Neurosciences

Advances in methodologies and experimental models are pivotal to furthering our understanding of central nervous system (CNS) functions in mammals.

Animal models have traditionally played a crucial role in improving our understanding of brain pathogenesis.

The successful previous volume on this topic provided a detailed benchwork manual for the most commonly used animal models of acute neurological injuries including cerebral ischemia, hemorrhage, vasospasm, and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

Since the introduction of fluorescent calcium indicators and the subsequent development of capacities for real-time monitoring and imaging of calcium movements in the intact cells studied in isolation, in situ and in vivo, the complex and vital calcium signaling system has been illuminated, proving calcium signals to be excellent universal reporters of cellular activity.

Activation, inhibition, or destruction of the nervous system or its component parts as a vital tool for the investigation of function has undergone remarkable development; indeed, new approaches have been developed that allow for these actions to be used as therapeutic tools.

Due to their vital involvement in a wide variety of housekeeping and specialized cellular functions, exocytosis and endocytosis remain among the most popular subjects in biology and biomedical sciences.

Continuing the research of the best-selling first edition, Patch-Clamp Analysis: Advanced Techniques, Second Edition collects three more years of research in the ever-expanding study of the cell membrane.

Movement is the way that animals interact with their environment and is under the organization and complex control of the brain and spinal cord.

As an extension of artificial intelligence research, artificial neural networks (ANN) aim to simulate intelligent behavior by mimicking the way that biological neural networks function.

Our understanding of addiction and how it is treated has advanced remarkably over the past decades, and much of the progress is related directly to animal research.

As fMRI technology has provided invaluable insights into the mechanisms through which the human brain works in healthy individuals and in patients with different neurological and psychiatric conditions, the study of brain function and even the monitoring of the effects of treatment have become more effective and efficient.

Since its first application, microdialysis has become incredibly popular to study brain function and has been applied with success in different fields from psychopharmacology, neurobiology, and physiology in animals and also humans.

Since the conception of this acclaimed series of volumes examining neural tissue culture, the expansion of neuroscience has continued to produce vital discoveries that utilize tissue culture methodologies.

Neuroprotection is a topic of great importance in current neuroscience, both basic and clinical.

Preclinical research related to mood and anxiety disorders relies extensively upon mouse behavioral tests and models, the use of which continues to increase as a greater number of underlying susceptibility genes are discovered, new targets for medications are identified, and clinical studies reveal novel neurobiological risk factors.

Prion Protein Protocols brings together a collection of current protocols in the field of mammalian prion disease research.

Min Li and a panel of hands-on experimentalists detail state-of-the-art molecular techniques for studying NMDA ligand-gated ion channels and developing assays for nontherapeutic lead selection.

Dopamine, a catecholamine transmitter, plays a number of vital physiological roles in the brain and body, and, in recent years, studies on the role of dopamine in disease have opened new avenues of research and discovery.

Animal models of schizophrenia and other major psychiatric disorders have been sought for decades, and, as a result, we are now facing new vistas on pathophysiology that could lead to novel therapeutic approaches and even hint at possible preventive strategies.

Major advances in molecular biology, alternative RNA splicing, protein processing, identification of gene control elements, transgenic animals and bioinformatics open up multiple research avenues and allow for better understanding of neuropeptide production and function.

Visualization of chemicals in tissues has seen incredible advances in the past several years.

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.

In the past few years, the application of proteomics to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying (mal-)functioning of the nervous system and brain disorders has risen steeply, which in many cases has yielded novel insights.

The small fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has for over a century now had a large impact on biological and biomedical research; however, our knowledge of the fly brain has lagged significantly behind our understanding of other aspects of its development, physiology, and function.

The rapid identification and characterization of genes of neurological relevance holds great potential for offering insight into the diagnosis, management, and und- standing of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of neurological diseases.

Applying neurophysiological methods to the study of brain-behavior relationships proved to be a major advance in the early days of neuroscience research.

With the loss of work days, the price of health care and payments for compensation, litigation, and malpractice, and the overwhelming cost of human suffering, chronic pain syndromes affect humanity enormously on both an economic and personal level.

