Normal and Pathological Brain Phenotypes from Homeorhetic Epigenetic Landscapes in Natural drift

Brain cholesterol in normal and pathological aging.

Correct lipid homeostasis at the plasma membrane is essential for cell survival and performance. These are critically challenged in the aging brain. Changes in the levels of cholesterol, a major membrane component especially enriched in neurons, accompany the brain aging process. They also occur in neurodegenerative diseases. Understanding the causes and consequences of these changes is a cruci...

Differentiating normal from pathological brain ageing using standard neuropsychological tests.

To diagnose Alzheimer's disease (AD) early, tests sensitive to neuropathology and insensitive to normal ageing are of greatest benefit. We used several neuropsychological tests to identify those best suited to distinguishing Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and early AD from normal ageing. Impairments in long-term memory were found in older adults and these were even greater in MCI and AD. Older...

Sweet Taste Receptors in Normal and Pathological Rat Brain

The endocannabinoid system in normal and pathological brain ageing.

The role of endocannabinoids as inhibitory retrograde transmitters is now widely known and intensively studied. However, endocannabinoids also influence neuronal activity by exerting neuroprotective effects and regulating glial responses. This review centres around this less-studied area, focusing on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effect of the cannabinoid syste...

Brain imaging of attentional networks in normal and pathological states.

The ability to image the human brain has provided a new perspective for neuropsychologists in their efforts to understand, diagnose, and treat insults to the human brain that might occur as the result of stroke, tumor, traumatic injury, degenerative disease, or errors in development. These new findings are the major theme of this special issue. In our article, we consider brain networks that ca...