The Root of Thought: Unlocking Glia--the Brain Cell That Will Help Us Sharpen Our Wits, Heal Injury, and Treat Brain Disease

by Andrew Koob

Overview

Until recently, neuroscientists thought glial cells did little more than hold your brain together. But in the past few years, they've discovered that glial cells are extraordinarily important. In fact, they may hold the key to understanding intelligence, treating psychiatric disorders and brain injuries and perhaps even curing fatal conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Lou Gehrig's Disease. In The Root of Thought, leading neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Koob reveals what we've learned about these remarkable cells, from their unexpected role in information storage to their function as adult stem cells that can keep your brain growing and adapting longer than scientists ever imagined possible. Ranging from fruit flies to Einstein, Koob reveals the surprising correlation between intelligence and the brain's percentage of glial cells - and why these cells' unique wavelike communications may be especially conducive to the fluid information processing human beings depend upon. You'll learn how crucial glial cells grow and develop... why almost all brain tumors are comprised of glial cells and the potential implications for treatment... even the apparent role of glial cells in your every thought and dream!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780138006273
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	06/03/2009
Series:	FT Press Science
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	939 KB

About the Author

Andrew Koob graduated from Northwestern University in 1998 and from Purdue University with a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2005.  After graduation, he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in pediatric neurosurgery at Dartmouth College, followed by positions as a postdoctoral fellow for research in Parkinson’s Disease at the University of California, San Diego, and as a researcher in molecular neurogenetics at the University of Munich, Germany.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Cities and Highways    
• Chapter 2: Dust Settles on the Battlefield    
• Chapter 3: I Sing the Body Electric    
• Chapter 4: Meet the Astrocyte    
• Chapter 5: Riding the Calcium Wave    
• Chapter 6: Hey Neuron, It’s Me, Glia       
• Chapter 7: Developing Relationships    
• Chapter 8: The Time Machine    
• Chapter 9: Sing a New Song    
• Chapter 10: Albert Einstein’s Abundant Astrocytes    
• Chapter 11: I Dream of Glia    
• Chapter 12: Gliadegenerative Disease    
• Chapter 13: Don’t Insult Me    
• Chapter 14: The Seething Breeding Glioma    
• Chapter 15: Cities and Highways Revisited    
• Acknowledgments    
• About the Author    
• Index