Book Description:
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly, is characterized pathologically by extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, pathophysiologically by synaptic dysfunction, and clinically by a progressive decline in cognition. Currently, AD has no cure and its prevalence is predicted to triple by 2050 with the rapid increase in the aging population, unless more effective treatments are developed. Since the publication of the second book volume, the rapid progress in the research fields of AD and dementia continues through the intensive efforts of research scientists worldwide. This third book volume contains 15 chapters, bringing together a presentation of research frontiers in current AD/dementia research. The topics include molecular genetics of AD, gene expression abnormalities in AD progression, presenilins, taupathy in AD, single neuron gene expression abnormalities in AD, intracellular A-induced neurodegeneration, roles of lipoprotein receptors in AD onset and progression, cholesterol and tau hyperphosphorylation, AD diagnostics and therapeutic strategies, in vivo visualization of amyloid-like structures, cathepsin B, antiamyloidogenesis and neuroprotection, environmental enrichment, Fragile X mental retardation gene and dementia, category learning in Parkinson’s disease, cerebrovascular disease and dementia, and dementia and hypertension. These chapters cover current advances in our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying AD and dementia, in the diagnosis of early AD and dementia, and in the development of therapeutic agents that target memory-relevant AD pathogenesis. The book will be highly valuable to students and scientists worldwide who are interested in the scientific research progress in AD and dementia.

Table of Contents:
Preface

Chapter I - Molecular Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease; pp. 1-23
(Odity Mukherjee; Petra Nowotny; Alison Goate and D.Phil, Washington Univ. School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo)

Chapter II - Gene Expression Abnormalities Mark the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease; pp. 25-58
(Stephen D. Ginsberg; Shaoli Che; Scott E. Counts and Elliott J. Mufson, Physiology & Neuroscience, N.Y. Univ. School of Medicine, Orangeburg, NY and Dept. of Neurological Sciences, Rush Univ. Medical Center, Chicago, IL)

Chapter III - Presenilins; pp. 59-77
(Gopal Thinakaran, Dept. of Neurobiology and Neurology, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL)

Chapter IV - Taupathy in Alzheimer’s Disease; pp. 79-93
(Roland Brandt and Monika Hundelt Dept. of Neurobiology, Univ. of Osnabrück, Germany)

Chapter V - Intraneuronal -Amyloid-Induced Neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s Dementia; pp. 95-734
(Sarah L. Cole and Robert Vassar, Northwestern Univ. The Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL)

Chapter VI - Lipoprotein Receptors in Alzheimer's Disease;
pp. 135-176
(Olav M. Andersen and Thomas E. Willnow, Dept. for Molecular and Cardiovascular Research, Robert-Roessle-Strasse 10, Berlin, Germany)

Chapter VII - Cholesterol and Tau Hyperphosphorylation in Alzheimer’s Disease; pp. 177-191
(Thomas G. Ohm and Volker Meske, Inst. of Integrative Neuroanatomy, Dept. of Clinical Cell- and Neurobiology, Berlin, Germany)

Chapter VIII - Development in Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies for Alzheimer’s Disease; pp. 193-250
(Akila Shanmugam, Bernhard Monien and Gal Bitan
Dept. of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, Brain Research Inst. and Molecular Biology Inst., Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles, CA)

Chapter IX - In Vivo Visualization of Amyloid Like Structures with Pet Molecular Imaging Probes; pp. 251-273
(Vladimir Kepe; Sung-Cheng Huang; Nagichettiar Satyamurthy; Gary W. Small and Jorge R. Barrio, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, G.W.S., Univ. of Calif. at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA)

Chapter X - Cathepsin-B, Antiamyloidogenesis, and Neuroprotection; pp. 275-302
(Li-Gan, Gladstone Inst. of Neurological Disease, Univ. of Calif. San Francisco, Ca.

Chapter XI - Environmental Enrichment: From Mouse AD Model to AD Therapy; pp. 303-328
(Orly Lazarov and John Larson, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL)

Chapter XII - Fragile X Mental Retardation Gene and Dementia;
pp. 329-338
(Maija Castrén1 and Seppo Kaakkola)

Chapter XIII - Category Learning in Parkinson's Disease; pp. 339-365 (J. Vincent Filoteo)

Chapter XIV - Cerebrovascular Disease and Dementia; pp. 367-380
(Ola A. Selnes, Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD)

Chapter XV - Dementia and Hypertension; pp. 381-413
(Jan A. Staessen; Tom Richart; Lutgarde Thijs and Willem H. Birkenhäger, Campus Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belguim)

Index