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Topic outline

 

  • Time: 15 hours
    Level: Masters

 
 

Introduction

 

1 Issues in brain and behaviour

 

2 Addiction

 

3 Addiction: selected readings

  • 3.1 Addiction article 1 Resource
  • The first selected reading provides a wide ranging review of the theories associated with addiction illustrating how the subject can be investigated at a number of different levels of analysis. The second...
  • 3.2 Addiction article 2 Resource
  • This second article explores some pharmacological aspects of drug addiction. By considering relevant neurochemistry and neurophysiology, it addresses the issues of why some drugs are more prone to induce...
 

4 Neural ageing

  • 4.1 Introduction Resource
  • The second topic in this unit concerns neural ageing – remember the term ‘neural ageing’ is used to mean ageing as it impacts upon the nervous system and behaviour, not the ageing of other body systems...
  • 4.2 Definitions of ageing Resource
  • The term ‘ageing’ carries a number of different meanings. It encompasses changes that occur at many levels, from the population down to the molecular. Even at a single level, ageing does not represent...
  • 4.3 Genes and ageing Resource
  • It is often assumed that ageing is genetically determined, because each species has a characteristic, well-defined maximum lifespan. Such differences between species could lead us to look for ‘ageing genes’,...
  • 4.4 Mechanisms that affect ageing of cells Resource
  • So what are the causes of cellular ageing? A variety of causal mechanisms has been proposed, as you shall see. Many of these mechanisms of ageing are intrinsic, i.e. a result of normal cellular activity;...
  • 4.5 The ageing brain Resource
  • The cellular components of the human brain are remarkably heterogeneous, both morphologically and functionally. The brain is a very complex structure, composed of around one hundred thousand million (i.e....
  • 4.6 Consequences of neural ageing Resource
  • While we are beginning to understand the underlying molecular and cellular changes that take place in the ageing brain, the consequences of these changes are all too familiar. As people age, their mental...
  • 4.7 Ageing brains: hope for the future Resource
  • Due to the enormous progress in the field of molecular and cell biology, new avenues in brain research have opened up. In the past few years, investigators have shown that the ageing brain has several...
 

5 Neural ageing: selected readings

  • 5.1 Introduction Resource
  • Two articles taken from the Selected Readings of the Neural Ageing strand of the SD805 course are presented below. These articles focus on two important areas in the study of neural ageing. In a general...
  • 5.2 Neural ageing: article 1 Resource
  • Now read Neural Ageing Article 1: Concar, D. (2001) ‘Forever young’, New Scientist, 171, pp. 26–27.
  • 5.2 Neural ageing: article 2 Resource
  • In the article presented here by Esteban (2004) entitled ‘Living with the enemy: a physiological role for theβ-amyloid peptide’, Trends in Neurosciences, 27, pp. 1–3, the author introduces us to a very...
 

6 Levels of explanation: the key to understanding addiction and neural ageing

 

7 Glossary

 

8 Websites for further information:

 

References and Acknowledgements

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