This book is a major update of novel targets in angiogenesis modulation, including pro- and anti-angiogenesis. There is in-depth coverage of preclinical and clinical methods and models, investigational status, and clinical applications. The impact of nanotechnology in advancing the applications of pro-and anti-angiogenesis strategies is also highlighted, along with stem cell and biotechnologies in research and development of angiogenesis modulating targets.

The extremely potent substance botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) has attracted much interest in diverse fields. Originally identified as cause for the rare but deadly disease botulism, military and terrorist intended to misuse this sophisticated molecule as biological weapon. This caused its classification as select agent category A by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the listing in the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Later, the civilian use of BoNT as long acting peripheral muscle relaxant has turned this molecule into an indispensable pharmaceutical world wide with annual revenues >$1.5 billion. Also basic scientists value the botulinum neurotoxin as molecular tool for dissecting mechanisms of exocytosis. This book will cover the most recent molecular details of botulinum neurotoxin, its mechanism of action as well as its detection and application.

This book presents recent topics on the development, differentiation, and myelination of Schwann cells, as well as pathological mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for peripheral neuropathies, such as Charcot Marie Tooth diseases, amyloid polyneuropathy, immune-mediated neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy. The rapid progress of molecular biological techniques in the last decades, especially for RNA techniques and gene modification technologies have allowed us to investigate the pathobiology of Schwann cells in vivo and" "in vitro. Studies combining recent stem cell biology with recent biotechnology, which is now closely linked to physicochemical fields, further explain how Schwann cell lineages develop a process that has long been thought to be very complicated in vivo. The findings contribute to the elucidation of fundamental mechanisms during development and under pathological conditions. We now know that these are closely tied to each other. This book also introduces unique coculture systems to reproduce the neuron Schwann cell interplay during development, degeneration, and regeneration. Up-to-date research topics with high-quality immunofluorescence and electron micrographs introduced by young and energetic contributors are sure to arouse the readers' interest in Schwann cell biology. Discussion from the viewpoint of basic and clinical neuroscience makes the book educational for researchers, medical students and young clinicians."

From simple reflexes to complex choreographies of movement, all animal behavior is governed by a nervous system. But what kind of government is it-a dictatorship or a democracy? Nervous systems consist of circuits of interconnected nerve cells (neurons) that transmit and receive information via electrical signals. Every moment, each neuron adds up stimulating and inhibiting inputs from many other neurons to determine whether to send an electrical signal to its recipients. Some circuits are dominated by a single "dictator" neuron that gathers information from many sources and then issues commands, such as the Mauthner neuron that triggers escape in fish. In other more "democratic" circuits, such as those mediating eye movements in monkeys, the outcome is determined by a tally of "votes" from a large population of neurons. Rhythmic movements like breathing and locomotion are generated by "government programs" within the central nervous system, but modified by a soup of chemicals and by free market-like feedback from sensory neurons. Nervous systems also use sophisticated surveillance of the surrounding environment and keep track of their own decisions in order to avoid internal conflicts. Nervous systems are not restricted to using one set of procedures at a time. They have evolved over long periods to control behaviors in whichever ways are most effective, and they essentially combine multiple forms of government simultaneously. Engaging and accessible, Governing Behavior explains the variety of structures and strategies that control behavior, while providing an overview of thought-provoking debates and cutting-edge research in neurobiology.

This book seeks to unravel the mysteries of wolfberry, and systematically introduces its mechanisms in preventing aging-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, liver and neurodegenerative diseases. Wolfberry, the dried fruit of Lycium barbarum, is an anti-aging herbal medicine. There have been numerous reports investigating the underlying mechanisms of its anti-aging effects and its role in preventing pathological changes in many aging-associated diseases. Its holistic effects on the body can attenuate liver toxicity and combat the spread of cancer; it also prevents degeneration in the central nervous system, and can even positively affect the skin. As such, wolfberry has become a very popular food supplement around the world. This book will serve as an excellent reference source for researchers and graduate students studying herbal medicine and aging-associated diseases, while also providing insights for the pharmaceutical industry with regard to developing potential drugs for these diseases.

