SpringerBriefs in Neuroscience – serie

Anxiety disorders have long been a research subject for scientists in different areas of inquiry, and the particular role of serotonin – the neurotransmitter which has probably most captured the imagination of laymen and academics alike – is as elusive as the clinical aspects of serotonergic medications. Why are drugs acting at certain serotonin receptors efficacious against generalized anxiety disorder, but not panic disorder? Why is the inverse true for monoamine oxidase inhibitors? These clinically relevant issues are clarified by the neurochemical, anatomical and physiological organization of the serotonergic system.In this book, the author summarizes the latest findings regarding the role of serotonin in modulating the activity of brain regions which organize behavioral patterns associated with fear, anxiety and stress. The emergent picture is one of far greater complexity than previously thought: while the serotonergic innervation of those brain regions arises from the same structure – the dorsal raphe nucleus – that structure is not homogeneous from anatomical, physiological and neurochemical points of view, nor are its projections to the cerebral aversive and behavioral inhibition systems.The diverse findings which compose this picture of complexity – whether they arise from developmental neurobiology, electrophysiology, neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neuropsychopharmacology or behavioral neuroscience – are integrated in this book. Advanced undergraduate, graduate students, and researchers will benefit from the information. The result sheds light on many important questions regarding the neuroanatomical, pharmacological and functional aspects of the role of serotonin in anxiety disorders, and points to future avenues of research.

​While steroids from the periphery have profound effects on the nervous system, the nervous system also produces its own steroids de novo (“neurosteroids”). The physiological importance of neurosteroids is beginning to be understood. These steroids potentially have roles in sedative/hypnotic behavior, anxiety, learning, and memory. At the cellular level, neurosteroids affect neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity and cell proliferation and survival. Early findings hold promise for future strategies to treat specific psychologicalconditions and neurological diseases. This Brief will focus on the current state of understanding of brainderived neurosteroids.

Humans are biologically programmed to seek out pleasurable experiences.  These experiences are processed in the mesolimbic system, also referred to as the "reward center" of the brain, where a number of chemical messengers work in concert to provide a net release of dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens.  In some genetically predisposed individuals, addiction occurs when the mechanisms of the mesolimbic system are disrupted by the use of various drugs of abuse. Since Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935, it's 12 step program of spiritual and character development has helped countless alcoholics and drug addicts curb their self-destructive behaviors.  However, the program was developed at a time when comparatively little was known about the function of the brain and it has never been studied scientifically. This is the first book to take a systematic look at the molecular neurobiology associated with each of the 12 steps and to review the significant body of addiction research literature that is pertinent to the program.​

Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS and disturbances in glutamate transport contribute to a number of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders.  Appropriate levels of cholesterol are very important for the proper functioning of glutamate transport while unbalanced levels of cholesterol have been implicated in the pathogenesis of disorders such as stroke, ischemia, traumatic brain injury, and neurotoxicity.   In the proposed book, the author presents data from the literature and from her own lab to address the extent to and way in which membrane cholesterol modulates presynaptic glutamate transport and whether lowering the level of cholesterol available can offer some neuroprotective benefits.​

ADHD as a Model of Brain-Behavior RelationshipsLeonard F. Koziol, Deborah Ely Budding, and Dana ChidekelSeries Title: Springer Briefs in NeuroscienceSubseries: The Vertically Organized Brain in Theory and PracticeIt's been a basic neurological given: the brain does our thinking, and has evolved to do the thinking, as controlled by the neocortex. In this schema, all dysfunction can be traced to problems in the brain’s lateral interactions. But in scientific reality, is this really true? Challenging this traditional cortico-centric view is a body of research emphasizing the role of the structures that control movement-the brain's vertical organization-in behavioral symptoms. Using a well-known, widely studied disorder as a test case, ADHD as a Model of Brain-Behavior Relationships offers an innovative framework for integrating neuroscience and behavioral research to refine diagnostic process and advance the understanding of disorders. Identifying a profound disconnect between current neuropsychological testing and the way the brain actually functions, this revision of the paradigm critiques the DSM and ICD in terms of the connectedness of brain structures regarding cognition and behavior. The authors argue for a large-scale brain network approach to pathology instead of the localizing that is so common historically, and for an alternate set of diagnostic criteria proposed by the NIMH. Included in the coverage:The diagnosis of ADHD: history and context.ADHD and neuropsychological nomenclatureResearch Domain Criteria: a dimensional approach to evaluating disorderThe development of motor skills, executive function, and a relation to ADHDThe role of the cerebellum in cognition, emotion, motivation, and dysfunctionHow large-scale brain networks interactHeralding a more accurate future of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodevelopmentaldisorders, ADHD as a Model of Brain-Behavior Relationships represents a major step forward for neuropsychologists, child psychologists, and psychiatrists, or any related profession interested in a neuroscientific understanding of brain function. ​

Executive functioning: we measure it, assess it, document its development in youth, track its decline in age and use it as a basis for diagnoses, treatment planning and-of course-theories. Could it be possible that science has spent decades chasing a cognitive phantom?Noting the lack of consensus concerning definition, component skills, and location within the brain, The Myth of Executive Functioning calls basic assumptions, prominent theories, commonly used test methods, and even the phrase executive functioning into question. The book's deceptively simple argument takes an evolutionary/neuroscience look at the cornerstones of cognitive organization, including memory, planning, decision-making and adaptation to novel circumstances. From there, gaps are identified between systems of cognitive control and those behaviors that are evaluated in neuropsychological testing-gaps that contribute to the disconnect between how science views mind and body, brain and behavior. The author's problem-solving metaphor places new emphasis on stimulus processing and on the relationship between movement and thought as he offers thought-provoking perspectives on: The limits of neuropsychological constructs.The components of adaptive thinking.The automatic aspects of problem solving.The left-brain/right-brain dichotomy.Problems with the domain approach to cognition.New paradigms for testing cognitive functioning.A controversial presentation with the potential to change clinical practice and training, The Myth of Executive Functioning will be read, debated and learned from by neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, cognitive neuroscientists and rehabilitation specialists.

This book gives an overview of various interactomes involved in dorsal ventral (DV) and anterior posterior (AP) guidance, their mechanisms of action, subcellular localizations, and functional roles. It will provide readers a better understanding of the development of the nervous system, which in turn will help to find cures to various neural and other disorders.​In nematodes there are two types of guidance systems, including DV and AP guidance. The signaling process that guides the growth cones along the DV axis has remained intact in both vertebrates and invertebrates. The adaptor protein UNC-53 appears to play a part in migration along the AP axis in both worms and their human homologs. “Neuron Navigators” (NAV) are also involved in nervous system development ​