神经生物学

The cerebellum is a brain region that is fundamental in controlling movement. However, because �dysfunction anywhere within the motor system, from the cortex to the muscle, will result in abnormal movement, examining cerebellar motor control requires a combination of tests which eval ...

Mice with spontaneous mutations or with genetic modifications serve as models of spinocerebellar atrophy (SCA) and Friedreich’s ataxia. ATXN1, ATXN2, ATXN3, and ATXN7 transgenic mice mimic SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, and SCA7, respectively, while Spnb3 and Atxn8os null mutants mimic SCA5 and SCA8, r ...

Saccadic eye movements are rapid conjugate movements of the eyes made to align the visual axis with objects of interest. Such movements are some of the most precise and well-controlled motor responses of which the nervous system is capable, and they display an enormous range of flexibility. Beca ...

The forebrain circuits involved in coordinating the bilateral movements of the whiskers have been elucidated by a series of neuronal tracing studies aimed at characterizing the interhemispheric connections of the primary motor (MI) cortex. In some experiments, different antero ...

Here we review both modern and emerging approaches that have lead researchers to make inferences about the functional organization of the rat and mouse motor cortex. We primarily focus on the use of cortical lesions and intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) in rats and mice because rats are t ...

More is known about the neuronal basis of classical conditioning of eyeblink and other discrete responses than for any other aspect of learning. The cerebellum and its associated afferent and efferent circuits are the essential neuronal substrates for this basic form of associative lea ...

The visual system is the part of the central nervous system that detects light. It is sub-served by the �photoreceptor detectors within the eye, and this information allows creatures to build a representation of the visual world as well as regulating a whole range of subconscious physiological ...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition affecting approximately 262,000 Americans with 12,000 new cases each year. In addition to the obvious motor and sensory deficits, SCI decreases life expectancy, independence and overall quality of life while increasing patient heal ...

In this chapter, we discuss why the pedunculopontine is an appropriate target in studying movement disorders, explaining its association with both the pathology and treatment of Parkinsonism. We discuss how various laboratories, including our own, have approached experimental e ...

Many movement disorders interfere with skilled movements of the hand and digits, and patients give a high priority to restoration of skilled hand function. Because of both neuroanatomical and behavioural adaptations, the best available model for the study of skilled hand movements is the ...

Functional recovery is the ultimate goal of research into experimental therapy for spinal cord injury (SCI). The effective use of animal models of SCI requires functional assessment methods that can be reliably repeated in different laboratories. The aim of this chapter is to describe some ...

An important outcome measure of effects of treatment for experimental spinal cord injury is excellent histology. One way to achieve this is to prepare the tissue for electron microscopy, which ensures the best preservation and requires resin embedding. “Semi-thin” sections of resin-em ...

Disruption of axonal conduction within the central nervous system has obvious, negative consequences on numerous functions, including the ability to execute movement successfully. One important cause of axonal conduction deficits is primary demyelination, that is, the loss of t ...

Improvements to the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson disease (PD) are dependent upon the identification and molecular understanding of modifiers of neuronal degeneration. Here, we describe the use of multifactorial functional analyses to exploit the experimental attrib ...

Zebrafish, Danio rerio, a subtropical vertebrate has, during the last decades, emerged as an important model organism in neurobiological and biomedical research. The zebrafish neurotransmitter systems, including major small molecular substances and neuropeptides and their ...

Neurodegeneration is largely limited to humans, with spontaneous neurodegenerative conditions being extremely rare in animals. However, whole animal models are crucial for a proper understanding of the neurodegenerative process as well as essential for preclinical assess ...

Electrophysiological approaches have emerged as powerful tools to investigate neuronal activity in diseased states. The subtle changes that precede overt neurological dysfunction and development of behavioral abnormalities in movement disorders can be investigated in ...

Altered synaptic integration is a major factor for many neurological disorders involving the basal ganglia, including Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Despite the fact that most synaptic integration occurs within dendrites, nearly all we know about the physiology of ...

Adult transgenic fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) carrying the human gene coding for the protein α-synuclein were tested for geotactic, locomotor, and phototactic behaviors as well as α-synuclein expression. Specific assays in adult conscious flies can be used to determine ge ...

To better understand the mouse models we are working with, it is desirable to be able to probe for underlying functional deficits, which not only provide clues to the neuropathology of the animal, but also provide functional targets for therapeutic interventions. This chapter describes four ...