Neuroscience for Clinicians

Abstract

The aim of this book is to provide the clinician with a comprehensive and clinical relevant survey of emerging concepts on the organization and function of the nervous system and neurologic disease mechanisms, at the molecular, cellular, and system levels. The content of is based on the review of information obtained from recent advances in genetic, molecular, and cell biology techniques; electrophysiological recordings; brain mapping; and mouse models, emphasizing the clinical and possible therapeutic implications. Many chapters of this book contain information that will be relevant not only to clinical neurologists but also to psychiatrists and physical therapists. The scope includes the mechanisms and abnormalities of DNA/RNA metabolism, proteostasis, vesicular biogenesis, and axonal transport and mechanisms of neurodegeneration; the role of the mitochondria in cell function and death mechanisms; ion channels, neurotransmission and mechanisms of channelopathies and synaptopathies; the functions of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia and their involvement in disease; the local circuits and synaptic interactions at the level of the cerebral cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord transmission regulating sensory processing, behavioral state, and motor functions; the peripheral and central mechanisms of pain and homeostasis; and networks involved in emotion, memory, language, and executive function.