contributions from international leaders in the field




Cytokines and the Brain


Book Description

This book opens a new page of neuro-immunobiology providing substantive experimental and clinical data to support current understanding in the field, and potential applications of this knowledge in the treatment of disease. The volume is a collection of complex, new data drawn from multiple areas of investigation in the field. The contents summarize current understanding on the presence and function of CNS cytokines and their receptors in a variety of CNS cells during health and disease. The chapters are a collection of complex, new data demonstrating the presence and synthesis of cytokines in brain cells, as well as their receptors on cell membranes in health and disease. The strength of the volume are the descriptions of the authors own investigations, together with those of others in the field pertaining to a large number of cytokines in brain function, as well as mechanisms involved in the development of CNS disorders, including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Also included are novel approaches to the treatment of CNS disorders based on new experimental data. The contributors to this volume are internationally known scientists and clinical researchers in their respective fields of investigation and treatment.*Opens a new page of neuro-immunobiology and provides substantive evidence for the promise of this field in the treatment of disease*Summarizes current understanding on the presence and function of central nervous system (CNS) cytokines and their receptors in a variety of CNS cells during health and disease*Includes novel approaches to the treatment of CNS disorders based on new experimental data*Offers new insight into triggers for the development of autoimmune diseases in the brain and the possibilities for treatment




Neuro-Immune Interactions in Inflammation and Autoimmunity


Book Description

The nervous system plays an important role in the regulation of immunity and inflammation. On the other hand unbalanced immune responses in inflammatory and autoimmune conditions may have a deleterious impact on neuronal integrity and brain function. Recent studies have characterized neural pathways communicating peripheral inflammatory signals to the CNS, and brain- and spinal cord-derived circuitries controlling various innate and adaptive immune responses and inflammation. A prototypical neural reflex circuit that regulates immunity and inflammation is the vagus nerve-based “inflammatory reflex”. Ongoing research has revealed cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these neural circuits and indicated new therapeutic approaches in inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Pharmacological and bioelectronic modulation of neural circuitry has been successfully explored in preclinical settings of sepsis, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity-driven disorders, diabetes and other diseases. These studies paved the way to successful clinical trials with bioelectronic neuronal modulation in rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Dysregulated release of cytokines and other inflammatory molecules may have a severe impact on brain function. Brain inflammation (neuroinflammation), imbalances in brain neuronal integrity and neurotransmitter systems, and cognitive impairment are characteristic features of post-operative conditions, sepsis, liver diseases, diabetes and other disorders characterized by immune and metabolic dysregulation. Derangements in cytokine release also play a pivotal role in depression. Characteristic brain reactive antibodies in autoimmune conditions, including systemic lupus erythematosus and neuromyelitis optica, significantly contribute to brain pathology and cognitive impairment. These studies, and the simultaneous characterization of neuro-protective cytokines, identified new therapeutic approaches for treating neurological complications in inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. This Frontiers Research Topic is a forum for publishing research findings and methodological and conceptual advances at the intersection of immunology and neuroscience. We hope that presenting new insight into bi-directional neuro-immune communication in inflammation and autoimmunity will foster further collaborations and facilitate the development of new efficient therapeutic strategies.




The Neuroimmunological Basis of Behavior and Mental Disorders


Book Description

For many years, the immune and central nervous systems were thought to function independently with little or no interaction between the two. This view has und- gone dramatic changes over the past three decades. Indeed, we now know that there exists various feedback loops between the brain and immune systems that impact signi cantly upon different behavioral processes, including normal behavior and mental disorders. Pioneering efforts in generating this change were initiated by a number of early investigators. Included were those whose efforts were directed at establishing neuroimmune connections as well as others whose research focused upon the relationship between immunity, cytokines, and behavior. This book brings together outstanding scientists and clinicians who have made major contributions to the rapidly developing eld investigating the relationship between immunity and behavior. The book is divided into three parts. The rst part describes pathways by which the brain and immune systems communicate and int- act with each other. In the chapter “Cytokines and the Blood–Brain Barrier” p- vides insight into interactions between the blood–brain barrier and cytokines. Such interactions underlie basic communication between the immune system and brain that are present in normal as well as in disease conditions. In the chapter “Neu- chemical and Endocrine Responses to Immune Activation: The Role of Cytokines,” the neurochemical and endocrine consequences of immune challenge and cytokine administration on central neurotransmitter activity are discussed.




Brain Neurotrauma


Book Description

With the contribution from more than one hundred CNS neurotrauma experts, this book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account on the latest developments in the area of neurotrauma including biomarker studies, experimental models, diagnostic methods, and neurotherapeutic intervention strategies in brain injury research. It discusses neurotrauma mechanisms, biomarker discovery, and neurocognitive and neurobehavioral deficits. Also included are medical interventions and recent neurotherapeutics used in the area of brain injury that have been translated to the area of rehabilitation research. In addition, a section is devoted to models of milder CNS injury, including sports injuries.




Infectious Behavior


Book Description

An examination of brain-immune system communication in autism, schizophrenia, and depression. In Infectious Behavior, neurobiologist Paul Patterson examines the involvement of the immune system in autism, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder. Although genetic approaches to these diseases have garnered the lion's share of publicity and funding, scientists are uncovering evidence of the important avenues of communication between the brain and the immune system and their involvement in mental illness. Patterson focuses on this brain-immune crosstalk, exploring the possibility that it may help us understand the causes of these common, but still mysterious, diseases. The heart of this engaging book, accessible to nonscientists, concerns the involvement of the immune systems of the pregnant woman and her fetus, and a consideration of maternal infection as a risk factor for schizophrenia and autism. Patterson reports on research that may shed light on today's autism epidemic. He also outlines the risks and benefits of both maternal and postnatal vaccinations. In the course of his discussion, Patterson offers a short history of immune manipulation in treating mental illness (recounting some frightening but fascinating early experiments) and explains how the immune system influences behavior and how the brain regulates the immune system, looking in particular at stress and depression. He examines the prenatal origins of adult disease and evidence for immune involvement in autism, schizophrenia, and depression. Finally, he describes the promise shown by recent animal experiments that have led to early clinical trials of postnatal and adult treatments for patients with autism and related disorders.




From Neurons to Neighborhoods


Book Description

How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.




Rodent Models of Stroke


Book Description

In view of the numerous failures of clinical trials aimed at improving stroke therapy, the role and potential benefit of experimentally modeling focal cerebral ischemia in rodents has been debated. When methods of systematic review and metaanalyis are applied, however, it turns out that experimental models actually faithfully predicted the negative outcomes of clinical trials. In addition, thrombolysis and neuroprotection by hypothermia, first described in animal models, are key examples of treatment modalities that have made it successfully into clinical practice. In Rodent Models of Stroke, an international consortium of authors aims at critically addressing the issues on a very practical level, from choosing the model and outcome measures, designing the experiment, conducting and analyzing it, to reporting it in a scientific publication. The structure and content of the book reflect both the authors’ longstanding expertise in experimental and clinical stroke research and their roles in training the scientific community in the tools of the trade. As a volume in the successful Neuromethods series, the chapters provide authoritative reviews of the most commonly used, well-honed approaches in the field today. Stimulating and easy-to-use, Rodent Models of Stroke will help its readers understand the limitations and the opportunities of modeling stroke in rodents and enable them to conduct experiments which will not only improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of this devastating disorder but also serve as the basis for developing new highly effective treatments.