Over the last decade, the considerable progress made in biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics and neuropharmacology has revealed some ofthe intimate mechanisms ofthe neurodegenerative disorders. There is increasing evidence linking genetic defects affecting mitochondria to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease and some other neurological disorders. Advances in knowledge are fueled through improved animal models that use mitochondrial toxins, excitotoxins, and transgenic animals. Therapeutic studies in these models have strengthened the possibility for effective treatments in man. By defining the pathomechanisms, we hope to be in the position to prevent cell death by protecting neurons. Indeed serious preclinical and clinical research is going on in the field of neuroprotection in stroke, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, demyelinating disorders and dementia. Based on these scientific ideas, the Symposium in honour of Professor Abel Lajtha was organized by the European Society for ClinicalNeuropharmacology(ESCNP) and the Danube Symposium for Neurological Sciences in Budapest, Hungary, October 24-25, 2002. Professor Lajtha was born in Budapest in 1922 and his home town is an ideal venue for strengthening the bonds between Western and Eastern European Neuroscientists. Professor Peter Riederer (Wurzburg) held the 2002 special "Dezso Miskolczy Memorial Lecture" in Abel Lajtha's Honour. Thanks are due to the invited speakersofthis Symposium for their excellentcontribution. Laszlo Vecsei vii CONTENTS Advances in Neuroprotection Research for Neurodegenerative Diseases 1 Mario E. Gotz and Peter Riederer Neurotransmitter Release in Experimental Stroke Models: The Role of Glutamate-GABA Interaction 21 Laszlo G. Harsing, Jr.

When funding agencies and policy organizations consider the role of modeling and simulation in modern biology, the question is often posed, what has been accomplished ? This book will be organized around a symposium on the 20 year history of the CNS meetings, to be held as part of CNS 2010 in San Antonio Texas in July 2010. The book, like the symposium is intended to summarize progress made in Computational Neuroscience over the last 20 years while also considering current challenges in the field. As described in the table of contents, the chapter's authors have been selected to provide wide coverage of the applications of computational techniques to a broad range of questions and model systems in neuroscience. The proposed book will include several features that establish the history of the field. For each article, its author will select an article originally appearing in a CNS conference proceedings from 15 - 20 years ago. These short (less than 6 page) articles will provide illustrations of the state of the field 20 years ago. The new articles will describe what has been learned about the subject in the following 20 years, and pose specific challenges for the next 20 years. The second historical mechanism will be the reproduction of the first 12 years of posters from the CNS meeting. These posters in and of themselves have become famous in the field (they hang in the halls of the NIH in Bethesda Maryland) and were constructed as allegories for the state and development of computational neuroscience. The posters were designed by the book's editor, who will, for the first time, provide a written description of each poster.

This volume focuses on the optogenetics workflow, and covers topics on viral vectors, targeting strategies, choice on opsins, animal models and readouts, and applications in systems neuroscience. This book shows readers how to identify the critical aspects of each methodological step, and how to determine the necessary level of complexity to address the particular research question. In Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Optogenetics: A Roadmap is a valuable guide for both the optogenetics novices and the experts.

Unraveling the functional properties of structural elements in the brain is one of the fundamental goals of neuroscientific research. In the cerebral cortex this is no mean feat, since cortical areas are defined microstructurally in post-mortem brains but functionally in living brains with electrophysiological or neuroimaging techniques - and cortical areas vary in their topographical properties across individual brains. Being able to map both microstructure and function in the same brains noninvasively in vivo would represent a huge leap forward. In recent years, high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies with spatial resolution below 0.5 mm have set the stage for this by detecting structural differences within the human cerebral cortex, beyond the Stria of Gennari. This provides the basis for an in vivo microanatomical brain map, with the enormous potential to make direct correlations between microstructure and function in living human brains. This book starts with Brodmann's post-mortem map published in the early 20th century, moves on to the almost forgotten microstructural maps of von Economo and Koskinas and the Vogt-Vogt school, sheds some light on more recent approaches that aim at mapping cortical areas noninvasively in living human brains, and culminates with the concept of "in vivo Brodmann mapping" using high-field MRI, which was introduced in the early 21st century.

