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.
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.
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.
Super-Resolution Microscopy Techniques in the Neurosciences serves as a comprehensive description of current super-resolution techniques, including the physical principles that allowed for their development, some of the most recent neurobiological applications and selected information for the practical use of these technologies.
In the last few years, technologies that allow for monitoring and manipulating neuronal networks at a single cell resolution have been rapidly expanding.
Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the development of specific neural circuits is not just an intellectual curiosity but also central to our ability to develop therapeutic approaches to repair damaged pathways in the future.
As the presence of genetically modified animal models in research laboratories has multiplied, the role of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of brain disorders has become particularly important.
Since the early days, the field of neuropeptide biology has dramatically widened, and today the ultimate frontiers in neuropeptide research lie in the development of pharmacologically active compounds that are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to exert their biological role(s) in vivo and in the construction of genetic vectors to be employed in gene therapy.
The discovery of stem and progenitor cells in the adult mammalian CNS challenged the long standing "e;no new neuron"e; doctrine and opened the door to the potential for cell replacement therapy.
New high throughput techniques in neuroscience and psychiatry have enhanced the development of experimental, customizable animal models that are predictive of human neuropsychiatric pathology and give vital insights on the mechanisms and pathways involved.
Transcriptomics and proteomics, studying the profile of the expression of nucleic acids and proteins respectively, are increasingly applied to gain a mechanistic insight into a wide spectrum of investigation, and the use of expression profiling studies for the central nervous system and brain function aids in the understanding of neurodegenerative disorders and tumor development mechanisms.
Patch Clamp Methods and Protocols surveys the typical patch clamp applications and advises scientists on identifying problems and selecting the best technique in each instance.
Bringing together techniques and methods currently being applied to the study of exocytosis, Exocytosis Methods collects chapters from experts in the field, examining this fundamental process essential to functions ranging from protein secretion to hormone release and neurotransmission.
With an ever-increasing elderly population and the resultant rising levels of dementia-related disorders, preclinical research based on animal models is pivotal to our knowledge of underlying molecular mechanisms and drug discovery aiming at the development of therapeutic strategies alleviating or preventing the neurological devastation.
Societal, ethical, and cost-related issues, not to mention the need for sound scientific methods, have led to new and refined methods for the evaluation of health risks associated with neurotoxic compounds, relevant and predictive of exposure, relatively inexpensive, and ideally amenable to high throughput analysis and a reduction in animal use.
The goal of the characterization and discovery of G protein-coupled receptors, arguably the most important class of signaling molecules in humans and other vertebrates, has spawned numerous vital methodologies.
Affecting over a hundred million individuals worldwide, retinal diseases are among the leading causes of irreversible visual impairment and blindness, and appropriate study models, especially animal models, are essential to furthering our understanding of the etiology, pathology, and progression of these endemic diseases.
As a model organism, zebrafish (Danio rerio) offer an opportunity to perform steadfast scientific investigations in a robust and high-throughput manner.
Nervous system development evolves from the well-orchestrated processes of neural induction, cell proliferation, differentiation, cell migration, survival, and synapse formation.
The application of optical methods for investigating neocortical circuit dynamics has greatly expanded in recent years, providing novel insights into the fascinating world of brain function.
Channels and transporters are multi-functional proteins that mediate substrate transport and signal transmission and simultaneously act as regulators for other proteins and biosensors for environmental materials.
If you think baby brain is bad for you, think again - because neuroscientist Dr Sarah McKay (author of The Women's Brain Book) has looked at studies and talked to experts from all over the world and the proof is in: giving birth is one of the best things to ever happen to a woman's brain.
The chapters in this book are based on the Visceral Pain conference in Adelaide, Australia, under the auspices of the International Federation for Neurogastroenterology and Motility in 2021.
Sleep disorders are very common among women during their lifespan, presenting in isolation or in combination with other illnesses particularly psychiatric and neurologic disorders.
Game-Based Learning in Education and Health, Volume 276 in the Progress in Brain Research series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics such as Math computerized games in the classroom: a Number Line Training in Primary School Children, Digital games for learning basic arithmetic at home, Game-Based Assessment of Cognitive Function among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Different aspects of fraction understanding are associated selectively with performance on a fraction learning game, and more.
The brain is the organ that collects information from the environment, processes and stores the information, and generates behavior as and when needed.
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