Brain Repair is divided the three major sections that follow; cellular and molecular basis of brain repair, plasticity and reorganisation of neural networks, and experimental therapy strategies.

Brain Repair is written by high profile, international experts who describe in detail the newest results from basic research and highlight new model systems, techniques and therapy approaches.

Contents

1. Cell Death in the Nervous System

• Programmed Cell Death
• Neuronal Cell Death during Development
• Cell Death in Early Neural Development
• Glial Cell Death
• Molecular Mechanisms of Programmed Cell Death
• Caspase Independent Pathways
• Cell Death Receptors
• Extrinsic Mechanisms
• Cell Death during Neurodegenerative Disorders and Aging

2. The Glial Response to Injury and Its Role in the Inhibition of CNS Repair

• What Is the Glial Scar?
• Control of Glial Scar Formation
• The Glial Scar and Axon Regeneration
• Inhibitory Glial Boundaries
• Inhibitory Molecules in the Damaged CNS
• Inhibitory Molecules Produced by Oligdendrocytes
• Inhibitory Molecules Produced in the Glial Scar
• Individual CSPGs
• Glial Boundaries in the CNS
• Strategies for Repairing the CNS

3. DSD-1-Proteoglycan/Phosphacan and Receptor Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase-Beta Isoforms During Development and Regeneration of Neural Tissues

• DSD-1-PG/Phosphacan/RPTPbeta

4. Regeneration Failure in the CNS: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms

• Intrinsic Neuronal Properties
• The CNS Environment is Non-Permissive for Axonal Growth
• Experimental Strategies to Promote Nerve Regeneration Following CNS Injury

5. The Role of Ionotropic Perinergic Receptors in Mediating Plasticity Responses in the Central Nervous System

• Neurobiology of P2 Receptors

6. Lesion-Induced Axonal Sprouting in the Central Nervous System

• Reorganization of the CNS after Entorhinal Lesioning
• Molecular Regulation of Axonal Sprouting
• Extracellular Matrix Molecules Direct Axonal Growth Processes
• Axonal Sprouting in Alzheimer's Disease
• Axonal Sprouting in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
• What Is the Functional Significance of Axonal Sprouting?

7. A Kinase with a Vision: Role of Erk in the Synaptic Plasticity of Visual Cortex

• Critical Period for Ocular Dominance
• Factors Critical for Ocular Dominance: Electrical Activity and Neurotrophins
• Phosphorylation of CREB
• Erk 1/2 is Phosphorylated by Activity and Visual Stimulation in the Cortex
• Erk Activation is Required for Synaptic Plasticity in Vitro and in Vivo
• Beyond Erk: Mechanisms Controlling Synaptic Plasticity in the Visual Cortex

8. Attempts to Restore Visual Function After Optic Nerve Damage in Adult Mammals

• Optic Nerve Regeneration and Functional Recovery of Vision in Rodents
• Attempts to Promote RGC Survival and Their Axonal Regeneration in Rodents
• RGC Survival and Their Axonal Regeneration in Adult Cats
• Neuroprotection of RGCs by Electrical Stimulation

9. Brain Repair: Experimental Treatment Strategies, Neuroprotective and Repair Strategies in the Lesioned Adult CNS

• Optic Nerve Transsection as Exemplary Model for CNS Lesions
• Post-Traumatic and Ontogenetic Cell Death in the Retino-Tectal System
• Key Players in Apoptotic Cell Death: Possible Targets for Therapeutic Strategies
• Therapeutic Agents
• Ways to Enter the Brain

10. The Collagenous Wound Healing Scar in the Injured Central Nervous System Inhibits Axonal Regeneration

• Peripheral and Central System Responses to Axotomy
• Factors in the Lesion Area Impede Axonal Regeneration
• Basement Membrane Formation in the Injured CNS Coincides with Axonal Growth Arrest
• Inhibition of Collagen Biosynthesis in the Injured CNS
• Suppression of BM Formation Leads to Extensive Axonal Regeneration of Severed Fibers
• Transection of Rat Dorsal Corticospinal Tract
• Detection of Basement Membrane in the Injured Spinal Cord Depends on the Method of Tissue Processing
• The Lesion-Induced BM Is an Extracellular Structure Not Associated with Blood Vessels
• Extent of the Collagenous Scar in Much Larger in Spinal Cord as Compared to Brain Lesions
• Combined Application of Iron Chelator and cAMP Prevents BM Formation in the Lesioned Spinal Cord
• Suppression of BM Formation in the Lesioned Spinal Cord Promotes Corticospinal Fiber Outgrowth

12. Role of Endogenous Neural Stem Cells in Neurological Disease and Brain Repair

• Neural Stem Cells in the Mammalian CNS
• Neural Stem Cells in Neurological Disease and Repair
• The Injured CNS
• Neurodegenerative Diseases
• Brain Tumors
• Demyelinating Diseases
• Seizures
• Ischemia
• Mood Disorders

13. Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease: The Future Looks Bright

• Neurotransplantation: What History Has Taught Us
• Methodology for Nigral Tissue Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease Patients
• Graft Effects
• Post-Mortem Histological Examination of Embryonic Dopaminergic Transplants
• Problems Facing Neural Grafting in Parkinson's Disease
• Alternative Sources of Donor Tissue

Index

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