by Ruth Prieto  and Jose M Pascual

Received: 11 September 2018;  Published: 15 October 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1804012

The optimal treatment of craniopharyngiomas (CPs) represents a neurosurgical challenge, the major reason being their close relationship with the hypothalamus and the third ventricle (3V) boundaries. Nevertheless, CPs are generally defined as “suprasellar” lesions, an inexplicit and frequently defective term. Despite being heterogeneous lesions, CPs are actually characterized by repeating pathological patterns which depend on their point of origin along the pituitary-hypothalamic axis. Surgical plan in tailoring the [...]

by Wolf-Dieter Heiss

Received: 02 July 2018;  Published: 19 September 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1803011

Gliomas originating from glial cells comprise about 30% of all primary central nervous system tumors and 80% of malignant brain tumors. Gliomas differ in their biological activity and are categorized according to grades, from benign to malignant with high recurrence rates. For diagnosis, location and extent of the tumor is assessed by CT and MRI, but for grading, additional parameters are necessary: contrast enhanced CT and MRI reveal damage of the blood–brain barrier, perfusion-weighted MRI shows regional blood su [...]

by Bridget W. Brox  , Darren J. Day  and Bart A. Ellenbroek

Received: 01 February 2018;  Published: 07 June 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1802010

(1) Background: Drug addiction places a heavy burden on those affected by it but only a small percentage of individuals (~20%), regardless of their drug of abuse, go on to develop the compulsive behaviours that define drug addiction. Clinical studies have shown that genetic variations that reduce serotonin transporter (SERT) activity increase the vulnerability to developing a variety of psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and drug addiction. (2) Methods: To investigate the influence of reduced SERT fu [...]

by Gina Sizemore  , Brandon Lucke-Wold  , Charles Rosen  , James W. Simpkins  , Sanjay Bhatia  and Dandan Sun

Received: 12 January 2018;  Published: 31 May 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1802009

The brain is an integrated network of multiple variables that when compromised create a diseased state. The neuropathology of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), stroke, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) demonstrate both similarity and complexity that reflects this integrated variability; TLE with its live human tissue resection provides opportunity for translational science to demonstrate scale equivalent experimentation between the macroscopic world of clinical disease and the microscopic world of basic science. The ext [...]

by Bart A. Ellenbroek  and Weiwen Wang

Received: 20 March 2018;  Published: 29 March 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1801008

by Ya Wen

Received: 28 November 2017;  Published: 05 December 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1704007

More and more studies revealed links amongst neurological disorders, heart diseases and cancers. For example, people with subclinical cardiovascular diseases are at higher risk for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease is associated with varied risk of cancer, Autism Spectrum Disorders and cancer have overlapping genes and molecular pathways, heart disease and cancer share common risk factors, etc. It is intriguing how are these conditions that appear to be completely different linked together.

by Jigar Jogia

Received: 17 April 2017;  Published: 09 July 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1702006

There is a need for early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Traditional assessments of cognitive decline have been found to lack sensitivity and accuracy in differentiating varying stages of Dementia and cognitive decline as well as being time consuming in their administration. Key components of cognition namely memory and executive function have been identified as most predicative of AD status. Brief cognitive screening tools such as the Montreal C [...]

by Mason L. Yeh  and Eric S. Levine

Received: 11 April 2017;  Published: 27 April 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1702005

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are diagnosed on the basis of three behavioral features, namely, (1) deficits in social communication, (2) absence or delay in language and (3) stereotypy. The consensus regarding the neurological pathogenesis of ASDs is aberrant synaptogenesis and synapse function. Further, it is now widely accepted that ASD is neurodevelopmental in nature, placing emphasis on derangements occurring at the level of intra- and intercellular signaling during corticogenesis. At present, there is an ev [...]

by Jessie Poquérusse  and Bryan W. Luikart

Received: 10 April 2017;  Published: 24 April 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1702004

Large-scale genetic sequencing studies have identified a wealth of genes in which mutations are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding the biological function of these genes sheds light onto the neurodevelopmental basis of ASD. To this end, we defined functional categories representing brain development – (1) Cell Division and Survival, (2) Cell Migration and Differentiation, (3) Neuronal Morphological Elaboration, (4) Development and Regulation of Cellular Excitability, and (5) Synapse Forma [...]

by Linda J. Larson-Prior  , Gohar Azhar  , David G. Davila  , Se-Ran Jun  , Aaron S. Kemp  , Intawat Nookaew  , Jeanne Y. Wei  and Trudy M. Wassenaar

Received: 22 February 2019;  Published: 12 April 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1702003

(1) Background: The daily rhythms of life on earth are governed by a central clock located in the hypothalamus and entrained primarily by light. By virtue of its connections to a myriad of other clocks located both in the brain and in peripheral organs and cells, this clock provides a timing signal based on the light/dark cycle by which organismal physiology and behaviour are governed. Disturbances of these natural rhythms have multiple downstream effects, frequently resulting in dysregulations of sleep and wake cy [...]