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Throughout his remarkable career, Donald Pfaff has demonstrated
that by choosing problems and methods with care, biologists can
study the molecular mechanisms of brains more complex than those of
fruit flies, snails, roundworms, and other invertebrates. His half
century in the lab, starting with his discovery of hormone
receptors in the brains of mammals and leading to the first
detailed account of a neural circuit for mammalian behavior, puts
him in a unique position to survey the origins and development of
behavioral neurobiology and the current state of research. How the
Vertebrate Brain Regulates Behavior offers a close-up,
conversational perspective on scientific struggles and successes
throughout a fifty-year quest to understand how behavior is
regulated in a complex organism. In graduate school, when Pfaff
expressed a desire to study behavioral regulation, his advisor
suggested focusing on hormones. Pfaff's investigation into the
hormonal basis of female sexual behavior in laboratory rats led him
to a comprehensive appreciation of how hormone-dependent neurons
work through neural circuits to produce discrete behaviors among
all vertebrates. This breakthrough, along with other researchers'
findings, established a link between molecular biology and
neuroscience that opened up a fruitful new field of inquiry.
Pfaff's approach is to focus on one solvable problem and explore it
from many angles. He begins with a single observed behavior and
traces its regulation through a series of biological
mechanisms-from hormones to genes to neural circuits. Pfaff's
relentless pursuit of his goals continues to inspire
neuroscientists today.
This volume starts with an elementary introduction covering stem
cell methodologies used to produce specific types of neurons,
possibilities for their therapeutic use, and warnings of technical
problems. In addition the authors report successes in achieving the
derivation of a specific type of neuron. The dopamine neuron offers
an important example and is discussed in more detail. Additional
chapters cover problems obviously approachable with cells derived
from stem cells, including their need in surgeries for pituitary
cancers. The last chapter provides an overview of this particular
field of research and presents a vision for its future directions.
This volume starts with an elementary introduction covering stem
cell methodologies used to produce specific types of neurons,
possibilities for their therapeutic use, and warnings of technical
problems. In addition the authors report successes in achieving the
derivation of a specific type of neuron. The dopamine neuron offers
an important example and is discussed in more detail. Additional
chapters cover problems obviously approachable with cells derived
from stem cells, including their need in surgeries for pituitary
cancers. The last chapter provides an overview of this particular
field of research and presents a vision for its future directions.
The subject of this book is reproduction-specifically, the
interplay between reproductive physiology (especially neural and
endocrine events) and behavior. In presenting this topic, there are
two expository goals. The first is to study repro- duction at all
of the major levels of biological organization-from the molecular
(e. g. , hormone receptors in the brain), through the cellular (e.
g. , ovarian morphogene- sis), systemic (e. g. , operation of the
hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis), and the organismic levels of
organization. Analogously, behavior is treated from the most
molecular, elementary, and fundamental components (e. g. ,
copulatory reflexes), through behavior in the reproductive dyad (e.
g. , analysis of female sexual behav- ior), to complex social
behavior (e. g. , the interaction of social context and behav-
ioral sex differences). To the extent that these levels of
biological and behavioral organization rep- resent a "vertical
axis" in behavioral neurobiology, a second goal is to treat the
"horizontal axis" of biological organization, viz. , time. There
are, therefore, treat- ments of evolutionary origins (e. g. , a
phylogenetic survey of psychosexual differ- entiation), genetic
origins in the individual (e. g. , sexual organogenesis), ontoge-
netic development (e. g. , behavioral sexual differentiation), and
the immediate physiological precursors of behavior (e. g. ,
hormonal and nonhormonal initiation of maternal behavior). In
addition to tracing the origins of reproduction and reproductive
behavior, one extends the time-line from the behavior to its
physio- logical consequences (e. g. , neuroendocrine consequences
of sexual behavior).
Latest issue in the CURRENT TOPICS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY se- ries
which has been gaining a great deal of reputation as a primary
source for reviews in neuroendocrinology and related areas in the
past few years.
