Synaptic Plasticity: Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Applications PDF

Preface

Although tremendous progress has been made over the last decade in our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity, this term has been so widely used that it has lost most of its original meaning. The editors of this book use this term to refer to fundamental processes that are responsible for adaptive properties of the central nervous system (CNS) under physiological as well as pathological conditions. Thus, many mechanisms regarding the way physical and nervous activity, diseases, and insults regulate synaptic transmission in the adult CNS have been characterized, and this understanding has started to be implemented in the design of new treatments for neuronal diseases and age-related loss of cognitive function. Likewise, basic processes used by developing nervous systems to establish their adult patterns of connectivity have been described in exquisite detail. In particular, the roles of growth factors and their effects on gene regulation are leading the way to new avenues for the treatment of several genetic and environmental defects associated with the inappropriate establishment of neuronal iii connectivity. Furthermore, the field of neuronal degeneration has seen a renewed excitement with advances in stem cell research.

At the other end of the spectrum of scientists interested in improving alterations in various CNS functions, neurologists, neurosurgeons, occupational therapists, and other caregivers are developing new approaches to help patients recover lost functions using the very same principles of synaptic plasticity studied by molecular and cellular neurobiologists. In particular, several methods of rehabilitation therapy and repair are in various stages of implementation. The premise here is that the plastic, adaptive properties of neuronal networks will allow for compensatory mechanisms in a way that might provide new functionalities to replace damaged circuitries. Furthermore, the use of genetically engineered cells or neurons targeted at specific locations or for specific functions might well facilitate recovery of lost functions.