scholarly journals Mitochondria and the central nervous system: searching for a pathophysiological basis of psychiatric disorders

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio L. Streck ◽  
Cinara L. Gonçalves ◽  
Camila B. Furlanetto ◽  
Giselli Scaini ◽  
Felipe Dal-Pizzol ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Ariel Y. Deutch ◽  
Robert H. Roth

Chapter 2 describes the neurochemical organization of the brain. It summarizes the diverse types of molecules that neurons in the brain use as neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors, and how these molecules are synthesized and metabolized. The chapter also presents the array of receptor proteins through which these molecules regulate target neuron functioning and the reuptake proteins that generally terminate the neurotransmitter signal. Today a large majority of all drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders, as well as most drugs of abuse, still have as their initial targets proteins involved directly in neurotransmitter function.


1993 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Castrogiovanni ◽  
F Pieraccini ◽  
I Maremmani ◽  
D Marazziti

SummaryAlthough a great deal of biological research has been carried out on several psychiatric disorders, it is disappointing to see how little progress has been made in the field of the biology of personality. The authors underline the methodological problems that arise in the investigation of biological substrates of human personality and review both currently available and putative peripheral markers of the central nervous system that might be used in further human studies.


2018 ◽  
pp. 47-64
Author(s):  
Moises E. Bauer ◽  
Natália P. Rocha ◽  
Wilson Savino ◽  
Antonio L. Teixeira

This chapter presents an overview of the immune mechanisms affecting the functioning of the central nervous system (CNS). The cross-talk between the immune system and the CNS is established by three independent pathways: the humoral, neural, and cellular (leukocyte) routes. Of note, increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and concomitant activation of brain-resident microglia can lead to impaired cognition and depressive behavioral symptoms. The activated microglia phenotype has been associated with neuroinflammation reported in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. This chapter also reviews novel physiological roles for adaptive immunity (especially T cells) during health and disease. T cells support hippocampal neurogenesis, cognition, mood, resilience to stress, and are protective against the development of psychiatric disorders.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michihiro Toritsuka ◽  
Manabu Makinodan ◽  
Toshifumi Kishimoto

Myelination is one of the strategies to promote the conduction velocity of axons in order to adjust to evolving environment in vertebrates. It has been shown that myelin formation depends on genetic programing and experience, including multiple factors, intracellular and extracellular molecules, and neuronal activities. Recently, accumulating studies have shown that myelination in the central nervous system changes more dynamically in response to neuronal activities and experience than expected. Among experiences, social experience-dependent myelination draws attention as one of the critical pathobiologies of psychiatric disorders. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms of neuronal activity-dependent and social experience-dependent myelination and discuss the contribution of social experience-dependent myelination to the pathology of psychiatric disorders.


2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 955-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHAHRAD TAHERI ◽  
SEPEHR HAFIZI

The orexins/hypocretins are novel neuropeptides synthesized by neurons whose cell bodies are located in the lateral hypothalamus. Although these neurons are few in number, they send projections widely throughout the central nervous system (Kilduff & Peyron, 2000). There has been great excitement about the orexins/hypocretins from both the scientific and medical community. These peptides are remarkable in that they were discovered using state-of-the-art molecular techniques before their physiological actions were studied. Furthermore, there has been an exponential progress in our scientific knowledge of these peptides culminating in the orexins/hypocretins being linked to the sleep disorder, narcolepsy. With the importance of the orexins/hypocretins in sleep and arousal being increasingly recognized, it is likely that these peptides are altered by or contribute to several medical and psychiatric disorders.


1988 ◽  
Vol 153 (S3) ◽  
pp. 26-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. López-Ibor

There is evidence that serotonin (5-HT) is involved both in a wide range of psychiatric conditions and in specific behaviours which, in themselves, cannot be considered pathological. Besides the affective disorders (both depressive and manic, and both in full-blown episodes and during the intervals between these, which are seen as vulnerability to relapse) several other conditions need to be considered (Table I). There are also claims that serotonin metabolites or structurally related substances are involved, in their role as false neurotransmitters, in delusions and psychedelic phenomena, as in the case of LSD (Mantegazzini, 1960) or 5-hydroxytryptolines in delusions related to alcoholism (Daviset al, 1967).This wide range of conditions raises the questions of how specific is the involvement of serotonin, and of what artifacts are present in attempts to investigate its actions. Page, who isolated 5-HT in 1948, stated (1968) that “serotonin has many functions but few have been sharply defined. The great variety of suggested roles can be said to be a tribute to man's ingenuity and his unquestionable willingness to write papers”. Since then, many more roles have been proposed for the involvement of 5-HT in functions of the central nervous system. Nevertheless, good evidence does exist that serotonin has some specific relationships to psychiatric disorders which are worth pursuing, in spite of great methodological difficulties.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisney Pinto Nascimento ◽  
Sérgio José Macedo-Júnior ◽  
Fernanda Rocha Lapa-Costa ◽  
Fernando Cezar-dos-Santos ◽  
Adair R. S. Santos

Since the 1970s, when ATP was identified as a co-transmitter in sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, it and its active metabolite adenosine have been considered relevant signaling molecules in biological and pathological processes in the central nervous system (CNS). Meanwhile, inosine, a naturally occurring purine nucleoside formed by adenosine breakdown, was considered an inert adenosine metabolite and remained a neglected actor on the purinergic signaling scene in the CNS. However, this scenario began to change in the 1980s. In the last four decades, an extensive group of shreds of evidence has supported the importance of mediated effects by inosine in the CNS. Also, inosine was identified as a natural trigger of adenosine receptors. This evidence has shed light on the therapeutic potential of inosine on disease processes involved in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Here, we highlight the clinical and preclinical studies investigating the involvement of inosine in chronic pain, schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, anxiety, and in neural regeneration and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson and Alzheimer. Thus, we hope that this review will strengthen the knowledge and stimulate more studies about the effects promoted by inosine in neurological and psychiatric disorders.


1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Mulder

Historically, models of personality have generally postulated, or assumed, a link with biology. This century has witnessed a major revision of these ideas with both behavioural and psychoanalytic theorists emphasising life experiences as being largely responsible for behaviour as adults. Challenges to this assumption of the overwhelming importance of life experiences are reviewed. An extensive body of data now exists suggesting that biology contributes significantly to individual variability. This biological contribution occurs at a relatively low level in the central nervous system, best defined as temperament. Further research has suffered from the lack of a cohesive psychobiological model. Cloninger's tridimensional theory of personality is presented as a model which attempts to bridge the gap between theoretical temperamental traits, neurotransmitter function and clinical psychiatry. It is to be hoped that new theoretical models will be formulated which will focus on the importance of temperamental variables in psychiatric disorders.


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