Main description:

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the main neurotransmitter regulating sleep. The majority of drugs presently in use for the treatment of sleep disorders act by enhancing GABAergic neuronal inhibition. The GABA system is, therefore, of prime clinical relevance for the therapy of insomnia.

The focus of this volume is on the neuropsychopharmacology and the clinical impact of the GABA system in regulating sleep and wakefulness. It presents molecular, neuropharmacological, systems-biological and clinical approaches to the understanding of the mechanism of action of GABA and GABAergic drugs. It also explores the role of GABA in the basic drives that affect sleep, and the influences that adapt sleep and wakefulness to external events.

Contents:

Section I - Basic Physiology and Pharmacology.- The New Pharmacology and Physiology of the GABA System: Function of GABAA and GABAB Receptor Subtypes.- Development of Subtype Selective GABAA Receptor Compounds for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders, Primary and Comorbid Insomnia, and Epilepsy.- Distribution of GABAA Receptor Subunits in the Human Brain.- Pharmacokinetic Determinants of the Clinical Effects of Benzodiazepine Agonist Hypnotics.- Section II. Sleep Science and Circuitry.- Sleep and its Modulation by Drugs that Affect GABAA Receptor Function.- Subcortical Neuromodulation of Feedforward and Feedback Inhibitory Microcircuits by the Reticular Activating System.- Function of GABAB and GABAC Receptors in the Regulation of Basic and Higher Integrated Sleep-Waking Processes.- Interaction between GABAergic and Serotonergic Processes in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus in the Control of REM Sleep and Wakefulness.- GABAergic Modulation of Pontine Cholinergic and Noradrenergic Neurons of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep Generation.- Involvement of GABAergic Mechanisms in the Laterodorsal and Pedunculopontine and Tegmental Nuclei (LDT-PPT) in the Promotion of REM Sleep.- GABAergic Mechanisms in the Ventral Oral Pontine Tegmentum - the REM Sleep Induction Site - in the Modulation of Sleep/Wake States.- The Role of GABAergic Modulation of Mesopontine Cholinergic Neurotransmission in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep.- Melatonin and Sleep: Possible Involvement of GABAergic Mechanisms.- GABA Involvement in the Circadian Regulation of Sleep.- Section - III. Neurotherapeutics.- Pathophysiology of Sleep Disorders.- Insomnia: Differential Diagnosis and Current Treatment Approach.- Zolpidem in the Treatment of Adult and Elderly Primary Insomnia Patients.- Efficacy and Safety of Zopiclone and Eszopiclone in the Treatment of Primary and Comorbid Insomnia.- Indiplon.- Polysomnographic and Clinical Assessment of Zaleplon for the Treatment of Primary Insomnia