The Brain Cholinergic System

The cholinergic system has been recognized as playing an important role not only in several forms of dementia besides Alzheimer's Disease, but also in other CNS degenerative and psychiatric disorders. Following on from the success of two previous publications in the cholinergic field - Cholinesterases and Their Inhibitors and Butyrylcholinesterase: Its Function and Inhibitors - Doctor Ezio Giacobini and Professor Giancarlo Pepeu have prepared this comprehensive and timely volume, which will be useful to both clinical and pre-clinical specialists including neurologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, neuropharmacologists and neurophysiologists, molecular neurobiologists and neurobiologists in general.

Table of Contents:
Milestones in the Discovery and Understanding of the Brain Cholinergic System. NEUROBIOLOGY OF THE CHOLINERGIC NEURON. Genetics of Cholinergic Neurons. Cholinergic Synaptic Terminations in the Cerebral Cortex, Trophic Factor Dependency and Vulnerability to Aging and Alzheimer's Pathology. NEUROANATOMY OF THE CHOLINERGIC SYSTEM Cholinergic Pathology of the Aging MCI-Alzheimer Continuum: Function and Therapeutic Implications. NEUROCHEMISTRY OF THE CHOLINERGIC SYSTEM. Neurochemical Pathology of Cholinergic Systems in Neurodegenerative and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. ACETYLCHOLINE SYNTHESIS, INACTIVATION AND RELEASE. Precursors: Choline and Glucose. Choline Acetyltransferase. Pre-synaptic Regulation and Neurotransmitter Modulation of Acetylcholine Release. Studying Cholinergic Features by Transgenic Manipulations of Acetylcholinesterase Gene Expression. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM TRANSGENIC MICE. What we have Learned from Gene-Targeted Mice: Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase Knockouts. BRAIN ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS. Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors. Brain Muscarinic Receptors: Lessons from Knockout Mice. Muscarinic Agonists and Antagonists - Some Therapeutic Applications. Visualization of Nicotinic and Muscarinic Receptors in Brain by Positron Emission Tomography. ROLES OF THE CHOLINERGIC SYSTEM. Cholinergic Modulation of Cortical activity. The Contribution of the Basal Forebrain Cholinergic System to Neuronal Plasticity. The Role of the Cholinergic System in Cognitive Processes. THERAPY. Cholinesterases in Human Brain. The Effect of Cholinesterase Inhibitors on Alzheimer and Related Disorders

Review :
"This fine book brilliantly explores how America,s liberal tradition coexisted and evolved alongside white supremacy in the early twentieth century south. By honestly surveying a distinctively southern progressive movement that interwove commitment to liberal values with patriarchal racial hierarchies, Steedman shifts the ground for future considerations of liberalism and race in American politics. Highly recommended for scholars of liberal theory, race and political development, and legal history, but also for anyone who wants to understand the roots of contemporary racial politics in the United States." -Julie Novkov, University at Albany, SUNY "Marek Steedman has done an exceptional job in tracing the contours of southern political thought. In Jim Crow Citizenship, Steedman rightfully returns the study of southern political thought to its important role in shaping American political thought and American political development. Students of the south and especially of Southern Progressivism will have to grapple with the enduring questions of race, citizenship and American liberalism that Steedman confronts." -Kimberley Johnson, Barnard College