Cardiorespiratory function is prominently affected by oxidative stress. Cigarette smoking is the archetype of oxidative and nitrative stress and free radical formation. New adverse effects of smoking keep on propping up in research. The chapters provide the comprehensive view of new developments in this area regarding cardiovascular and lung function and muscle catabolism. Alterations in inflammatory cytokines and proteins as well as degradation of muscle proteins due to smoking, by far unrecognized, caused by oxidative stress also are presented. Much less is known about the effect of cognitive stress on vagally-mediated cardiorespiratory function and surprisingly, on vagal immune pathway. The experimental studies also show that clinically important meconium aspiration syndrome contains an oxidative trait which is amenable to antioxidative treatment. This volume creates a source of information on the damaging role of oxidative stress in cardiorespiratory function that has by far not been available.

This book explores how minds at the movies understand minds in the movies and introduces readers to some fundamental principles of Cognitive Studies-namely conceptual blending, Theory of Mind, and empathy/perspective-taking-through their application to film analysis. A cognitive approach to recent popular historical films demonstrates cinema's potential to stimulate viewers' critical thinking about crucial events of the past century. Diverging from the focus on narrative processing in traditional cognitivist theory, this book examines film reception and production in the context of the latest developments in cognitive and social psychology. Turning to German cinema as a case study for this interdisciplinary partnership, Jennifer Marston William offers a fresh look at some internationally successful films of the twenty-first century, including Nowhere in Africa, Goodbye, Lenin!, Sophie Scholl, Downfall, The Lives of Others, and The Baader-Meinhof Complex.

Spiking neural networks (SNN) are biologically inspired computational models that represent and process information internally as trains of spikes. This monograph book presents the classical theory and applications of SNN, including original author's contribution to the area. The book introduces for the first time not only deep learning and deep knowledge representation in the human brain and in brain-inspired SNN, but takes that further to develop new types of AI systems, called in the book brain-inspired AI (BI-AI). BI-AI systems are illustrated on: cognitive brain data, including EEG, fMRI and DTI; audio-visual data; brain-computer interfaces; personalized modelling in bio-neuroinformatics; multisensory streaming data modelling in finance, environment and ecology; data compression; neuromorphic hardware implementation. Future directions, such as the integration of multiple modalities, such as quantum-, molecular- and brain information processing, is presented in the last chapter. The book is a research book for postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners across wider areas, including computer and information sciences, engineering, applied mathematics, bio- and neurosciences.

Recent advances in understanding the role of protein dysmetabolism in neurodegeneration was the theme of the Fondation IPSEN meeting addressing Genotype-Proteotype-Phenotype relationships. Experts from international laboratories contributed to the current volume to produce a comprehensive overview of the role of protein misfolding in neurodegeneration. Links between genotype and protein characteristics and between proteotype and clinical phenomenology were discussed across diseases categories. Progress in understanding the role of abnormalities of protein metabolism may lead to the identification of biological markers relevant to disease monitoring and to the development of new therapeutic agents capable of modifying and ameliorating basic neurodegenerative mechanisms.

A comprehensive overview of the many factors that can influence brain plasticity throughout the lifespan. Addresses perinatal plasticity, functional state plasticity, injury-induced plasticity, and stressor-induced plasticity. Because it looks at so many aspects of the field, this volume will serve as a great resource for students as well as researchers interested in expanding their knowledge. The volume comes out as an integrated view based in the expertise of Ibero American neuroscientists working in the field.

The highly successful Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology continue to offer high-quality, in-depth reviews covering the full range of modern physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. Leading researchers are specially invited to provide a complete understanding of the key topics in these archetypal multidisciplinary fields. In a form immediately useful to scientists, this periodical aims to filter, highlight and review the latest developments in these rapidly advancing fields.

White matter injury can result from both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke as well as a host of other CNS diseases and conditions such as neonatal injuries, neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, and drug or alcohol overdoses. The extent of white matter injury is extremely important to patient outcomes. Several recent technological developments including advanced neuroimaging and the breeding of new rodent models of white matter injury have provided growing insight into initial damage and repair after a stroke or other damaging event. The proposed book will be the first to provide a systematic expert summary of normal white matter morphology as well as white matter injury following stroke and other CNS injuries.

