Memory and brain

Understand fully the chemistry of life, including the chemistry of the brain and memory. 

H. E. Himwich, N. Narasimhachari, B. Heller, J. Spaide, L. Haskovec, M. Fujimori and K. Tabushi, In Biochemistry of Brain and Memory (S. P. Datta, ed.). Plenum Press, New York (in press)... 

ChEI treatments have been expanded also to include other dementias and CNS disorders, e.g. delirium, traumatic brain injuries and memory impairments, as well as myasthenia gravis, glaucoma and parasite infections. 

Brain structure below the thalamus and main portion of the ventral region of the diencephalon, controlling homeostatic and nonhomeostatic basic body and brain functions, including circadian and feeding rhythms, energy metabolism, thermogenesis, sympathoadrenal, and neuroendocrine outflow (secretion of hormones by the pituitary gland), behavioral state and memory functions. 

S100B Developmental brain dysfunction, learning and memory deficits... 

As a result of the neurochemical changes caused by MDMA, there is significant, observable functional impairment as well. These impairments occur in areas of the brain that have high concentrations of serotonergic neurons. Most notably affected are cognition and memory. Studies have shown decreases... 

Brennan P. and Keveme E.B. (2000). Neural mechanisms of olfactory recognition memory. In Brain, Perception, Memory — Advances in Cognitive Neuroscience (Bolhuis J.J., ed.). Oxford University Press, pp. 93-111. 

In the vertebrate CNS monoamines have been associated with a number of physiological functions (reviewed in Kandel et al., 1991). Serotonin has functions associated with mood, pain, sleep, learning, and memory. Dopamine has functions associated with schizophrenia, Parkinson s disease, and cocaine addiction. In vertebrates, dopamine is further metabolized into two additional neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and epinephrine. Norepinephrine increases the excitability of cells in response to sudden sensory input such as fear. Epinephrine has been identified in specific neurons of the brain, but the function of these cells is unknown. In addition, AADC has also been found in a class of neurons that do not have any of the four neurotransmitters discussed above (Jaeger et al., 1983). These neurons may use one of the trace amines, tyramine, tryptamine, or phenylethylamine, as a neurotransmitter. 

The interconnections or communication among neurons in humans is very extensive. Imagine the complexity of the electrical activity that may occur among 100 billion neurons in the human brain where each of these neurons provides input to and receives input from hundreds of other neurons. It is the diversity of these interconnections that accounts for the uniqueness of many abstract neurological phenomena in individuals such as intellect, personality, and memory. The two types of interconnections are ... 

Blokland A (1996). Acetylcholine A neurotransmitter for learning and memory Brain Research Reviews, 21, 285-300. 

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