Beyond the Synapse

Formation of synapses and the changes in their connections during life are the basis for learning and memory and recovery from brain disease or injury. Much interest has been focused on how synapses function at the molecular level, while the cell-cell interactions controlling the formation receive far less attention. This 2008 book expands the scope of inquiry beyond the synaptic cleft to provide a comprehensive insight into how intercellular signalling enables neurons to communicate beyond the synapse, and to interact with other cells in the brain to alter synaptic connections appropriately. There are chapters devoted to consideration of glia, brain cells which have thus far been ignored in the majority of studies of learning and memory. Writing for academic researchers and professionals, contributors to this book reveal that there is much to learning and memory that lies beyond the synapse. Review of the hardback: 'The whole work, with its glossy hard boards and excellent illustrations, is well produced. ... This fine survey will tell you all you could wish to know about what goes on between the neurons.' BiologistIntroduction: Beyond the synapse R. Douglas Fields; Part I. Spanning Scales of Neural Plasticity: 1. Memory beyond the synapse Steven P. R. Rose; 2. Between synapses and behavior: functional circuitry of the hippocampus Howard Eichenbaum; 3. Widening the lens: Looking beyond the synapse for experience-driven brain plasticity Julie A. Markham, Aaron W. Grossman and William T. Greenough; 4. Activity-dependent myelination R. Douglas Fields; 5. Bipolar disorder: involvement of signaling cascades and AMPA receptor trafficking at synapses Jing Du, Jorge Quiroz, Peixiong Yuan, Carlos Zarate Jr and Husseini K. Manji; Part II. Novelty, Stress, and Hormones in Plasticity: 6. Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation Matthew P. Walker and Robert Stickgold; 7. Consolidation and reconsolidation of Pavlovian fear conditioning: roles for intracellular signaling and extracellular modulation in memory storage Christopher Cain, Jacek Debiec and Joseph LeDoux; 8. Emotional and cognitive reinforcement of rat hippocampal long-term potentiation requires different neuromodulatory systems Volker Korz and Julietta U. Frey; 9. Estrogen and hippocampal synaptic plasticity Micael Foy, Michael Baudry and Richard Thompson; 10. Steroid-induced hippocampal synaptic plasticity: sex differences and similarities Russell D. Romeo, Elizabeth M. Waters and Bruce S. McEwen; Part III. Cell-cell Signaling Molecules in Synaptic Plasticity: 11. MHC class I in activity-dependent structural and functional plasticity Lisa M. Boulanger; 12. Cytokine induction of neuronal receptor trafficking: relevance to synaptic function and excitotoxicity Dmitri Leonoudakis, Steven P. Braithwaite, Michael S. Beattie and Eric C. Beattie; 13. Neurotrophin signaling among neurons and glia during formation of synapses Sarina B. Elmariah, Ethan G. Hughes, Eun Joo Oh and Rita J. Balice-Gordon; 14. Regulation of neurogenesis by neurotrophins: implications in hippocampus-dependent memory Bai Lu and Jay H. Chang; 15. Focal adhesion-like processes underly induction of long-term potentiation in the Schaffer-collateral-CA1 region of hippocampus Richard G. LeBaron, Ruben V. Hernandez, Mary M. Navarro, James E. Orfila, Lisa R. Curry and Joe L. Martinez; 16. Signaling to the nucleus in long-term memory Olena Bukalo and R. Douglas Fields; Part IV. Non-traditional Transmitters and Glia: 17. Diffusible hydrogen peroxide generated post-synaptically inhibits axonal dopamine release in striatum Marat V. Avshalumov, Jyoti Patel, Li Bao, Duncan G. MacGregor and Margaret E. Rice; 18. D-serine as a novel glial neurotransmitter Asif K. Mustafa, Paul M. Kim and Solomon H. Snyder; 19. Conversations between glia and neurons in the retina: modulation of neuronal excitability Eric A. Newman; 20. Metabotropic glutamate receptors as a target for astrocytic control of inhibitory synaptic transmission in hippocampus Wing-song Liu, Qiwu Xu, Jian Kang and Maiken Nedergaard.