Translational Neuroscience offers a far-reaching and insightful series of perspectives on the effort to bring potentially revolutionary new classes of therapies to the clinic, thereby transforming the treatment of human nervous system disorders. Great advances in the fields of basic neuroscience, molecular biology, genomics, gene therapy, cell therapy, stem cell biology, information technology, neuro devices, rehabilitation and others over the last 20 years have generated unprecedented opportunities to treat heretofore untreatable disorders of the nervous system. This book provides a wide-ranging yet detailed sample of many of these efforts, together with the methods for pursuing clinical translation and assessing clinical outcomes. Among the topics covered are Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, motor neuron disease, pain, inborn errors of metabolism, brain tumors, spinal cord injury, neuroprosthetics, rehabilitation and clinical trial design/consideration. Translational Neuroscience is aimed at basic neuroscientists, translational neuroscientists and clinicians who seek to gain a perspective on the nature and promise of translational therapies in the current era. Both students and established professionals will benefit from the content.

Practical tools and tips to lead a healthy and productive life The brain is the basis of everything we do: how we behave, communicate, feel, remember, pay attention, create, influence and decide. Why We Do What We Do combines scientific research with concrete examples and illustrative stories to clarify the complex mechanisms of the human brain. It offers valuable insights into how our brain works every day, at home and at work, and provides practical ideas and tips to help us lead happy, healthy and productive lives. - Learn about how your brain functions - Find out how emotions can be overcome or last a lifetime - Access your brain's natural ability to focus and concentrate - Think creatively The thoughts you have and the words that you speak all have an effect on your neural architecture -- and this book explains what that means in a way you can understand.

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. "Cell Culture Techniques" presents thorough traditional chapters, such as those on various cell culture methods that have evolved over the years, as well as innovative approaches to neurotoxicologic testing. Accordingly, this detailed volume describes how stem cells, computational biology, and other novel powerful methods can now be applied to address the challenges of neurotoxic testing. As part of the "Neuromethods" series, this work provides the kind of intensive description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results in the laboratory.

Practical and authoritative, "Cell Culture Techniques" serves both the novice and the experienced neurotoxicologist by inspiring the further development of mechanistically-driven, cost-effective, high throughput series of tests needed to meet the many contemporary challenges."

Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary research area that evaluates the structural and organizational function of the nervous system. When applied to business practices, it is possible to investigate how consumers, managers, and marketers makes decisions and how their emotions may play a role in those decisions. Applying Neuroscience to Business Practice provides theoretical frameworks and current empirical research in the field. Highlighting scientific studies and real-world applications on how neuroscience is being utilized in business practices and marketing strategies to benefit organizations, as well as emergent business and management techniques being developed from this research, this book is a pivotal reference source for researchers, managers, and students.

This volume will explore the most recent findings on cellular mechanisms of inhibitory plasticity and its functional role in shaping neuronal circuits, their rewiring in response to experience, drug addiction and in neuropathology. Inhibitory Synaptic Plasticity will be of particular interest to neuroscientists and neurophysiologists.

Authored by world renowned scientists, this book expertly reviews all the imaging techniques and exciting new methods for the analysis of the pain, including novel tracers, biomarker, metabolomic and gene-array profiling, together with cellular, genetic, and molecular approaches. Recent advances in human brain imaging techniques have allowed a better understand of the functional connectivity in pain pathways, as well as the functional and anatomical alterations that occur in chronic pain patients. Modern imaging techniques have permitted rapid progress in the understanding of networks in the brain related to pain processing and those related to different types of pain modulation. Neuroimaging of Pain is designed to be a valuable resource for radiologists, neuroradiologists, neurologists and neuroscientists, working in hospitals and universities from junior trainees to consultants.

