Brain functions

The aroma of fmit, the taste of candy, and the texture of bread are examples of flavor perception. In each case, physical and chemical stmctures ia these foods stimulate receptors ia the nose and mouth. Impulses from these receptors are then processed iato perceptions of flavor by the brain. Attention, emotion, memory, cognition, and other brain functions combine with these perceptions to cause behavior, eg, a sense of pleasure, a memory, an idea, a fantasy, a purchase. These are psychological processes and as such have all the complexities of the human mind. Flavor characterization attempts to define what causes flavor and to determine if human response to flavor can be predicted. The ways ia which simple flavor active substances, flavorants, produce perceptions are described both ia terms of the physiology, ie, transduction, and psychophysics, ie, dose-response relationships, of flavor (1,2). Progress has been made ia understanding how perceptions of simple flavorants are processed iato hedonic behavior, ie, degree of liking, or concept formation, eg, crispy or umami (savory) (3,4). However, it is unclear how complex mixtures of flavorants are perceived or what behavior they cause. Flavor characterization involves the chemical measurement of iadividual flavorants and the use of sensory tests to determine their impact on behavior. 

Besides behavior and blood pressure, catecholamine neurons also have important roles in other brain functions. Regulation of neuroendocrine function is a well-known action of catecholamines for example, DA agonists reduce semm prolactin concentration, especially in conditions of hypersecretion. Ingestive behavior can be modulated by brain catecholamines, and some appetite-suppressing dmgs are beheved to act via catecholaminergic influences. Catecholamines also participate in regulation of body temperature. 

Fyn is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase related to Src that is frequently found in cell junctions. Die protein is N-myristoylated and palmitoylated and thereby becomes associated with caveolae-like membrane microdomains. Fyn can interact with a variety of other signaling molecules and control a diversity of biological processes such as T cell receptor signaling, regulation of brain function, and adhesion mediated signaling. 

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. 

Positron emission tomography (PET) makes use of a short-lived positron emitter such as fluorine-18 to image human tissue with a degree of detail not possible with x-rays. It has been used extensively to study brain function (see illustration) and in medical diagnosis. For example, when the hormone estrogen is labelled with fluorine-18 and injected into a cancer patient, the fluorine-bearing compound is preferentially absorbed by the tumor. The positrons given off by the fluorine atoms are quickly annihilated when they meet... 

This patient is about to undergo a PET scan of brain function. 

One might have thought that d Arsonval s discovery would be sufficient to generate further studies of brain function by magnetic stimulation, but the technical solutions to this had to wait for the best part of the twentieth century until 1985 when Anthony Barker and colleagues at the University of Sheffield successfully stimulated the motor cortex and pro-... 

The clinical neuroscience community was quick to pick up on the importance of this discovery and Barker s Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was soon widely used to measure nerve conduction velocities in clinical and surgical settings. However, it is not in the clinical domain that magnetic stimulation provides the most excitement magnetic stimulation is a tool with which to discover new facts about brain function and it has already delivered in many areas. 

There is evidence that the neurai processes ieading to memory inciude the production and diffusion of NO. An enzyme in the brain produces NO from an amino acid. How does NO interact with more compiex moiecuies as the brain functions One possibiiity is that once a neurai trigger fires, an adjacent neuron produces NO, which... 

The findings recently reported can be relevant to understand the functional role of transmitter release from astrocytes in brain function. Interestingly, a recent report shows for the first time the occurrence in vivo of fast astrocytic calcium events in response to neuronal activity, peaking with millisecond time-scale from sensory stimulation (Winship et al. 2007). 

Rasmussen K, Jeppesen HJ, Sabroe S. 1993c. Psychometric tests for assessment of brain function after solvent exposure. Am J Ind Med 24 553-565. 

This book is about neurotransmitters, the substances released from neurons to act on neurons. It covers what they do, how they do it and how their activity is involved in brain function and affected by drugs and disease. 

After an overview of neurotransmitter systems and function and a consideration of which substances can be classified as neurotransmitters, section A deals with their release, effects on neuronal excitability and receptor interaction. The synaptic physiology and pharmacology and possible brain function of each neurotransmitter is then covered in some detail (section B). Special attention is given to acetylcholine, glutamate, GABA, noradrenaline, dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and the peptides but the purines, histamine, steroids and nitric oxide are not forgotten and there is a brief overview of appropriate basic pharmacology. 

We have no such pretensions in this book but we do hope to help you to understand how neurotransmitters may be involved in brain function and more particularly how their activity is modified by disease and drugs. As the above quotation implies, this will mean considering the synaptic characteristics of each neurotransmitter, but before we do so, it is important to consider some more general and basic aspects of neurotransmitter function. Thus ... 

Neurotransmitters, Drugs and Brain Function. Edited by R. A. Webster 2001 John Wiley Sons Ltd... 

---