New book defines promising young field of adult ne...( COLD SPRING HARBOR N.Y. Studies o...)

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. Studies of the birth and incorporation of neurons into the brains of mature animalsa process known as adult neurogenesispromise intriguing insights into the mechanisms of normal brain function and into the causes of depression and other psychiatric disorders. A new book from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (www.cshlpress.com) helps to define this relatively young field.

Adult Neurogenesis (http://www.cshlpress.com/link/adultneuro.htm) brings together leading researchers to provide a valuable overview of the field and to lay the groundwork for future studies. It will be useful for working neurobiologists as well as those with clinical interests, as it has implications for understanding normal brain processes such as aging, learning, and memory, as well as stress, epilepsy, and neurological diseases such Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and Huntingtons.

Many studies in the field of adult neurogenesis have been aided by exciting technological advances, including imaging techniques that permit scientists to monitor neurogenesis in live human brains. Recent research has shown that age-related memory decline is associated with a reduction in adult neurogenesis. In addition, drugs that improve depression in human patients have stimulated adult neurogenesis in animal models.

Adult Neurogenesis covers these and other hot topics. Our aim was to integrate the field by mapping its current scope and its diverging ideas, write the editors, Fred H. Gage, Gerd Kempermann, and Hangjun Song, in the Preface to the book.

The 30 chapters in Adult Neurogenesis include discussions on neural stem cell biology, methods and models for studying adult neurogenesis, physiological and molecular processes and their control, related neurological diseases, and comparisons of neurogenesis in humans, bird
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