Stemming from a 2012 conference entitled Brain Degenerations and Emerging Mental Health Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa, this book is aimed at both the general practitioner interested in CNS disorders, and the specialist who would like to know more about CNS pathology in Africa. By employing a broad defi nition of what brain degeneration means, the authors are able to touch upon everything from dementias and CNS malignancy to traumatic brain injury and CNS infective processes. This book draws from and builds upon the original conference presentations, and incorporates the most up-to-date science behind brain degeneration as well as actual case reports. Each of the book's six sections off er the reader a deeper understanding of brain degeneration as it exists in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This book describes models of the neuron and multilayer neural structures, with a particular focus on mathematical models. It also discusses electronic circuits used as models of the neuron and the synapse, and analyses the relations between the circuits and mathematical models in detail. The first part describes the biological foundations and provides a comprehensive overview of the artificial neural networks. The second part then presents mathematical foundations, reviewing elementary topics, as well as lesser-known problems such as topological conjugacy of dynamical systems and the shadowing property. The final two parts describe the models of the neuron, and the mathematical analysis of the properties of artificial multilayer neural networks. Combining biological, mathematical and electronic approaches, this multidisciplinary book it useful for the mathematicians interested in artificial neural networks and models of the neuron, for computer scientists interested in formal foundations of artificial neural networks, and for the biologists interested in mathematical and electronic models of neural structures and processes.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the incredible advances achieved in the study of in vitro neuronal networks for use in basic and applied research. These cultures of dissociated neurons offer a perfect trade-off between complex experimental models and theoretical modeling approaches giving new opportunities for experimental design but also providing new challenges in data management and interpretation. Topics include culturing methodologies, neuroengineering techniques, stem cell derived neuronal networks, techniques for measuring network activity, and recent improvements in large-scale data analysis. The book ends with a series of case studies examining potential applications of these technologies.

This volume provides a comprehensive selection of recent studies addressing insect hearing and acoustic communication. The variety of signalling behaviours and hearing organs makes insects highly suitable animals for exploring and analysing signal generation and hearing in the context of neural processing, ecology, evolution and genetics. Across a variety of hearing species like moths, crickets, bush-crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas and flies, the leading researchers in the field cover recent scientific progress and address key points in current research, such as:

. How can we approach the evolution of hearing in insects and what is the developmental and neural origin of the auditory organs?

. How are hearing and sound production embedded in the natural lifestyle of the animals, allowing intraspecific communication but also predator avoidance and even predation?

. What are the functional properties of hearing organs and how are they achieved at the molecular, biophysical and neural levels?

. What are the neural mechanisms of central auditory processing and signal generation?

The book is intended for students and researchers both inside and outside of the fascinating field of bioacoustics and aims to foster understanding of hearing and acoustic communication in insects."

In this book the authors describe their original research on the potential of both standard and high-resolution electroencephalography (EEG) for analyzing brain activity in response to TV advertising. When engineering techniques, neuroscience concepts and marketing stimuli converge in one research field, known as neuromarketing, various theoretical and practical aspects need to be considered. The book introduces and discusses those aspects in detail, while showing several experiments performed by the authors during their attempts to measure both the cognitive activity and emotional involvement of the test subjects. In these experiments, the authors apply simultaneous EEG, galvanic skin response and heart rate monitoring, and show how significant variations of these variables can be associated with attention to, memorization or enjoyment of the presented stimuli. In particular, this book shows the central role of statistical analysis in recovering significant information on the scalp and cortical areas involved, along with variations of activity in the autonomous nervous system. From an economic and marketing perspective, the aim of this work is to promote a better understanding of how mass consumer advertising of (established) brands affects brain systems. From a neuroscience perspective, the broader goal is to provide a better understanding of both the neural mechanisms underlying the impact of affect and cognition on memory, and the neural correlates of choice and decision-making.