This volume explores methods used to examine metal levels and distribution in brain tissue or brain-derived cells. The chapters in this book discuss the use of fluorescent metal probes, synchrotron-based X-ray microscopy, ICP-MS, laser ablation-ICP-MS, laser-based tissue microdissection, MRI image analysis, fractionation of cell tissue samples for metal analysis, and metal treatment of cells. In Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your own laboratory. Practical and cutting-edge, Metals in the Brain: Measurement and Imaging is a valuable resource for researchers in the rapidly growing area of neuroscience research.

There are more than 100 billion brain cells in our heads, and every single one represents a fragment of thought and feeling. And yet each cell is a mystery of beauty, with branching, intricate patterns like shattered glass. Richard Wingate has been scrutinizing them for decades, yet he is still moved when he looks at one through a microscope and traces their shape by hand. With absorbing lyricism and clarity, Wingate shows how each type of cell possesses its own personality and history, illustrating a milestone of scientific discovery and exploring the stories of pioneering scientists like Ramon y Cajal and Francis Crick, and capturing their own fascinating shapes and patterns. Discover the ethereal world of the brain with this elegant little book - and find out how we all think and feel.

Galanin is a neuropeptide found both in the central and peripheral nervous system. The 29-amino acid peptide (named after its N-terminal glycine and C-terminal alanine) was identified in 1983 by its C-terminal amidation. This 'reverse' approach, that is to discover a substance through a distinct chemical feature, and only subsequently to characterize its biological activity, was novel and has been successful in the identification of several other peptides. After the structure of galanin was determined in 1983, functional studies were performed with material purified from natural sources until the synthetic form of the peptide became available. Galanin can act as transmitter, modulator and trophic factor, and is involved in a number of physiological processes such as hormone secretion, cardiovascular mechanisms, feeding and cognition. This peptide may also be of significance for a number of pathological processes/disorders including pain, depression, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, addiction and cancer. This wide diversity of actions is mediated by three galanin receptor subtypes. The studies reviewed in this volume give a fairly complete overview of the spectrum of the biological actions and functions of galanin and its receptors and on possible therapeutic applications in a number of pathological conditions. Finally, a closely related molecule, galanin-like peptide, is discussed.

Neuroinflammation in Vascular Dementia describes the molecular mechanisms that drive this transition to mixed pathology, along with the newer lifestyle and pharmacological approaches that can reduce the incidence of dementia. The book describes the practical aspects of neuroimaging methods, along with novel neuroimaging methods, using MRI, that are becoming important clinically. The author also discusses how the diagnosis of dementias will be greatly aided by biomarkers from neuroimaging, blood and CSF biochemistry and neuropsychological testing in the future. This information will be used in precision medicine to design treatment strategies based on the most likely causes of the disease. Dementia research has undergone dramatic growth driven by current and projected increases in the aging of the population, and thus leading to a larger number of patients with dementia by 2050. Hence, advances in neuroimaging, brain chemistry, and genetics have accelerated our understanding of diseases that lead to cognitive decline.

The field of neurotrophic factors has witnessed exp- sive growth in the past decade. As is usual in scientific in- vation, this progress has been closely associated with methodological advances. The introduction of molecular b- logical techniques into the neurotrophic factor field led to the discovery of new families of neurotrophic growth f- tors and their receptors. Production of growth factors by recombinant technology played a crucial part. The example of nerve growth factor, the paradigmatic neurotrophic factor, illustrates this point. A decade ago investigators were forced to purify small quantities of this protein from murine salivary glands, but much larger qu- tities of recombinant nerve growth factor are now available for experimentation as well as clinical development. A decade ago there was a controversy about the existence of nerve growth factor in the brain and the immunoassays used for its measurement, but current publications report the precise localization of gene expression for nerve growth factor and its receptor in the brain. Neurotrophic Factors aims at presenting the techniques that have been crucial to the realization of these rapid advances and thus have helped propel the neurotrophic factors field to its current status of high visibility. These techniques range from molecular biological methods used for cloning and production, to cell culture methods for assessing biological activities, to animal models of nervous system injury (nec- sary for the development of therapeutic agents from neurotrophic factors).

