Axons are neuronal output elements and are responsible for the transfer and processing of signals from one neuron to another, even over very large distances. For a given neuronal cell type, axons are unique and display very heterogeneous patterns with respect to shape, length and target structure. Axons are the usually long process of a nerve fiber that generally conducts impulses away from the body of the nerve cell. This book is intended to summarize recent findings covering morphological, physiological, developmental, computational and pathophysiological aspects of axons. It attempts to cover new findings concerning axonal structure and functions together with their implications for signal transduction, processes implicated in the formation of axonal arbors and the transport of subcellular elements to their targets, and finally how a dysfunction in one or several of these steps could lead to axonal degeneration and ultimately to neurodegenerative diseases.
Summarizes recent findings covering morphological, physiological, developmental, computational and pathophysiological aspects of axons.
PrefaceForewordPart I: Axons in development1. Molecular Aspects of Commissural Axon GuidanceVera Niederkofler and Esther T. Stoeckli2. Subplate and the formation of the earliest cerebral cortical circuitsZoltán Molnár, Wei Zhi Wang, Maria Carmen Piñon, Shinichi Kondo, Franziska Oeschger and Anna Hoerder-SaubedissenPart II: Axonal function3. Sodium signals and their significance for axonal functionTony Kelly and Christine R. Rose4. New insights in information processing in the axonDominique Debanne and Sami Boudkkazi5. Electrical coupling of axonsGunnar Birke, Dietmar Schmitz and Andreas Draguhn6. To myelinate or not to myelinate?Quan Wen and Dmitri B. ChklovskiiPart III: Axons and neuronal circuits7. An axonal perspective on cortical circuitsTom Binzegger, Rodney J. Douglas, and Kevan A. C. Martin8. Axonal projections as predictors of neuronal connectivityMoritz Helmstaedter and Dirk Feldmeyer9. The axon of excitatory neurons in the neocortex: Projection pat-terns and target specificityJoachim H.R. Lübke and Dirk FeldmeyerPart IV: Axons and degeneration/regeneration10. Axon degeneration: Mechanisms and consequencesLucy J. Broom and V. Hugh Perry11. Regeneration after CNS lesion: Help from the immune system?Sven Hendrix and Robert Nitsch
A summary of recent findings covering the morphological, physiological, developmental, computational and pathophysiological aspects of axons, this volume covers new findings concerning axonal structure and functions and assesses their implications.
