Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and dysfunction of glutamate transmission is the likely cause of a variety of diseases including neurodegeneration following cerebral ischemia, Huntington's chorea, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, epilepsy, spasticity, emesis, chronic pain, and schizophrenia. Excitatory amino acid receptor agonists and antagonists are therefore of major interest as potential drugs for central nervous system disorders. Excitatory Amino Acids is the first book entirely dedicated to the results of human testing of modulators of excitatory amino acid neurotransmitters. - Coverage of the field of excitatory amino acids from synaptic function to preclinical and clinical pharmacology - Description of the development of NMDA (Nmethyl-d-aspartate) and non-NMDA antagonists - Reports of potential drugs in early and late clinical stages of development

Glutamate is the most pervasive neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). Despite this fact, no validated biological markers, or biomarkers, currently exist for measuring glutamate pathology in CNS disorders or injuries. Glutamate dysfunction has been associated with an extensive range of nervous system diseases and disorders. Problems with how the neurotransmitter glutamate functions in the brain have been linked to a wide variety of disorders, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, substance abuse, and traumatic brain injury. These conditions are widespread, affecting a large portion of the United States population, and remain difficult to treat. Efforts to understand, treat, and prevent glutamate-related disorders can be aided by the identification of valid biomarkers. The Institute of Medicine's Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders held a workshop on June 21-22, 2010, to explore ways to accelerate the development, validation, and implementation of such biomarkers. Glutamate-Related Biomarkers in Drug Development for Disorders of the Nervous System: Workshop Summary investigates promising current and emerging technologies, and outlines strategies to procure resources and tools to advance drug development for associated nervous system disorders. Moreover, this report highlights presentations by expert panelists, and the open panel discussions that occurred during the workshop.

This volume contains the most recent works on intracranial pressure and neuromonitoring in brain injury selected from 300 abstracts submitted to the 10th International Symposium on Intracranial Pressure. It includes state of the art monitoring of the brain injured patient in intensive care as well as the current state of knowledge in neurochemical and oxygen monitoring of the injured brain. Recent advances in molecular mechanisms of injury and the pathophysiology of ischemia and trauma are also included. "... this publication presents a comprehensive survey of the present state of art in the field and thus gives directions for further research to those engaged in ICP measurement and neuromonitoring”. Intensive Care Med

Every day veterinarians in practice are asked to treat petsexhibiting problem behaviors. In the last several yearspharmacologic treatments of behavior have made significant advancesand can serve as a critical part of therapy. Veterinary Pscyhopharmacology is a complete source of currentknowledge on the subject of pharmacologic behavior modificationthat veterinarians can turn to for the answers they need. Classification of disorders is eschewed in favor of in-depthexplanations of pharmacologic options in inducing behavior changes.Special emphasis is given to explaining the underlying mechanism ofpharmacologic agents used in therapy; thus, veterinarians will knownot only which drugs to prescribe but why they should be prescribedand how they work. Veterinary behaviorists, their students and residents, veterinarypractitioners of all levels, and veterinary students will find thisbook invaluable in providing information about their patients'behavior problems and the psychoactive medications that might helpthem.

Epilepsy is a devastating group of neurological disorders characterized by periodic and unpredictable seizure activity in the brain. There is a critical need for new drugs and approaches given than at least one-third of all epilepsy patients are not made free of seizures by existing medications and become "medically refractory". Much of epilepsy research has focused on neuronal therapeutic targets, but current antiepileptic drugs often cause severe cognitive, developmental, and behavioral side effects. Recent findings indicate a critical contribution of astrocytes, star-shaped glial cells in the brain, to neuronal and network excitability and seizure activity. Furthermore, many important cellular and molecular changes occur in astrocytes in epileptic tissue in both humans and animal models of epilepsy. The goal of Astrocytes and Epilepsy is to comprehensively review exciting findings linking changes in astrocytes to functional changes responsible for epilepsy for the first time in book format. These insights into astrocyte contribution to seizure susceptibility indicate that astrocytes may represent an important new therapeutic target in the control of epilepsy. Astrocytes and Epilepsy includes background explanatory text on astrocyte morphology and physiology, epilepsy models and syndromes, and evidence from both human tissue studies and animal models linking functional changes in astrocytes to epilepsy. Beautifully labelled diagrams are presented and relevant figures from the literature are reproduced to elucidate key findings and concepts in this rapidly emerging field. Astrocytes and Epilepsy is written for neuroscientists, epilepsy researchers, astrocyte investigators as well as neurologists and other specialists caring for patients with epilepsy. - Presents the first comprehensive book to synthesize historical and recent research on astrocytes and epilepsy into one coherent volume - Provides a great resource on the field of astrocyte biology and astrocyte-neuron interactions - Details potential therapeutic targets, including chapters on gap junctions, water and potassium channels, glutamate and adenosine metabolism, and inflammation

Neurobiology of the Locus Coeruleus

The NMDA receptor plays a critical role in the development of the central nervous system and in adult neuroplasticity, learning, and memory. Therefore, it is not surprising that this receptor has been widely studied. However, despite the importance of rhythms for the sustenance of life, this aspect of NMDAR function remains poorly studied. Written

The text ranges from drugs that affect the mood and behavior to hypnotics, narcotics, anticonvulsants, and analgesics, as well as a variety of drugs that affect the autonomic nervous system and psychoactive drugs used for non-medical reasons - nicotine, alcohol, opiates, psychostimulants and cannabis."--BOOK JACKET.

Factors Affecting Neurological Aging: Genetics, Neurology, Behavior, and Diet is a comprehensive reference on the genetic and behavioral features associated with neurological aging and associated disorders. This book discusses the mechanisms underlying neurological aging and provides readers with a detailed introduction to the aging of neural connections and complexities in biological circuitries, as well as the physiological, behavioral, molecular, and cellular features of neurological aging. Finally, this comprehensive resource examines the use of animal modeling of aging and neurological disease. - Provides the most comprehensive coverage on a broad range of topics related to the neuroscience of aging - Features sections on the genetic components that influence aging and diseases of aging - Focuses on neurological diseases and conditions linked to aging, environmental factors and clinical recommendations - Includes more than 500 illustrations and tables