This is the first comprehensive guide devoted exclusively to the widely encountered class of behaviors that consist of repetitive, habitual, and apparently purposeless actions. The authors, leading experts in the field, bring to light the latest information on these stereotyped behaviors and examine their occurrence in psychiatric and neurological patients, as well as in response to stress, drug use, environmental factors, and other causes. The volume includes an historical perspective, information on the role of brain dopamine, the neuropsychological significance of effects of stimulant drugs, and the contribution of dopamine receptor subtypes. Yawning and grooming responses are considered, and are discussed in relation to coping with stress. 5-Hydroxytryptamine and stereotyped behavior is reviewed, and the stereotypy induced by drugs or by brain damage is given full analysis. Environmental factors are discussed and two full chapters are devoted to stereotyped responses and performance encountered in psychiatric and neurological patients.

There is now enough basic work to sketch out the principal systems at all levels of the brain, from prefrontal cortex to lower brainstem, which are orchestrated to provide control of food selection, preference and consumption. At the same time, the complex interplay between central systems and signals generated from peripheral systems include the gut, liver and fat stores, as well as the interactions with the neuroendocrine system can be described in some detail. A continuing theme throughout the book is that the functional analysis of appetite and food intake cannot be limited to a single focus, e.g. hypothalamic neuropeptides and their interactions, but must be based on a fully integrated view of the several contributing systems.
Appetite and Body Weight: Integrative Systems and the Development of Anti-Obesity Drugs provides an expert guide to the neural, neurochemical, autonomic and endocrine interrelations which underpin appetite and the controls of food intake and body weight. The book covers many of the neurochemical entities that are currently under investigation, including: neuropeptides, leptin, insulin, monoamines and endogenous cannabinoids in relation to appetite and body-weight control. In addition to the neuroscience analysis, there are also chapters that provide an expert guide to some of the key psychological concepts that the researchers believe are essential in trying to understand the phenomena under investigation. The volume will also serve as an authoritative guide to the current emphasis on the development of novel, efficacious anti-obesity medication.
* Provides an integrative view of the many systems involved in appetite and how they interact to effectfood intake (i.e. the brain, endocrine, gut, liver etc.)
* Considers psychological aspects such as incentive, preference, liking and palatability, and sets these concepts in their behavioural, pharmacological and neural contexts
* Examines the development of novel anti-obesity drugs, drawing on experience of pharmacological development work, pre-clinical tests for anti-obesity efficacy, and clinical trials of candidate anti-obesity compounds

Neural Mechanisms of ingestive behaviour has long been one of the most intensively investigaged areas within neuroscience. Drug studies have been introduced to develop anti-obesity compounds and, more recently, to identify nerotransmitters which might be involved in the control of ingestive behaviour.
The current focus within this field is towards neurotransmitter receptors as it has become known that there are multiple receptor subtypes for each identified neurotransmitter.
The study of drug receptor subtypes and ingestive behaviour is growing very rapidly, and has become quite complex. This unique volume is designed to guide students and investigators through a number of different neurotransmitter systems and provide them with the latest information on the identities of receptor subtypes most relevant in the study of ingestive behaviour. As such, it will prove enormously useful to all engaged in studies on appetite and obesity treatment.
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* Provides up-to-the-minute reviews of the most exciting new developments in the study of ingestive behavior.
* Includes contributions from leading experts in the field.
* Tackles the complex issues of relating neurochemical transmission to the neural and behavioral controls of feeding.
* The first book of its kind to deal explicitly with drug receptor subtypes in relation to ingestive behavior.