Hendrik J. ten Donkelaar Bücher

Connections define the functions of neurons: information flows along connections, as well as growth factors and viruses, and even neuronal death may progress through connections. Knowledge of how the various parts of the brain are interconnected to form functional systems is a prerequisite for the proper understanding of data from all fields in the neurosciences. Clinical Neuroanatomy: Brain Circuitry and Its Disorders bridges the gap between neuroanatomy and clinical neurology. It emphasizes human and primate data in the context of disorders of brain circuitry which are so common in neurological practice. In addition, numerous clinical cases demonstrate how normal brain circuitry may be interrupted and to what effect. Following an introduction into the organization and vascularisation of the human brain and the techniques to study brain circuitry, the main neurofunctional systems are discussed, including the somatosensory, auditory, visual, motor, autonomic and limbic systems, the cerebral cortex and complex cerebral functions.

Progress in developmental neurobiology and advances in (neuro) genetics have been spectacular. The high resolution of modern imaging techniques applicable to developmental disorders of the human brain and spinal cord have created a novel insight into the developmental history of the central nervous system (CNS). This book provides a comprehensive overview of the development of the human CNS in the context of its many developmental disorders. It provides a unique combination of data from human embryology, animal research and developmental neuropathology, and there are more than 400 figures in over a hundred separate illustrations.

In this treatise, current knowledge on the neurogenesis, axonal outgrowth, synaptogenesis, and regenerative capacity of descending supraspinal pathways in tetrapods is discussed. Although emphasis is on the clawed toad, Xenopus laevis, chicken embryos, opossum and rodent data, also the data available for primates including man are presented. It will be shown that 1) the outgrowth of descending supraspinal pathways is the result of a coordinated program; 2) the pattern of early descending axonal tracts is similar in all vertebrate groups; 3) the formation of descending supraspinal pathways occurs according to a developmental sequence; 4) the earliest descending supraspinal fibers arrive in a rather immature spinal cord, and 5) the regenerative capacity of descending supraspinal pathways depends on the developmental stage the particular pathways arise.