Synaptic Plasticity

A comprehensive, multidisciplinary review, Neural Plasticity and Memory: From Genes to Brain Imaging provides an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the study of the neurobiology of memory. Leading specialists share their scientific experience in the field, covering a wide range of topics where molecular, genetic, behavioral, and brain imaging techniq

Over the years there has been growing interest among the scientific community in investigating sleep and how it affects the memory and other brain functions. It is now well established that sleep helps in memory consolidation and induction of neural plasticity, and that short-term deprivation of either total sleep or rapid eye movement sleep alone can induce memory deficits very quickly. Quantitative and qualitative changes in sleep architecture after different training tasks further suggest that discrete memory types may require specific sleep stage/s for optimal memory consolidation, and studies indicate that sleep deprivation alters synaptic plasticity and membrane excitability in the hippocampal neurons and synaptic up-scaling in the cortical neurons. Further, sleep alteration during pregnancy may increase the risk of depression and adversely affect maternal-child relationships, parenting practices, family functioning, and children's development and general wellbeing. This book coherently discusses all these aspects, with a particular focus on the possible role of sleep in memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity. It also highlights the detrimental effects of sleep loss on mental health, the immune system and cognition. This book is a valuable reference resource for students and researchers working in the area of sleep, memory, or neuronal plasticity.

This solid introduction uses the principles of physics and the tools of mathematics to approach fundamental questions of neuroscience.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme

The prefrontal cortex is regarded by many as the executive controller, which determines appropriate coupling between a sensory input and motor output to meet environmental demands. Our cognitive ability heavily relies on the function of the prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal Cortex: From Synaptic Plasticity to Cognition takes an interdisciplinary approach to characterize the function of the anterior portion of the frontal lobe in rodents and human and non-human primates. The topics in this volume are diverse. They range from membrane properties of prefrontal neurons to cognitive psychology and attempt to encompass domains of the prefrontal field in an effort to provide the bigger picture.

This book reviews current knowledge on the importance of sleep for brain function, from molecular mechanisms to behavioral output, with special emphasis on the question of how sleep and sleep loss ultimately affect cognition and mood. It provides an extensive overview of the latest insights in the role of sleep in regulating gene expression, synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis and how that in turn is linked to learning and memory processes. In addition, readers will learn about the potential clinical implications of insufficient sleep and discover how chronically restricted or disrupted sleep may contribute to age-related cognitive decline and the development of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. The book consists of 19 chapters, written by experts in basic sleep research and sleep medicine, which together cover a wide range of topics on the importance of sleep and consequences of sleep disruption. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and clinicians with a general interest in brain function or a specific interest in sleep.

An understanding of the nervous system at virtually any level of analysis requires an understanding of its basic building block, the neuron. From Molecules to Networks provides the solid foundation of the morphologic, biochemical, and biophysical properties of nerve cells. All chapters have been thoroughly revised for this second edition to reflect the significant advances of the past 5 years. The new edition expands on the network aspects of cellular neurobiology by adding a new chapter, Information Processing in Neural Networks, and on the relation of cell biological processes to various neurological diseases. The new concluding chapter illustrates how the great strides in understanding the biochemical and biophysical properties of nerve cells have led to fundamental insights into important aspects of neurodegenerative disease. Written and edited by leading experts in the field, the second edition completely and comprehensively updates all chapters of this unique textbook Discusses emerging new understanding of non-classical molecules that affect neuronal signaling Full colour, professional graphics throughout Includes two new chapters: Information Processing in Neural Networks - describes the principles of operation of neural networks and the key circuit motifs that are common to many networks in the nervous system. Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Neurodegenerative Disease - introduces the progress made in the last 20 years in elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain disorders, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson disease, and Alzheimer’s disease

This volume brings together authors working on a wide range of topics to provide an up to date account of the underlying mechanisms and functions of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis in the adult brain. With an increasing understanding of the role of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis it is possible to envisage improvements or novel treatments for a number of diseases and the possibility of harnessing these phenomena to reduce the impact of ageing and to provide mechanisms to repair the brain.

Written by an award-winning developmental neuroscientist, this is a comprehensive and cutting-edge account of the latest research on the adolescent brain.

This is the second time that I have had the honor of opening an interna tional symposium dedicated to the functions of the hippocampus here in Pecs. It was a pleasure to greet the participants in the hope that their valuable contributions will make this meeting a tradition in this town. As one of the hosts of the symposium, I had the sorrowful duty to remind you of the absence of a dear colleague, Professor Graham God dard. His tragic and untimely death represents the irreparable loss of both a friend and an excellent researcher. This symposium is dedicated to his memory. If I compare the topics of the lectures of this symposium with those of the previous one, a striking difference becomes apparent. A dominating tendency of the previous symposium was to attempt to define hippocam pal function or to offer data relevant to supporting or rejecting existing theoretical positions. No such tendency is reflected in the titles of the present symposium, in which most of the contributions deal with hip pocampal phenomena at the most elementary level. Electrical, biochemi cal, biophysical, and pharmacological events at the synaptic, membrane, or intracellular level are analyzed without raising the question of what kind of integral functions these elementary phenomena are a part of.