Development, Maturation, and Senescence of Neuroendocrine Systems: A Comparative Approach discusses the various phases of the aging continuum of neuroendocrine systems. This book explores the fundamental and physiological component of animals, which is an essential contributor to senescence. Organized into three parts encompassing 21 chapters, this volume starts with a discussion of the concept of neurosecretory neuron that was introduced by Ernst Scharrer in 1928. This book discusses the challenges in the study of the development of the neuroendocrine system in insects, with a focus on Lepidoptera. Other chapters consider the neuroendocrine mechanisms that control the physiological processes in crustaceans. The reader is then introduced to the major neurohemal structures in crustaceans, including the sinus gland, the pericardial organs, and the post-commissural organs. The final chapter discusses the two brain systems that show impact of endogenous steroids that account for subsets of senescent changes. This book is a valuable resource for neurobiologists, molecular biologists, and immunologists.

Vertebrate Endocrinology: Fundamentals and Biomedical Implications, Volume 4, Part A: Reproduction provides information pertinent to the structure and function of the vertebrate reproductive endocrinology. This book deals with a variety of subjects, including oocyte maturation, gestation, ovulation, vitellogenesis, spermatogenesis, and the maturation and aging of the reproductive system. Organized into seven chapters, this volume starts with an overview of the reproductive mechanisms and their underlying bases, with focus on the similarities between species. This book then discusses the factors of reproductive failure in many species, including failure of ovulation, abnormal fertilization, failure of fertilization, and failure of implantation. Other chapters explore the cellular, endocrinological, and molecular mechanisms that regulate oocyte maturation in mammals, which is directly stimulated by the need to improve human fertility and fecundity in domestic mammals. The final chapter deals with the aging of the brain–pituitary–gonadal axis in vertebrates. Reproductive endocrinologists and developmental neuroendocrinologists will find this book extremely useful.

Aging of the Autonomic Nervous System is the first book devoted to the aging of the autonomic nervous system. The book presents the most recent findings on topics such as general aspects of the autonomic nervous system, main neurotransmitter systems, age-dependent changes of neuroeffector mechanisms in target organs, and therapeutic perspectives. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of the possible consequences of these findings. Aging of the Autonomic Nervous System will be a useful volume for gerontologists and neuroscientists.

The Endocrinology of Growth, Development, and Metabolism in Vertebrates provides an overview of vertebrate endocrinology. This book aims to strengthen the bridge between medical and comparative endocrinologists by addressing the benefits that they can derive from this association. Organized into five parts encompassing 24 chapters, this volume starts with a discussion on the structure and biological function of growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) family. This book then explains the extrinsic, genetic, and humoral factors that influence animal growth, particularly in poikilotherms. This text also elaborates the environmental conditions that affect the growth of poikilotherms, including food availability, temperature, and photoperiod. Other chapters discuss how somatotropin affects the growth development in homeotherms, such as livestock species. The reader is also introduced to the metabolic actions of GH, which can be described in terms of short-lived insulin-like effects. Endocrinologists, molecular endocrinologists, biologists, molecular biologists, biochemists, researchers, and physicians will find this book extremely useful.

Featuring extensive references, updated for this paperback edition, Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome constitutes a landmark contribution to biomedicine and the evolutionary biology of aging. To enhance gerontology's focus on human age-related dysfunctions, Caleb E. Finch provides a comparative review of all the phyla of organisms, broadening gerontology to intersect with behavioral, developmental, evolutionary, and molecular biology. By comparing species that have different developmental and life spans, Finch proposes an original typology of senescence from rapid to gradual to negligible, and he provides the first multiphyletic calculations of mortality rate constants.

Neuroregulatory Mechanisms in Aging.

One of the only books to discuss all vertebrates, the fourth edition of Vertebrate Endocrinology has been completely reorganized and updated to explore the intricate mechanisms that control human physiology and behavior as well as that of other vertebrate animals. Perfect for students in endocrinology, zoology, biology and physiology, it allows readers to gain both an understanding of the intricate relationships among all of the body systems and their regulation by hormones and other bioregulators, but also a sense of their development through evolutionary time as well as the roles of hormones at different stages of an animal's life cycle. Chapters have been reorganized to more closely follow traditional classroom presentation and extensive suggested readings are included at the end of each chapter allowing the reader to obtain further information as well as connect concepts to the literature on which the book is based. For the first time, this edition features four-color illustrations. - Provides a complete overview of the endocrine system of vertebrates by first emphasizing the mammalian system as the basis of most terminology and understanding of endocrine mechanisms and then applies that to non-mammals - Introduces the reader to suitable concepts and explanation of jargon so that the reader will be able to delve directly into the primary literature on any endocrine-related topic with a background that will aid in their interpretation of new information - Revised and updated chapter on The Molecular Bases for Chemical Regulation that now includes more evolutionary data - Includes information on endocrine disrupting chemicals and their implications on the health of wildlife and humans

Although insect endocrinology is one of the oldest and most active branches of insect physiology, its classic general texts are long out of date, while its abundant primary literature provides little biological context in which to make sense of the discipline as a whole. In this book, H. Frederik Nijhout's goal is to provide a complete, concise, and up-to-date source for students and nonspecialists seeking an overview of the dynamic and wide-ranging science that insect endocrinology has become since its beginnings nearly eighty years ago in the study of insect metamorphosis. The author offers a comprehensive survey of the many roles that hormones play in the biology of insects. Among the topics discussed are the control of molting, metamorphosis, reproduction, caste determination in social insects, diapause, migration, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, diuresis, and behavior. The account features a summary of the most current and accurate thinking on the complex roles of ecdysone and juvenile hormone in the control of metamorphosis, a process still misunderstood and misrepresented in biological textbooks and many professional reviews. Throughout, the book's emphasis is on the biology of the organism and the ways in which physiological and developmental regulatory mechanisms are integrated into the insect's life cycle.

The Encyclopedia of the Neuroscience explores all areas of the discipline in its focused entries on a wide variety of topics in neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and other related areas of neuroscience. Each article is written by an expert in that specific domain and peer reviewed by the advisory board before acceptance into the encyclopedia. Each article contains a glossary, introduction, a reference section, and cross-references to other related encyclopedia articles. Written at a level suitable for university undergraduates, the breadth and depth of coverage will appeal beyond undergraduates to professionals and academics in related fields.