Brain Damage, Brain Repair
James W. Fawcett, Anne E. Rosser, and Stephen B. Dunnett
Abstract
Many neurological conditions are caused by damage to neurons and glial cells. For most of these diseases there are at present no effective treatments to minimise the extent of neuronal and glial loss, and no effective way of replacing what has been lost. This picture is rapidly changing. Developments in basic neuroscience have produced various potential therapies that can protect neurons and glia following traumatic, anoxic, infectious, and immunological damage. The old doctrine that axons cannot be made to regenerate, and dead neurons cannot be replaced, is no longer tenable, and a wide varie ... More
Many neurological conditions are caused by damage to neurons and glial cells. For most of these diseases there are at present no effective treatments to minimise the extent of neuronal and glial loss, and no effective way of replacing what has been lost. This picture is rapidly changing. Developments in basic neuroscience have produced various potential therapies that can protect neurons and glia following traumatic, anoxic, infectious, and immunological damage. The old doctrine that axons cannot be made to regenerate, and dead neurons cannot be replaced, is no longer tenable, and a wide variety of reconstructive techniques for the nervous system are under development. These and other basic science discoveries will progress into clinical practice, and lead to a revolution in neurology and neurosurgery. This book describes the various conditions that lead to damage to the nervous system, and the ways in which they may be ameliorated. It covers the burgeoning science of reconstruction of the nervous system, through neuronal, glial, and stem-cell transplantation, axon regeneration, remyelination, plasticity, and pharmacological interventions. The clinical conditions to which these treatments will be applied and their assessments are described.
Keywords:
neurological conditions,
damage to neurons,
glial cells,
diseases,
neuroscience,
therapies,
neurons,
glia,
axons,
reconstructive techniques
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2002 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198523376 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198523376.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
James W. Fawcett, author
Department of Physiology, University of Cambridge, UK
Anne E. Rosser, author
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Stephen B. Dunnett, author
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff UK
More
Less
