Cerebral Signal Transduction: From First to Fourth Messengers (Contemporary Neuroscience)

Product description Review "The editor states the goal is to offer a comprehensive picture of recent advances made in the signaling field as it relates to neuronal and cerebral function. . . The editor and the contributors accomplished the goal remarkably well. The chapters are arranged so that clinical and laboratory investigations on depression, bipolar disorder, and drug dependence follow more basic research on memory, apoptosis, and degeneration. Each chapter is extremely well referenced, making this a valuable reference source. Multiple black-and-white illustrations, drawings, and microphotographs enhance the text quality...This new volume in the series Contemporary Neuroscience may serve as an excellent overview of current knowledge in the field of cerebral signaling and transduction."-Doody's Health Science Book Review Journal "The quality of each of the chapters of this book is outstanding and will provide valuable information for a variety of neuroscientists."- Journal of Molecular Neuroscience From the Back Cover In Cerebral Signal Transduction: From First to Fourth Messengers, Maarten E.A. Reith and a team of leading experts comprehensively review and synthesize the most recent advances in our understanding of the role of cerebral signaling in neuronal and cerebral function. The authors emphasize the functional role of the various signaling pathways in memory, apoptosis and degeneration, depression, and drug dependence in both health and diseases states. The signaling pathways discussed include cAMP/PKA, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, DAG/PKG, and neurotrophic factor signaling cascades. By taking full advantage of the newfound ability to selectively remove, reduce, or enhance specific components of the signaling pathways, the investigators writing here illuminate the varied signaling cascades, their crosstalk, and the many possibilities for changes in gene expression underlying long-term changes in brain function.Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Cerebral Signal Transduction: From First to Fourth Messengers advances our understanding of the mechanistic underpinnings of complex behavioral processes and clinically relevant brain diseases. A major contribution to the development of the novel pharmacotherapeutics targeting downstream events in the cascade of second, third, and fourth messengers, it will serve experimental and clinical neuroscientists as today's best and most complete guide to neuronal signaling.