Neurosciences

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.

This book explores several aspects of the research in the field of general anesthesia, including mechanisms of action of inhaled and intravenous hypnotic agents; the anesthetics-induced neurotoxicity in children and elderly; features and physiopathology of postoperative cognitive side effects; and findings from preclinical research focused on the recognition of potential links between anesthetics and cancer cell biology.

Reflecting a vast amount of new information concerning the functional characteristics of the various 5-HT receptor subtypes and the Na+-dependent serotonin transporter (SERT), this volume provides state of the art methodologies currently applied in serotonin research from leading experts in the field.

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

This volume provides methods for characterization of muscarinic receptor in crystallography studies that advanced our understanding of structural properties and activation mechanism of muscarinic receptors and are cornerstone in molecular modeling and computer based approaches to study muscarinic receptors.

This detailed volume compiles the best methodologies and experimental techniques to profile and extract maximal data from brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs), the experimental paradigm for brain cancer research that offers insights into cancer stem cell populations that may drive not only tumor initiation but tumor recurrence and patient relapse.

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

This volume describes a broad spectrum of experimental approaches for investigating structure, function, and transport of neuronal mitochondria in health and disease.

This volume aims to provide clear and detailed methods to probe glutamate receptor function.

This volume explores methods used to examine metal levels and distribution in brain tissue or brain-derived cells.

This volume provides the reader with detailed protocols that describe a variety of in vitro and in vivo techniques that study reductionist systems and human samples.

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.

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.

This volume provides properties, biological function, methods,and approaches for manipulating nAChRs in different organisms.

This volume details protocols on prion disease from multiple disciplines and highlights the contribution each discipline has made to the understanding of prion disease.

This volume explores the latest techniques and improved methods used to study important neurobiological and associated neuropathological conditions.

This volume details various technological advances to isolate, perpetuate, and characterize neural stem cells from various sources and formulates them for the delivery into animal models of neurological disorders.

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

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.

This volume provides in-depth descriptions and discussion of clinical trial designs based on novel data analysis of high-quality trials for 11 different neurological conditions in order to ultimately improve the quality of care in neurology.

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.

This volume presents current adaptations of the patch-clamp technique to neuroscience.

This volume provides comprehensive knowledge on the fundamental techniques and detailed laboratory protocols used in stem cell research and their potential application in the field of neuroscience.

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.

This volume highlights proteomics studies of quantitative PTM changes in both peripheral and central nervous system proteomes utilizing the most recent advances in mass spectrometry.

This volume focuses on experimental research with applicable models to study physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

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.

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.

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.

This book presents a comprehensive toolkit of versatile techniques for studying microglia under different experimental settings along with a brief summary of knowledge, accumulated in microglial research over the last decades.

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.

Neuroinformatics presents cutting-edge techniques for the synergistic study of neuroinformatics, thereby facilitating the efforts of discovery neuroscience through the sharing of data and the use of computational models.

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.

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.

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.

Investigations involving incisive mechanistic dissection of various types of synaptic plasticity have revealed that it plays key roles in neural development, sensory information processing, cortical remapping following brain injury, perception, and behavioral learning and memory.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Providing a selection of the key techniques that are used in characterizing cerebral angiogenesis, Cerebral Angiogenesis: Methods and Protocols aims to define the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this important process.

This volume focuses on protein analysis covering a wide spectrum of the utility of mass spectrometry within neurobiological disciplines.