The tridecapeptide neurotensin (NT) was first identified in bovine
hypothalamic extracts and characterized by Carraway and Leeman
(1973,1975,1976) and has subsequently been found in all classes of
vertebrates (Carraway and Leeman 1976; Kitabgi et al. 1976; Kataoka
et al. 1979; Langer et al. 1979; Reinecke et al. 1980a; Cooper et
al. 1981; Grant et al. 1982; Carraway et al. 1982; Eldred and
Karten 1983), many invertebrates (Reinecke et al. 1980 b;
Grimmelikhuijzen et al. 1981; Price et al. 1982), and certain
bacteria (Bhatnagar and Carraway 1981). It is distributed
throughout the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) (Uhl and
Snyder 1977 a, b), gastrointestinal tract (Sundler et al. 1977;
Schultzberg et al. 1980), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), adrenals,
pancreas, and plasma (Fernstrom et al. 1980). When administered
systemically, the peptide has a variety of effects such as
hypotension, hyperglycemia, decreased gastric acid secretion,
decreased gut motility, and altered secretion of anterior pituitary
hormones (Leeman and Carraway 1982). NT apparently does not cross
the blood-brain barrier in appre- ciable quantities; however, when
administered directly into the CNS, it produces a number of
physiological and behavioral effects. A burgeoning body of evidence
supports the role of NT as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator.
Thus far, het- erogeneous CNS distribution, release of NT upon
neuronal depolarization, satu- rable and specific binding of NT to
receptors, and degradation by peptidases have all been
demonstrated.
0 Behavioral Reaction Effect of Effect of Species Route of Dose of
Reference - 0 oxytocin vasopressin treatment oxytocin (mol/animal)
p r-' 11 Extinction of active avoidance Facilitation Opposite Rat
i. p. 2x 10- SCHULZ et al. (1974, 1976); ~ (bench-jumping) reaction
TELEGDY and KovAcs (1979a) 0 12 10- < Extinction of active
avoidance Facilitation Opposite Rat i. c. v. BOHUS et aI. (1978b)
"', 0 (pole-jumping) reaction '" 10 2 x 10- Extinction of active
avoidance Delay Similar Rat s. c. WALTER et aI. (1978);
(pole-jumping) behavior BoHUS et al. (1978b) 12 10- Acquisition of
active avoidance Delay No effect Rat i. c. v. BoHUS et al. (1978b)
(pole-jumping) behavior 11 2x 10- Acquisition of active avoidance
No effect No effect Rat i. p. SCHULZ et al. (1974) (bench-jumping)
behavior 10 Passive avoidance (step-down) Attenuation Opposite Rat
i. p. 2x 10- KovAcs et al. (1978) behavior 13 10- Passive avoidance
(step-through) Attenuation Opposite Rat i. c. v. BoHUS et al.
(1978a, b); behavior KovAcs and DE WmD (1983) 14 2. 5 x 10- Passive
avoidance (step-through) Attenuation Opposite Rat Hippocampus,
KovAcs et al. (1979) behavior dorsal raphe 14 Passive avoidance
(step-through) Facilitation Similar Rat Septum 2. 5 x 10- KovAcs et
al. (1979) behavior 8 10- Passive avoidance (choice No effect No
effect Rat ? SAGHAL and WRIGHT (1984) measure) 7 Attenuation of
puromycin- 10- No effect Effective Mouse s. c WALTER et al.
The role of electrical signalling in the control of endocrine
secretions by the brain has been clear for many years. Recently,
the influences of hormones on synthetic events in neuroendocrine
cells have raised new questions concerning the peptides released
from such neurons. This volume concentrates on the relation between
these two fields and asks how electrical action potentials
facilitate secretion of substances from nerve cells which control
endocrine events. While stimulus-secretion coupling has been
studied extensively in other physiological contexts, this is the
first treatment of the phenomenon in an exclusively neuroendocrine
setting.
Arousal is fundamental to all cognition. It is intuitively obvious,
absolutely necessary, but what exactly is it? In "Brain Arousal and
Information Theory," Donald Pfaff presents a daring perspective on
this long-standing puzzle. Pfaff argues that, beneath our mental
functions and emotional dispositions, a primitive neuronal system
governs arousal. Employing the simple but powerful framework of
information theory, Pfaff revolutionizes our understanding of
arousal systems in the brain.
Starting with a review of the neuroanatomical,
neurophysiological, and neurochemical components of arousal, Pfaff
asks us to look at the gene networks and neural pathways underlying
the brain's arousal systems much as a design engineer would
contemplate information systems. This allows Pfaff to postulate
that there is a bilaterally symmetric, bipolar system universal
among mammals that readies the animal or the human being to respond
to stimuli, initiate voluntary locomotion, and react to emotional
challenges. Applying his hypothesis to heightened states of
arousal--sex and fear--Pfaff shows us how his theory opens new
scientific approaches to understanding the structure of brain
arousal.
A major synthesis of disparate data by a preeminent
neuroscientist, Brain Arousal and Information Theory challenges
current thinking about cognition and behavior. Whether you
subscribe to Pfaff's theory or not, this book will stimulate debate
about the nature of arousal itself.
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