Gap junctions between glial cells or neurons are ubiquitously expressed in the mammalian brain and play a role in brain development including cell differentiation, cell migration and survival, and tissue homeostasis, as well as in human diseases including hearing loss, neuropathies, epilepsy, brain trauma, and cardiovascular disease. This volume provides neuroscience researchers and students with a single source for information covering the physiological, behavioral and pathophysiological roles of gap junctions in the brain. In addition, the book also discusses human disease conditions associated with mutations in single gap junction connexion genes, making it applicable to clinicians doing translational research. Finally, it includes reviews of pharmacological studies with gap junction blockers and openers, summarizing information obtained from phenotyping gap junctions mouse mutants.

Serves as the most current and comprehensive reference available covering the physiological, behavioral and pathophysiological roles of gap junctions in the brain.

Chapters summarize knowledge of the basic physiology of gap junctions in the brain, as well as of human disease conditions associated with mutations in single gap junction connexin genes.

Includes reviews of pharmacological studies with gap junction blockers and openers, summarizing information obtained from phenotyping gap junctions mouse mutants.

Episodic memory is the name of the kind of memory that records personal experiences instead of the mere remembering of impersonal facts and rules. This type of memory is extremely sensitive to ageing and disease so an understanding of the mechanisms of episodic memory might lead to the development of therapies suited to improve memory in some patient populations. Episodic memory is unique in that it includes an aspect of self-awareness and helps us to remember who we are in terms of what we did and what we have been passed through and what we should do in the future.
This book brings together a renowned team of contributors from the fields of cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and behavioural and molecular neuroscience. It provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of recent developments in understanding human episodic memory and animal episodic-like memory in terms of concepts, methods, mechanisms, neurobiology and pathology. The work presented within this book will have a profound effect on the direction that future research in this topic will take.
- The first and most current comprehensive handbook on what we know about episodic memory, the memory of events, time, place, and emotion, and a key feature of awareness and consciousness
- Articles summarize our understanding of the mechanisms of episodic memory as well as surveying the neurobiology of epsidodic memory in patients, animal studies and functional imaging work
- Includes 34 heavily illustrated chapters in two sections by the leading scientists in the field

Human health issues relating to amino acids are extremely broad and include metabolic disorders of amino acid metabolism as well as their presence in food and use as supplements. This book covers the biochemistry of amino acid metabolism in the context of health and disease. It discusses their use as food supplements, in clinical therapy and nutritional support and focuses on major recent developments, highlighting new areas of research that will be needed to sustain further interest in the field.