Adrenergic receptors are important modulators in the sympathetic c- trol of various metabolic processes in the central and peripheral nervous s- tems.

In Neuronal Cell Culture: Methods and Protocols, the latest aspects of the culture of neural cells are explored by experts in the field who also explain the practical and theoretical considerations of the techniques involved.

The cerebral cytoskeleton, considered to be the working horse in brain tissues, becomes particularly important when degenerative diseases of the nervous system are considered.

Despite the difficulty in comparing clinic-based human tests with animal model testing, there is still great value in pursuing translational approaches, as tests and treatment strategies might be developed to improve brain function in humans suffering from neurological conditions and knowledge obtained from human behavioral studies can be used to further improve the animal models of behavioral analysis.

For molecules that are not directly electroactive, it is necessary to modify a microelectrode by grafting polymeric or enzymatic membranes capable of translating a local concentration into an electrical current, which is a concept referred to as biosensing.

The growth of the field of eating disorder research has led to a vast array of empirical articles, and the development of new animal models that can be used to study these disorders continues to stimulate new research.

Evolving technologies starting with tracer studies, and more recently with genomics and proteomics, have provided novel information about the molecular properties of cerebral endothelium and astrocytes; however, further studies must be done in animal models of neurological diseases and in humans to get a clearer understanding of the pathogenesis of blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown in nervous system diseases.

The development of new photochemical tools, some synthesized by chemists and some provided by nature, is rapidly changing the way neurobiological research is performed in the modern laboratory.

Although there has been an explosion of interest and technology in the study of neural stem cells, many questions related to stem cell properties and neural stem cell lineage and differentiation still linger.

The successful previous volume on this topic provided a detailed benchwork manual for the most commonly used animal models of acute neurological injuries including cerebral ischemia, hemorrhage, vasospasm, and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

Key discoveries concerning the different biological functions of microglia in health and disease have attracted scientists from various fields.

With sequencing of the human genome now complete, deciphering the role of gene function in human neurological pathophysiology is a promise that has yet to be realized.

Ever since their discovery more than 150 years ago, astrocytes have proved to be something of an enigma.

Many advances in modern neuroscience are enabled by the availability of chemical tools that allow sensitive, precise, and quantitative measurements of, and control over, biological processes.

Although the available models, whether at the cellular, tissue, or animal level, do not exactly represent the biology of human brain tumors, animal models can offer significant insights into these tumors, providing a better understanding of biological mechanisms underlying tumor generation, growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis.

Providing widely used techniques in genetic model systems and many complementing animal models, Brain Development: Methods and Protocols focuses its expert contributions on two key technical aspects of developmental neurobiology: detection of gene expression and functional characterization of developmental control genes.

Aiming toward improvement in the safety, efficiency, and specificity of viral vectors for neurobiological research and clinical applications, Viral Vector Approaches in Neurobiology and Brain Diseases covers key aspects related to the use of viral vectors in neuroscience, with a major emphasis on basic mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory, as well as molecular neuropharmacology and experimental animal models of brain disorders.

In recent years, the need to develop acceptable alternatives to conventional animal testing for neurotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity has been increasingly recognized, and much effort is being directed toward the development of alternative models, utilizing mostly mammalian cells in culture but also non-mammalian model systems.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) play an integral role in biomedical research, enabling researchers to examine physiological mechanisms and pathways relevant to human pathogenesis and its therapy.

In the last decade, several different optical imaging techniques, either based on various voltage or calcium dyes, or more recently on modified fluorescent or bioluminescent proteins (genetically encoded) that are sensitive to calcium, have been developed to study neuronal activity, and especially groups of neurons, with the goal of mapping and deciphering the neural code underlying major neurophysiological functions.

The current demand for the development of techniques for controlled genetic manipulations is driven by the anatomical and physiological complexity of the brain and by the need for experimental models that can address this complexity through selective manipulation of defined components of the system: specific neuronal populations or selected synapses.

Playing an important role in the treatment of neurological disorders, the delivery of drugs to central nervous system (CNS), both administered directly and administered systematically for targeted action, encounters a major challenge in the form of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which limits the access of drugs to the brain substance.