Molecular And Functional Models In Neuropsychiatry

The development of more effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders requires scientific progress on a broad front. Animal models have a vital role to play in advancing the field. When deployed in conjunction with detailed study of these diseases in man they bring the power to make controlled experimental interventions which allow the functional consequences of genetic variations and polymorphisms to be understood in terms of their cellular, systems and behavioural effects. Further, they provide a means by which complex cognitive and behavioural phenomena may be dissected and understood. Finally, they provide a bridge to understanding the effects of drugs on the functioning of the central nervous system, thereby improving our understanding of the actions of those drugs in man.

Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science, Volume 167, provides the most topical, informative and exciting monographs available on a wide variety of research topics related to Models and Biological Targets in Drug Discovery for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Novel Targets for Parkinson-Depression Co-morbidity. Utility of Cannabidiol (CBD) in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: A Short Review of the Recent Pre-clinical and Clinical Findings, The Many Sides of Microglia in Alcohol Use Disorders, Stress, Anxiety, Molecular Targets and More, Calcineurin Signaling in Psychiatric Disorders, Emerging Evidence for the Role of Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase- Activating Peptide (PACAP) in Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and more. Includes comprehensive coverage of molecular biology Presents ample use of tables, diagrams, schemata and color figures to enhance the reader's ability to rapidly grasp the information provided Contains contributions from renowned experts in the field

It is generally accepted that neuropsychiatric disorders have a biological basis. Pathological changes leading to illness have been confirmed for Alzheimer’s (amyloid plaques) and Parkinson’s disease (loss of dopaminergic transmission) and are the foundation for studies on the molecular biology of these disorders. For other neuropsychiatric disorders, in particular for schizophrenic and affective disorders, molecular causes appear to be more complex and therefore remain hypothetical, despite decades of research. Changes in a number of neuronal pathways and structures have been reported to be associated with these disorders and are currently under extensive investigation. The present volume reviews recent knowledge with emphasis on ongoing research findings. Current hypotheses based on these findings are described and discussed.

Recent studies show that changes in Glutamate/GABA synapses and related pathways may determine whether the synaptic plasticity that occurs as a response to stress is adaptive or maladaptive. Findings have shed new light on the mechanisms that determine the effects of stress on cognitive and affective function. Researchers have brought a wide range of techniques to bear on the study of this problem, including cutting-edge live imaging techniques, electrophysiology, glutamate release from isolated live synaptic terminals, development of transgenic and animal models and new behavioral methods. This book provides an overview of these recent findings and of the techniques used as well as a discussion of how the molecular, cellular, and functional effects of stress may trigger or precipitate neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and PTSD.

An informative and comprehensive review from the leading researchers in the field, this book provides a complete one-stop guide to neuroimaging techniques and their application to a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders. For each disorder or group of disorders, separate chapters review the most up-to-date findings from structural imaging, functional imaging and/or molecular imaging. Each section ends with an overview from a internationally-renowned luminary in the field, addressing the question of 'What do we know and where are we going?' Richly illustrated throughout, each chapter includes a 'summary box', providing readers with explicit take-home messages. This is an essential resource for clinicians, researchers and trainees who want to learn how neuroimaging tools lead to new discoveries about brain and behaviour associations in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Animal models of neuro- and psychopathological states in humans are an indispensable part of both experimental neurology and biological psychiatry. Written by a team of experts, this book provides an up-to-date detailed overview of the current approaches to the design of viable animal models for eight prominent neuropsychiatric diseases. The book is specifically written with the research-oriented reader in mind — both in academia and the pharmaceutical industry. It contains first-hand information on how to design viable animal models for Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, addiction, depression, fear and anxiety, and schizophrenia. Each chapter also critically discusses the limitations of the animal experimental approach towards an understanding of human neuropsychiatric disorders.The book is an essential source of reference for researchers who seek to successfully continue and elaborate the experimental work that will finally lead to a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of the diseases, as well as to an improvement of both diagnosis and therapy.

Neuropsychiatric disorders, specifically mental disorders, generally lack a quantitative and biophysiological basis for diagnostics and treatment due to fundamental limitations in theoretical knowledge of the disorder and brain-mind duality. Due to the complex multiscale nature of the brain, large and multimodal datasets as well as biophysically-based simulations are required to elucidate its functioning. As such, computational methods exist to bridge these scales. Specifically, probabilistic graph models are utilized here to capture inherent uncertainty in the system while being computationally efficient and tractable to allow for scaling and combining biophysically and theoretical-based models with Big Data in order to model and diagnose known mental disorders. First, a theoretically-driven computationally efficient reaction-diffusion model of synaptic transmission using Markov models and eigenmode decomposition is presented to scale molecular simulations to neural networks with applications in pharmacological simulations, artificial neural networks, and neuromorphic engineering. The second part connects the network level to behavior using deep learning, graph models, and manifold learning applied to neuroimaging data in adolescent depression using a combination of theory- and data-driven techniques. In addition to creating scalable models, this work interrogates structural and functional biomarkers and creates a neuroimaging pipeline resulting in automatic disorder detection. Finally, the focus shifts to diagnostics of anxiety and depression using behavioral data in the form of natural language processing, making use of transformer deep learning architectures.

The new edition of this definitive textbook reflects the continuing reintegration of psychiatry into the mainstream of biomedical science. The research tools that are transforming other branches of medicine - epidemiology, genetics, molecular biology, imaging, and medicinal chemistry - are also transforming psychiatry. The field stands poised to make dramatic advances in defining disease pathogenesis, developing diagnostic methods capable of identifying specific and valid disease entities, discovering novel and more effective treatments, and ultimately preventing psychiatric disorders. The Neurobiology of Mental Illness is written by world-renowned experts in basic neuroscience and the pathophysiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders. It begins with a succint overview of the basic neurosciences followed by and evaluation of the tools that are available for the study of mental disorders in humans. The core of the book is a series of consistently organized sections on the major psychiatric disorders that cover their diagnostic classification, molecular genetics, functional neuroanatomy, neurochemistry and pharmacology, neuroimaging, and principles of pharmacotherapy. Chapters are written in a clear style that is easily accessible to practicing psychiatrists, and yet they are detailed enough to interest researchers and academics.For this second edition, every section has been thoroughly updated, and 13 new chapters have been added in areas where significant advances have been made, including functional genomics and animal models of illness; epidemiology; cognitive neuroscience; postmortem investigation of human brain; drug discovery methods for psychiatric disorders; the neurobiology of schizophrenia; animal models of anxiety disorders; neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders; developmental neurobiology and childhood onset of psychiatric disorders; the neurobiology of mental retardation; the interface between neurological and psychiatric disorders; the neurobiology of circadian rhythms; and the neurobiology of sleep disorders. Both as a textbook and a reference work, Neurobiology of Mental Illness represents a uniquely valuable resource for psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and their students or trainees.