The barrel area is a unique specialization of the cerebral cortex, shared by many species of rodents and some marsupials, in which the somatotopic map of the body surface receives direct morphological expression. Here, the homogeneous sheet of layer IV granule cells seen in most mammals is fractured into large archipelagos, each representing one of the larger subdivisions of the contra lateral half-body. Within these larger domains are smaller aggregates of granule cells that contain the concentrated terminations of thalamocortical fibers bear ing messages emanating from constellations of receptors located in finer subdi visions of a body part. These smaller aggregates are particularly well-defined in the representation of the face, where they form a one-to-one representation of the sinus hairs or vibrissae and where they have been given the name barrels. The first inklings of the unique structure of the parietal cortex of rodents came in the study of Droogleever-Fortuyn (1914), who remarked on the pres ence in it of clouds of granule cells 0. 5-1 mm in diameter, which he thought were in some way associated with concentrations of nerve fibers. Little attention, however, was paid to his observations. Lorente de N 6 (1922) later observed dense focal concentrations of afferent fiber ramifications in Golgi preparations of the mouse cortex, calling them glomeruli, and these can now be seen as the structures that form the hearts of the barrels and around which the granule cells concentrate."

Febrile seizures are the most common seizures in infants and children worldwide, This fact provides strong impetus to study and understand them and their consequences, and consider their treatment. These topics were the focus of the first edition of this book. The 20 years since the publication of this first edition have witnessed an explosion of new information about febrile seizures, meriting this new edition. Key advances have been made in the genetics and neurobiological underpinnings of febrile seizures and especially the very long fever-related seizures called febrile status epilepticus. The role of neuroinflammatory factors in the emergence of these seizures and their consequences, the demonstration of unique clinical and neuroradiological aspects of febrile status epilepticus, and the prospect of predictive (bio)markers to identify and characterize cognitive and epilepsy outcomes are exciting and important. In this edition, the authors and editors tackle these developments in chapters addressing the questions of parents, physicians, allied health care professionals and basic and translational scientists.

Biomedical research in the first decade of the 21st century has been marked by a rapidly growing interest in epigenetics. The reasons for this are numerous, but primarily it stems from the mounting realization that research programs focused solely on DNA sequence variation, despite their breadth and depth, are unlikely to address all fundamental aspects of human biology. Some questions are evident even to non-biologists. How does a single zygote develop into a complex multicellular organism composed of dozens of different tissues and hundreds of cell types, all genetically identical but performing very different functions? Why do monozygotic twins, despite their stunning external similarities, often exhibit significant differences in personality and predisposition to disease? If environmental factors are solely the cause of such variation, why are similar differences also observed between genetically identical animals housed in a uniform environment? Over the last couple of decades, epigenetics has undergone a significant metamorphosis from an abstract developmental theory to a very dynamic and rapidly developing branch of molecular biology. This volume represents a compilation of our current understanding about the key aspects of epigenetic processes in the brain and their role in behavior. The chapters in this book bring together some of the leading researchers in the field of behavioral epigenetics. They explore many of the epigenetic processes which operate or may be operating to mediate neurobiological functions in the brain and describe how perturbations to these systems may play a key role in mediating behavior and the origin of brain diseases.

Image Modeling and Retrieval; E. Vicario. Efficient and Effective Nearest Neighbor Search in a Medical Image Database of Tumor Shapes; F. Korn, et al. Shape-Similarity-Based Retrieval in Image Databases; R. Mehrotra, J.E. Gary. Color Angular Indexing and Image Retrieval; G.D. Finlayson, et al. Indexing Color-Texture Image Patterns; A.D. Ventura, et al. Iconic Indexing for Visual Databases; Q-L. Zhang, S-K. Chang. Using Weighted Spatial Relationships in Retrieval by Visual Contents; A. Del Bimbo, et al.. Index.