=> Please download the extra material for this book http: //extras.springer.com

The study and modulation of cortical connections is a rapidly growing area in neuroscience. This unique book by prominent researchers in the field covers recent advances in this area. The first section of the book describes studies of cortical connections, modulation of cortical connectivity and changes in cortical connections with activities such as motor learning and grasping in primates. The second section covers the use of non-invasive brain stimulation to study and modulate cortical connectivity in humans. The last section describes changes in brain connectivity in neurological and psychiatric diseases, and potential new treatments that manipulate brain connectivity. This book provides an up-to-date view of the study of cortical connectivity, and covers its role in both fundamental neuroscience and potential clinical applications.

The interest in 'biomarkers' seen across a spectrum of biomedical disciplines reflects the rise of molecular biology and genetics. A host of 'omics' disciplines in addition to genomics, marked by multidimensional data and complex analyses, and enabled by bioinformatics, have pushed the trajectory of biomarker development even further. They have also made more tractable the complex mappings of genotypes to phenotypes - genome-to-phenome mapping - to which the concept of a biomarker is central. Genomic investigations of the brain are beginning to reveal spectacular associations between genes and neural systems. Neural and cognitive phenomics are considered a necessary complement to genomics of the brain. Other major omics developments such as connectomics, the comprehensive mapping of neurons and neural networks, are heralding brain maps of unprecedented detail. Such developments are defining a new era of brain science. And in this new research environment, neural systems and cognitive operations are pressed for new kinds of definitions - that facilitate brain-behavioral alignment in an omics operating environment. This volume explores the topic of markers framed around the constructs of cognitive and neural systems. 'Neurophenotype' is a term adopted to describe a neural or cognitive marker that can be scientifically described within an associative framework - and while the genome-to-phenome framework is the most recognized of these, epigenetics and non-gene-regulated neural dynamics also suggest other frameworks. In either case, the term neurophenotype defines operational constructs of brain-behavioral domains that serve the integration of these domains with neuroscientific and omics models of the brain. The topic is critically important to psychiatry and neuropsychology: Neurophenotypes offer a 'format' and a 'language' by which psychiatry and neuropsychology can be in step with the brain sciences. They also bring a new challenge to the clinical neurosciences in terms of construct validation and refinement. Topics covered in the volume include: Brain and cognition in the omics era Phenomics, connectomics, and Research Domain Criteria Circuit-based neurophenotypes, and complications posed by non-gene regulated factors The legacy of the endophenotype concept - its utility and limitations Various potential neurophenotypes of relevance to clinical neuroscience, including Response Inhibition, Fear Conditioning and Extinction, Error Processing, Reward Dependence and Reward Deficiency, Face Perception, and Language Phenotypes Dynamic (electrophysiological) and computational neurophenotypes The challenge of a cultural shift for psychiatry and neuropsychology The volume may be especially relevant to researchers and clinical practitioners in psychiatry and neuropsychology and to cognitive neuroscientists interested in the intersection of neuroscience with genomics, phenomics and other omics disciplines.

This volume details methods for the analyses of specific lipid classes and lipidomics analyses of cells such as lymphocytes and oocytes. Lipidomics guides readers through chapters on direct-flow and chromatographic methods (SFC, UHPLC, HPTLC, ion-mobility); derivatization methods for lipids (amines, fatty aldehydes and ketones); TOF-SIMS imaging of lipids; and characterization of lipid transfer proteins. Additional chapters also provide an authoritative overview of lipidomics strategies and a detailed review of high-resolution mass spectrometric methods are included in this volume. 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. Concise and easy-to-use, Lipidomics aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

This volume is the most recent installment of the Progress in Motor Control series. It contains contributions based on presentations by invited speakers at the Progress in Motor Control VIII meeting held in Cincinnati, OH, USA in July, 2011. Progress in Motor Control is the official scientific meeting of the International Society of Motor Control (ISMC). The Progress in Motor Control VIII meeting, and consequently this volume, provide a broad perspective on the latest research on motor control in humans and other species.

