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It is generally accepted that neuropsychiatric disorders have a biological basis. Pathological changes leading to illness have been confirmed for Alzheimer’s (amyloid plaques) and Parkinson’s disease (loss of dopaminergic transmission) and are the foundation for studies on the molecular biology of these disorders. For other neuropsychiatric disorders, in particular for schizophrenic and affective disorders, molecular causes appear to be more complex and therefore remain hypothetical, despite decades of research. Changes in a number of neuronal pathways and structures have been reported to be associated with these disorders and are currently under extensive investigation. The present volume reviews recent knowledge with emphasis on ongoing research findings. Current hypotheses based on these findings are described and discussed.
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DkYb[_Y 7Y_Zi WdZ Ceb[YkbWh 8_ebe]o 23 I[h_[i ;Z_jeh >$ @$ =heii Institut für Biochemie Biozentrum Am Hubland 97074 Würzburg Germany Dieter B. Wildenauer (Ed.) Molecular Biology of Neuropsychiatric Disorders With 15 Figures and 8 Tables Editor Dieter B. Wildenauer Graylands Hospital Center for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry (CCRN) Claremont WA 6910 Australia ISBN 978-3-540-85382-4 ISSN 0933-1891 e-ISBN 978-3-540-85383-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008933566 © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: Boekhorst Design BV, The Netherlands Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com Preface The intention of this book is to give an overview about ongoing research into molecular causes for disorders that affect the human brain. These disorders afflict mainly human behavior and are, since borders between “normal” and “abnormal” behaviors are continuous and hard to define, not always easy to diagnose. We have included the major psychoses (schizophrenia and affective disorders), autism, attention deficit hyperactivity, and anxiety disorders, as well as addictive and suicidal behavior. Neuropathological alterations in these disorders are usually not detectable or restricted to sporadic cases and, if present, not easy to define as causative. In contrast, pathological alterations in the brain are present in the two included neuropsychiatric disorders, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Detection of pathological abnormalities has been helpful as a starting point for studies of the biochemistry and molecular biology of these diseases. Our goal was to describe current research directions using new methods and information provided by molecular biology and molecular genetics. We have included selected, but in our opinion (and therefore biased) most promising, findings rather than attempting to give a complete overview of findings in these disorders. Given the large number of publications appearing each month in the field (up to 50 in one month as estimated from the PubMed entry) it is almost certain that the book would be