What do you do when you’re under pressure, overwhelmed, and ready to get what you really want? As one of the first female F-14 Tomcat fighter pilots in the US Navy, as well as a mom, wife, business consultant, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and global speaker, author Carey Lohrenz knows that the stress we experience can be just as intense as the stress in the cockpit of a fighter jet going Mach 2. But she’s got a secret weapon to prevail: years of training to overcome the specific natures of uncertainty, stress, burnout, anxiety, and pressure.

At our core, we know we’ve lost control. We’ve lost our grip on what we really want and who we really want to be. In order to solve the challenges of chaos and make our goals, dreams, and commitments a reality, we have to understand that in order to succeed when the pressure is on and to improve our performance overall, we’ve got to know what we can and cannot control.

In Span of Control, Lohrenz walks us through the fundamentals of surviving and succeeding during times of crisis. Weaving together eye-opening science, gripping personal stories, insightful interviews, prescriptive advice, and a high-octane dose of encouragement and practicality, Span of Control helps leaders recognize how to focus on what matters most, formulate a plan for success, and communicate what’s possible.

When first introduced, antisense oligonucleotides were hailed as the long awaited magic bullet that would provide an unprecedented level of specificity in controlling gene expression. Following this initial enthusiasm, antisense oligonucleotides have been maligned as nonspecific, toxic, and essentially useless. However, application of antisense oligonucleotide technology in the nervous system stands apart from the use of this technique in peripheral systems, largely because of its enormous success. The source of this success remains a matter of some controversy. Modulating Gene Expression by Antisense Oligonucleotides to Understand Neural Functioning addresses the origins of that controversy and determines whether the nervous system is a privileged site for antisense oligonucleotide action and not subject to the same vagaries and pitfalls as non-neuronal systems. Modulating Gene Expression by Antisense Oligonucleotides to Understand Neural Functioning contains chapters by experts in the field that focus on the use of this technique in a variety of behavioral systems, as well as rapid and nonspecific effects and the uptake and metabolism of antisense oligonucleotides by the nervous system. Modulating Gene Expression by Antisense Oligonucleotides to Understand Neural Functioning features: experts in the field reporting on the use of antisense oligonucleotide technology in a variety of behavioral systems, including pain control, circadian rhythms, ingestion and control of water balance, and reproductive behaviors; the novel use of plasmids to express antisense RNA in the nervous system; the biodistribution and metabolism of antisense oligonucleotides in the nervous system; rapid and unusual effects; and non-specific effects.

This book demonstrates the beneficial effects in brain circuits involving memory and attention, reward and social values, decision making and coordination, creativity and persistence of the skills and expertise of continuing education and exposure to the Arts; including chess practice, music/counting, college education and watching movies. These activities were reviewed and investigated using full-spectrum, advanced quantitative imaging techniques. The book highlights extensive applications for this research in common diseases, together with cutting-edge and full-spectrum static and dynamic, functional and structural, regional and inter-network, imaging and phenotypic scales. It will capture the interest of researchers in the areas of neurodevelopmental, neuroplasticity and neuropsychiatric imaging and correlation, as well as disease diagnosis and treatment, and could help convey the methodological innovation and neuroscientific applications of important educational, health and arts/science-related topics.

As little Edgar Curtis lay on his porch, he remarked to his mother how the noise of the rifle range was black, the chirp of the cricket was red, and the croak of the frog was bluish. Edgar, like many other people, has synesthesia - a fascinating condition in which music can have color, words can have taste, and time and numbers float through space. Everyone will be closely acquainted with at least 6 or 7 people who have synesthesia but you may not yet know who they are because, until very recently, synesthesia was largely hidden and unknown. Now science is uncovering its secrets and the findings are leading to a radical rethink about how our senses are organized. In this timely and thought-provoking book, Jamie Ward argues that sensory mixing is the norm even though only a few of us cross the barrier into the realms of synesthesia. How is it possible to experience color when no color is there? Why do some people experience touch when they see someone else being touched? Can blind people be made to see again by using their other senses? Why do scientists no longer believe that there are five senses? How does the food industry exploit the links that exist between our senses? Does synesthesia have a function? The Frog Who Croaked Blue explores all these questions in a lucid and entertaining way, making it fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the intriguing workings of the mind.