Main description:

Our understanding of the functioning of the brain has grown rapidly over the last decade or two. So has our recognition of the possible role of brain dysfunction in diseases considered earlier to be of peripheral or somatic origin. This culminates naturally in a focus on the nature of the influence of the brain on other systems such as the autonomic, neuroendocrine and immune systems. And we must come full circle and question the nature of the influence of these systems on the function of the brain. Thus, we gain a picture of a complex regulatory interaction, fine tuned in normal circumstances to provide each system with necessary information about the status of the other systems and the basis to respond appropriately to changes in each other. This volume provides the proceedings of the first of a series of international symposia intended to review the state-of-the-art understanding and frontier exploration of the above described interregulatory phenomena, with some emphasis on the relevance of this information to the etiology and treatment of disease. The purpose of this first symposium was to lay the groundwork for this continuing endeavor. To accomplish such a goal required bringing together diverse multidisciplinary professionals - eg neurobiologists, immunol ogists, psychiatrists, cardiologists and students amongst others.

Contents:

1 Introduction - The Brain and the Biopsychosocial Approach to Medicine.- I Central Neurotransmitter Systems: Distribution and Function.- 2 Brain Monoaminergic Neurons: Distribution and Function in Relation to Regulation of Autonomic, Neuroendocrine and Immune Systems.- 3 Distribution and Function of Amino Acid Neurotransmitters: Roles in Central Modulation of the Autonomic, Neuroendocrine and Immune Systems.- 4 Neuropeptides and Their Possible Role as Auxiliary Messengers.- 5 Plasticity of Neuronal Interactions: Monoamines and Neuropeptides.- II The Autonomic System.- 6 An Overview of the Efferent Autonomic Nervous System.- 7 Brain Stem Mechanisms Regulating the Tonic and Reflex Control of Blood Pressure.- 8 Opiods and Other Neuropeptides: Functional Interactions with Autonomic Systems.- 9 Assessment of Autonomic Function in Essential Hypertension.- 10 The Importance of Autonomic Innervation of the Heart in the Genesis of Cardiac Arrhythmias.- III The Neuroendocrine System.- 11 The Neuroendocrine System.- 12 Monoaminergic Control of the Neuroendocrine System.- 13 Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone: Localization of Specific Hypothalamic and Extrahypothalamic Sites of CNS Modulation.- 14 Neurohumoral Mechanisms in Asthma.- IV The Immune System.- 15 An Overview of the Immune Response or An Immunologist's View of the Nervous System Control of the Immune System.- 16 Interactions Among the Nervous, Endocrine and Immune Systems (NIM).- 17 Stress, Opioid Peptides and Immune Function.- 18 Stress, Depression and Immunity.- V The Central Nervous System and Disease.- 19 Overview of Central Control Mechanisms and Disease Development.- 20 Biosynthesis and Targeting of ?-Endorphin.- 21 Endorphins-Development of the Therapeutic Utility of Enkephalin Analogues.- 22 A Hypersensitive Serotonergic Receptor Theory of Depression: The Role of Stress.- 23 Neuropeptides and other Mediators in the Central Nervous System.- VI Short Communications.- 24 Glutamate, GABA and Cholinergic Systems in the NTS, DMN and Hypoglossal Nucleus of the Rat.- 25 Single Unit Responses to Catecholamines in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarii and Dorsal Motor Nucleus of the Vagus.- 26 In Vivo Cardiovascular Responses to Isoproterenol, Dopamine and Tyramine Following Prolonged Infusion of Isoproterenol.- 27 Cardiac Arrhythmia in Sleep Apnea Syndromes: State, Sinus Arrhythmia, and Concurrent Pathophysiology.- 28 Does Mental Stress Lead to Permanent Vascular Alterations?.- 29 Immobilisation Stress in Rats: Gastric Mucosal Depletion and Effects of Central Noradrenaline Depletion.- 30 Glucagon and Glucagon-Like Peptide Receptor Localization and Characterization in Rat Brain and Pituitary.- 31 Appetitive Behavior May Serve as a Model for Studying the Neural Facilitation and Inhibition of Plasma Corticosterone Levels in Rats.- 32 Suspense Increases Salivary Cortisol.- 33 Corticosterone Responses in Maternal and Neonatal Plasma Induced by Tryptophan Diets Fed During the Third Trimester.- 34 Influence of ?-Endorphin on the Antigen-Induced PFC Response of Human Blood B Lymphocytes in vitro.- 35 Interaction Between the Central Nervous System and the Immune System: The Influence of a Short and Mild Emotional Stress on the Proliferative Response of Rat Spleen Cells.- 36 In Vivo Voltammetric Evidence that d-Amphetamine and Phenethylamine Release Ascorbic Acid Into Striatal Extracellular Fluid.- 37 Serotonin, Imipramine Binding, Cortisol and Anxiety in Humans Under Stress.- 38 Bioavailability of the Opioid Peptide, Metkephamid.- 39 The Opioid Antagonist, ?-Funaltrexamine (?-FNA) Differentially Antagonizes the Analgesic Activity of Morphine and Metkephamid (LY127623), A Methionine-Enkephalin Analog.- 40 Temperature and Feeding Responses of Normal and Dystrophic Hamsters to Morphine.