CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - CNS & Neurological Disorders) - Volume 6, Issue 5, 2007

Correct diagnosis and effective treatment of diseases are two essential tasks for a clinical doctor. With advancing technology, the early and correct diagnosis of diseases is getting easier; however, the treatment of most diseases remains one of the biggest challenges for clinical medicine in 21st century. Broadly speaking, the causes of human diseases can be classified into two categories: abnormal cell death and abnormal cell pr Read More

The function of neurogenesis in the adult brain is still unknown. Interventions such as environmental enrichment and exercise impinge on neurogenesis, suggesting that the process is regulated by experience. Conversely, a role for neurogenesis in learning has been proposed through ‘cellular plasticity’, a process akin to synaptic plasticity but operating at the network level. Although neurogenesis is stimulated by acute Read More

Structural and morphological changes in limbic brain regions are associated with depression, chronic stress and antidepressant treatment, and increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that dysregulation of cell proliferation contributes to these effects. We review the morphological alterations observed in two brain regions implicated in mood disorders, the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and discuss the similariti Read More

Stroke stimulates neurogenesis in select regions of the adult brain, and the newborn neurons that result can migrate to areas of ischemic injury, where they may have the capacity to enhance brain recovery. These observations suggest that stroke-induced neurogenesis may contribute to endogenous brain repair after stroke, and that the mechanisms that underlie neurogenesis may represent potential therapeutic targets. Read More

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive neuronal loss affecting preferentially the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal projection. Transplantation of fetal dopaminergic precursor cells has provided the proof of principle that a cell replacement therapy can ameliorate clinical symptoms in affected patients. Recent years have provided evidence for the existence of neural stem ce Read More

Neural stem cells are present throughout life and continuously give rise to new neurons and glia cells in the mammalian central nervous system. Accumulating evidence suggests essential roles of micro-environments, or niches, in supporting active neurogenesis from endogenous neural stem cells within restricted regions of the adult brain. These neurogenic niches also regulate different steps of adult neurogenesis in response Read More

The dentate gyrus, a region of the hippocampal formation, displays the highest level of plasticity in the brain and exhibits neurogenesis all through life. Dentate neurogenesis, believed to be essential for learning and memory function, responds to physiological stimuli as well as pathological situations. The role of dentate neurogenesis in the pathophysiology of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has received increased attention late Read More

The evidence that new neuron addition takes place in the mammalian brain throughout adult life has dramatically altered our perspective of the potential for plasticity in the adult CNS. Although several recent reports suggest a latent neurogenic capacity in multiple brain regions, the two major neurogenic niches that retain the ability to generate substantial numbers of new neurons in adult life are the subventricular zone Read More