The craniofacial musculature, including the extraocular muscles, muscles associated with the

auditory system, the masseter, the tongue, and the laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles, all

participate in functions that are critical to life: vision, intact of nutrition, breathing, and hearing.

Despite their critical importance, the majority of research on skeletal muscle basically has

ignored this collection of muscles. This is most likely due to their complexity in form,

development, fiber types, physiology, and disease profiles. All these make these muscles

extremely difficult to study.

Vision depends on voluntary and reflexive eye movements initiated by the oculomotor system.

The effector arm of this motor system includes the extraocular muscles and their motor neurons.

Mastication, and therefore food intake, depends on the complex movements of the masseter and

tongue musculature. The effector arm of this motor system includes the masseter and tongue

muscles and their motor neurons. Respiration, human phonation, as well as gestation, depend on

the laryngeal and pharyngeal musculature. The effector arm of these motor systems includes the

intrinsic and extrinsic laryngeal muscles and the pharyngeal muscles and their motor neurons.

Recently there has been a renewed interest in understanding the basic cell biology and

pathologies associated with these unusual skeletal muscles. This book will highlight novel

findings on the development of these muscles and their innervation, metabolic design, functional

consequences of their structural organization, and potential reasons for their differential response

to various neuromuscular diseases. In addition, critical areas for future studies will be identified.

Using rodent models, this volume explores the basic neurobiology of the relationship among chronic pain, opioid pharmacology, and addiction.

This volume details protocols on prion disease from multiple disciplines and highlights the contribution each discipline has made to the understanding of prion disease. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Prions: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

Solid and transparent data analysis is the most important basis for reliable interpretation of experiments. The technique of parallel spike train recordings using multi-electrode arrangements has been available for many decades now, but only recently gained wide popularity among electro physiologists. Many traditional analysis methods are based on firing rates obtained by trial-averaging, and some of the assumptions for such procedures to work can be ignored without serious consequences. The situation is different for correlation analysis, the result of which may be considerably distorted if certain critical assumptions are violated. The focus of this book is on concepts and methods of correlation analysis (synchrony, patterns, rate covariance), combined with a solid introduction into approaches for single spike trains, which represent the basis of correlations analysis. The book also emphasizes pitfalls and potential wrong interpretations of data due to violations of critical assumptions.

Proline-rich polypeptides - in particular (PRP-1) galarmin and its structural analogues - are, when isolated from the neurosecretory granules of neurohypophysis of humans and animals, a new type of hypothalamic peptides. They work against aerobic, anaerobic, gram-positive, and gram-negative microorganisms in vivo, and do not have etiotropic properties. They are unique and capable substitutes to antibiotics, and, moreover, may be effective against strains, such as MRSA, that develop resistance to antibiotics. Galarmin, a component of the brain neuroendocrine system produced by the neurosecretory cells of hypothalamus, possesses immunomodulative, neuroprotective, antioxidant, antitumorigenic and hematopoietic properties. Moreover, galarmin and its structural analogues are powerful anti-inflammatory compounds. In addition to presenting a full overview of the neuroimmune system, it emphasizes the antibacterial, neuroprotective, and neuroregenerative properties of proline-rich polypeptides. It investigates the mechanism of galarmin's action during different infectious processes, where it targets such dangerous pathogens as Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium perfringens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Methycillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This research is important from both a theoretical and a clinical point of view, creating new prospects for the modern pharmaceutical industry and neuroendocrine, neuroimmunological sciences. Dr. Galoyan is a pioneer of the specialized field of neuroimmunology. During his 45-year long career, he has discovered a neuroendocrine immune system of the brain and identified a new type of brain cytokines: proline-rich polypeptides. The most important of these, PRP-1 (galarmin) has been shown to possess antibacterial properties and protect from certain neurotoxins.