Comparative Neurochemistry


Book Description

Comparative Neurochemistry, a collection of papers presented at the Fifth International Symposium of Comparative Neurochemistry, held at St. Wolfgang, Austria in 1962, deals with variations in neurochemical mechanisms in different animal species. The book integrates the data derived from comparative studies in different disciplines and assesses their significance in relation to the understanding of nervous mechanisms in animals, including human. The papers are grouped into sections, which cover general topics on functional organization in different species; lipids, proteins, and ribonucleic acid; amino acids in different species; energy metabolism and function; neurosecretory mechanisms; and comparative neuropharmacology. The text will be of interest to biologists, zoologists, pharmacologists, chemists, neurologists, and researchers in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.




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.




Comparative Invertebrate Neurochemistry


Book Description

The attractions of invertebrate nervous systems have long been appreciated by neurophysiologists. Indeed some of the milestones in our understanding of nervous systems have their foundations in experiments done on invertebrate preparations, typified by the role of the squid axon in dissect ing the events that constitute the action potential. More recently we have seen how the relatively simple nervous system of Aplysia has permitted new insights into the molecular mechanisms of memory and learning. Neurochemists, however, have not been enthusiastic about invertebrate tissues as their experimental material. Much of the biochemical information on invertebrate nervous systems that has accrued has been incidental, almost as a by-product of what were primarily physiological investigations. Fortunately the field is changing, and research groups are making a positive choice to turn to invertebrate tissues. Two important factors have contributed to this. First, the study of analogous systems in invertebrates and vertebrates can tell us much about the evolution of nervous systems. The application of the techniques of molecular genetics to the study of such molecules as receptors and ion channels can provide detailed information about their composition that, in turn, allows us to better understand their function. By extending such studies to the invertebrates we should be able to understand how such systems have developed. Secondly, invertehrate pests are responsible for enormous losses of agricultural crops and are major vectors of disease in man.




Handbook of Neurochemistry


Book Description




Selected Topics from Neurochemistry


Book Description

This book contains up-dated versions of articles which proved very popular when first published in Neurochemistry International. The articles draw attention to developments in a specific field perhaps unfamiliar to the reader, collating observations from a wide area which seem to point in a new direction, giving the author's personal view on a controversial topic, or directing soundly based criticism at some widely held dogma or widely used technique in the neurosciences.




Structural Neurochemistry


Book Description

That chemicals (although not always called by this name) affect the brain and its functions, such as behavior, has been known for thousands of years. It is therefore surprising that the concept that chemical mechanisms are at least partially responsible for the complex functions of the brain is so recent. Investigation of the closely interlinked biophysical and biochemical proper ties of the nervous system has achieved many notable successes in recent years and is the most exciting development in 20th-century science. Although all the morphology, the activity, and the alteration of the brain, whether bioelectric, biochemical, pathological, or structural, constitute an organic and indivisible whole, the ambition of the Handbook is to look at only a few aspects of this whole and to focus the discussions on the experi ments that the neurochemists have performed. Neurochemical study of the nervous system has, perhaps of necessity, gone through several phases: the first phase was more analytical and in volved study of the composition of the tissue; the second, more recent phase clarified many of the metabolic sequences that occur in this tissue. Clearly, both were essential, but they showed that additional approaches are neces sary. The present phase seems to be the study of control processes; present interest focuses on what determines, in a qualitative and quantitative fashion, the processes occurring in the nervous system. Perhaps the next phase will be the study of function, the study of the final stage of integration.




Advances in Neurochemistry


Book Description

The original premise of the Editors in initiating this series was that there existed a readership ofneurochemists with considerable biochemical back ground who would make use of a series dedicated to both new develop ments and specialized reviews in neurochemistry. Having selected our authors, we have offered them virtually complete freedom to reflect and speculate in a field in which they have achieved prominence. The response to the first two volumes has been rewarding. The present one continues in this tradition. While we have not attempted to publish specialized volumes, the present volume contains two somewhat related chapters (Chapters 4 and 5, on the role of amino acid neurotransmitters). The first three chapters examine three diverse approaches, each of current interest, in neurochemi cal approaches to the molecular bases of neuronal and glial structure. B. W. Agranoff M. H. Aprison vii CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 2',3'-CYCUC NUCLEOTIDE 3'-PHOSPHODIESTERASE NEIL RAYMOND SIMS AND PATRICK ROBERT CARNEGIE 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Assay of CNPase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. 1. Need for Activation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. 2. Comparison of Assays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. Association of CNPase with Myelin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3. 1. Historical. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3. 2. Subcellular Fractionation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. 3. Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. 4. Mutant Mice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3. 5. Use as a Myelin Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3. 6. Myelin-Related Fractions and Peripheral Nerve Myelin. 11 4. CNPase in Nonmyelin Fractions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5. Activation and Isolation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5. 1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5. 2. Activation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5. 3. Solubilization and Fractionation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6. Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 6. 1. Substrate Specificity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




Functional Neurobiology of Aging


Book Description

Some well-known age-related neurological diseases include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, deafness, and blindness. Even more common are the problems of aging which are not due to disease but to more subtle impairments in neurobiological systems, including impairments in vision, memory loss, muscle weakening, and loss of reproductive functions, changes in body weight, and sleeplessness. As the average age of our society increases, diseases of aging continue to become more common, and conditions associated with aging need more attention by doctors and researchers. In 1991, patients over the age of 65 saw their doctors an average of eight times per year. Research funding is provided by the Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging (NNA) Program, which is run by the National Institute on Aging. This book offers a comprehensive overview of all topics related to functional impairments which are related to the aging brain and nervous system. It is organized according to four general functions: movement, senses, memory, and neuroendocrine regulation. Written by the leading researchers in the field, this comprehensive work addresses both impairments associated with diseases and not associated with diseases, making it easier to understand the mechanisms involved. Functional Neurobiology of Aging is an important reference for professionals and students involved in aging research, as well as physicians who need to recognize and understand age-related impairments. - Organized by function, making it easy to find and understand the material - Addresses impairments both associated with diseases and not associated with diseases - Written by leading researchers in the field - Most comprehensive source of information on the neurobiology of aging







The Scientific Basis of Drug Therapy in Psychiatry


Book Description

The Scientific Basis of Drug Therapy in Psychiatry is a collection of papers that covers the therapeutic effects and the mode of action of the various psychotropic drugs. The materials in the title are organized thematically based on the topic they tackle. The text first covers the articles on the basic concepts, such as anatomy and physiology of the emotions and their relation to psychoactive drugs, as well as the methods of assessment of psychological effects of drugs. The next three chapters cover the concerns with the psychotropic drugs that include clinical use, mode of actions, and pharmacology. The remaining paper talks about some of the considerations that need to be taken when administering psychotropic drugs. The book will be of great use to researchers and practitioners in behavioral science related disciplines, such as psychology, psychiatry, and neurology. Pharmacologists and medicinal chemists will also benefit from the text.