Bøger i Contemporary Neuroscience serien

Comprehensive and authoritative, Opioid Receptors and Antagonists: From Bench to Clinic offers neuroscientists, pharmacologists and interested clinicians a unique survey of the extensive and diverse research efforts currently employed with opioid antagonists to develop novel innovative drug therapies.Summarizes the present understanding of the chemistry, pharmacology and molecular biology of opioid receptors and their subtypesHighlights differences and similarities between the opioid pharmacology of animals and humanDescribes current and potential therapeutic areas for opioid antagonists, including substance abuse, alcohol and ingestive behaviors, behavioral disorders and other medical indications, supported by nonclinical and clinical evidenceFocuses on the development of exciting and innovative drug delivery approaches that are being used with opioid antagonists for the above medical indications

The evolution in our understanding of opioid receptors and their subtypes is in- mately linked to the development of new pharmacological treatments for diseases/ disorders as diverse as addiction, self-injurious behavior, pain, cancer, infl- mation, eating disorders, traumatic injury, pruritis, and movement disorders. These potential treatments involve both novel chemical entities and classic opioid antagonists with improved drug delivery systems. The contributions contained in Opioid Receptors and Antagonists: From Bench to Clinic represent the efforts from some of the leading international scientists and clinicians making use of the l- est information emerging from the study of the opioid receptor system. Given the number of researchers currently active in this and related fields of study, it would be inappropriate to suggest that the entire range of activities is fully reflected in this single volume. Instead, a variety of experimental and clinical approaches involving the fields of neuroscience, molecular biology, biochemistry, anatomy, pharmacology, psychology, and psychiatry have been chosen to illustrate rapidly developing experimental and therapeutic areas.

Research into the processes of tolerance and sensitization has escalated at a substantial rate in recent years, presumably because of the fundamental importance of understanding the long-term, as opposed simply to the initial, acute effects of drugs.

More recently I have developed a rather more specific interest in the role of zinc, particularly in relation to the dominance of zinc metalloenzymes in the processes of DNA replication and repair, and its possible significance for human pathology.

One volume in a two-part series, covering the physiological and metabolic interactions between neurons and glia across the phylogenetic groups. New insights into neuron-glia relationships result from this comparative approach.

This part of the brain has been of continuing interest to me, from my days as a postgraduate student in the mid-1960s to the present time, because so many ideas about central auditory organization and function have developed from studies of this region.

In Motor Activity and Movement Disorders thirteen state-of-the-art articles explicate forefront research methodologies for measuring and interpreting motor activity in animals, as well as their applications to preclinical and clinical research involving motor disorders.

One volume in a two-part series, covering the physiological and metabolic interactions between neurons and glia across the phylogenetic groups. New insights into neuron-glia relationships result from this comparative approach.

Neurotherapeutics: Emerging Strategies reflects the complex ity of the nervous system, but the overriding message is hope for new and better drugs to treat those diseases that rob us of ourselves.

Psychopharmacology may be defined as the study of the effects of drugs on behavior. Numerous excelIent texts and review articles are available that serve to outline recent progress in psychopharmacology (particularly the Handbook of Psychopharmacology series, edited by L.

Twelve review articles by leading experts critically summarize the state of knowledge concerning molecular, anatomical, physiological and behavioural aspects of NPY and its congeners.

This book, covering many key aspects of autonomic nervous system maturation, was suggested by the success of a symposium on the developing autonomic nervous system held at the Spring 1982 meeting of the Federation of American Scientists for Experi- mental Biology (Federation Proceedings 1983, 42, 1609).

The idea for this book has evolved from our desire to present a conceptual approach to the study of neurotransmitters in epilepsy.

Stem Cells and CNS Development critically reviews recent findings on stem cells, their involvement in neurogenesis and gliogenesis, and the therapeutic implications of these findings.

This work provides a comprehensive survey of contemporary advances made in characterizing neurotransmitter transporters - including their imaging in the living brain - and in elucidating the processes underlying biological transport.

There is also increased coverage of the animal models used in the study of neuroinflammatory mechanisms, of the new imaging methods that allow the noninvasive evaluation of microglial activation in human neurodegernerative disorders, and of the role of neuroinflammation in amyloid-dependent neuronal lysis.

Leading gene therapy researchers and clinicians illuminate the field-from basic vector technology to current and future clinical applications in neurology.

The aim of Molecular Mechanisms of Neurotransmitter Release is to provide up-to-date, in-depth coverage of essentially all major mole- lar mechanisms of neurotransmitter release.

In Neuroprotective Signal Transduction prominent researchers and clinicians focus on how inter- and intracellular signaling mechanisms prevent the degeneration and death of neurons occurring in both acute and chronic neurodegenerative disorders.

Thus, the function of the brain as a coordinator of vital homeostatic reflexes, and complex body reactions to external challenges, depends critically on the rate of oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption.

A distinguished international panel of authors define our current understanding of neuronal damage after ischemia and critically review the significant recent developments and progress in cerebrovascular accident (CVA) drug trials, both in animal models and in the clinical setting.

Cell therapy, however, remains the most compelling treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, disorders, and injuries, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, traumatic brain injury, and stroke, which is expanded upon in more detail in Chapter 1 by Snyder and colleagues.

Developing the second edition of Neural Development and Stem Cells was neces- tated by the rapid increase in our knowledge of the development of the nervous system.

Cell therapy, however, remains the most compelling treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, disorders, and injuries, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, traumatic brain injury, and stroke, which is expanded upon in more detail in Chapter 1 by Snyder and colleagues.