Main description:

High blood pressure disease is one of the most prevalent pathological conditions in modem society with potentially serious consequences. During the last two decades major progress has been made in the development of rational approaches to the treatment of high blood pressure. A key factor in this progress has been an increase in our understanding of how the brain controls blood pressure. The chapters in the present book, together with those in a previous volume, provide a broad overview of recent progress in our knowledge of the central neural mechanisms involved in the regulation of the cardiovascular system. It is our hope that these essays by leading experts in the field will not only provide a useful source of information, but will also stimulate inquiry leading to new discoveries in this critically important field of research. George Kunos John Ciriello vii List of Contributors Jeffrey J. Anderson, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208, USA Katsuyuki Ando, Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, Tokyo 112, Japan Jaideep S. Bains, Department of Physiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 Kathleen H. Berecek, Department of Physiology and Biophysics and the Vascular Biology and Hypertension Program, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA Vernon S. Bishop, Department of Physiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas 78284-7756, USA P. A.

Contents:

1 Role of Vasopressin in Central Cardiovascular Regulation.- 2 Central Neural Mechanisms in the Cardiovascular Response to Exercise.- 3 Hypothalamic Mechanisms and the Cardiovascular Response to Stress.- 4 Circumventricular Organs and Cardiovascular Homeostasis.- 5 Centrally Mediated Cardiovascular Effects of Taurine.- 6 Central Catecholamines and the Control of Sympathetic Tone.- 7 Role of Excitatory Amino Acids and Their Receptors in Bulbospinal Control of Cardiovascular Function.- 8 Respiratory-Sympathetic Integration in the Medulla Oblongata.- 9 Tachykinins, Tachykinin Receptors, and the Central Control of the Cardiovascular System.- 10 Natriuretic Peptide System in the Brain and Its Implication in Central Cardiovascular Regulation.- 11 Central Neural Mechanisms in the Cardiovascular Effects of Ethanol.- 12 Interactions Between Cardiovascular and Pain Regulatory Systems.- 13 Brain Stem GABA Pathways and the Regulation of Baroreflex Activity.- 14 GABAB Receptors in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius in Cardiovascular Regulation.- 15 Baroreflexes in Hypertension.