神经生物学

Angiogenesis could be interpreted as a natural defense mechanism, helping to restore oxygen and nutrient supplies to the affected brain tissue. It has been demonstrated that angiogenesis is involved in functional recovery after ischemic stroke. This chapter introduces the classic ...

Neurogenesis is the generation of new neurons. In hippocampal dentate gyrus and olfactory bulb, which usually are referred to as the neurogenic region in the mammalian brain, new neurons are developed daily throughout their lifetime. In the non-neurogenic region of the brain, neurogenes ...

Focal cerebral ischemia induces a complex array of cellular states, which significantly influence and ultimately are controlled by molecular changes. While certainly some of these changes occur at the nucleotide or lipid level, many processes require significant modification of ...

A common type of ischemic stroke, focal cerebral ischemia causes nonselective tissue damage in the ischemic area, including damage to both gray and white matter. White matter is made up of neuronal axons and their surrounding oligodendrocytic myelin sheath, and is susceptible to ischemic i ...

Ischemic stroke in humans often results in acute and delayed neuronal death, as well as a wide range of chronic neurological deficits. In order to understand neuronal loss and neurological deficits after brain ischemia, several animal models have been established, including global and fo ...

Global cerebral ischemia (GCI) can cause selective neuronal damage in a variety of brain regions, including striatum, hippocampus, cortex, and so on. Hematoxylin and eosin and Nissl stains are commonly used histological methods for the morphological assessments of the GCI-viable cel ...

Cerebral ischemic models present highly complex scenarios affecting the interplay of multiple systems, cellular populations, signaling pathways, and molecular events. As the brief introduction to Parts I–III, Chap. 1 provides a general overview of the nature of the three primary cer ...

A wide variety of approaches have been used to help restore locomotor function after spinal cord injury (SCI). In the rat model, these range from biological techniques such as cell transplantation and axon regeneration to retraining methods such as activity-based rehabilitation. Corr ...

Experimental spinal cord injuries can be categorized as being mild, moderate, or severe, based upon the extent of tissue damage and the severity of functional deficit incurred. The level of injury and unilateral or bilateral nature of an injury also greatly impact upon whether deficits invol ...

Inflammation and autoimmune responses after spinal cord injury (SCI) are complex processes involving sequential cellular and molecular changes in cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems. In preclinical animal models of SCI and human SCI, immune responses have been implicat ...

The H-reflex, the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex (SSR) is mediated largely by a wholly spinal, primarily two-neuron pathway. Because this pathway is influenced by descending pathways from the brain, these spinal reflexes can be operantly conditioned. Motivated by a paradi ...

Electrophysiological assays following experimental spinal cord injury objectively evaluate neurological function in the rodent. Major descending and ascending tracts can be monitored noninvasively using motor-evoked potentials and somatosensory-evoked poten ...

The severity of injury and degree of recovery following experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing several electrophysiological tests (SSEP, MEP, H-reflex) are described in other chapters. This chapter summarizes tests of spinal cord physiology, including spinal cord blood ...

This chapter focuses on the assessment of spinal cord microvessels which are lost at the injury epicenter within 24 h after spinal cord contusion or compression in adult rats and mice. The penumbral blood vessels undergo angiogenesis during the first and second week possibly contributing to ...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in a large proliferative response that serves to restore homeostatis and replenish cellular deficits. Postinjury repair and recovery can be interrogated as a function of the cell fates adopted by progenitors within the lesion. Administration of bromo ...

Deficits in sensory and motor function after spinal cord injury (SCI) are attributable primarily to the interruption of long sensory and motor axonal tracts in the spinal cord. How to exquisitely label these tracts within the spinal cord and their connections to the brain or periphery continu ...

Hand shaping in the rat (Rattus norvegicus) is adapted to many functions, including walking, climbing, exploration, and skilled manipulation. An understanding of hand movement can provide insights into the neural control of movement and the impairments that result from brain injury. H ...

Successful animal models of spinal cord injury (SCI) are dependent on outcome measures sensitive to minute functional differences following injury. Computer-assisted gait analyses provide an objective measurement of numerous gait characteristics, including but not limit ...

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) frequently occurs to the cervical segments. Regaining arm and hand function is the highest priority for persons with tetraplegia after cervical SCI. Given the tremendous impact that therapeutic changes of hand and arm function would have on the quality of ...

Animal models serve to imitate (patho) physiological states and/or phenotypical characteristics known to occur in target species (usually man but sometimes other species as well). The use of animal models has had and may continue to have a tremendous impact on medical progress. Laboratory ...