Disorders of the Nervous System

This book studies the organization of the white matter pathways of the brain. The book analyzes and synthesizes the corticocortical and corticosubcortical connections of the major areas of the cerebral cortex in the rhesus monkey. The result is a detailed understanding of the constituents of the cerebral white matter and the organization of the fiber tracts. The findings from the thirty-six cases studied are presented on a single template brain, facilitating comparison of the locations of the different fiber pathways. The summary diagrams provide a comprehensive atlas of the cerebral white matter. The text is enriched by close attention to functional aspects of anatomical observations. The clinical relevance of the pathways is addressed throughout the text and a chapter is devoted to human white matter diseases. The introductory account gives a detailed historical background. Translations of seminal original observations by early investigators are presented, and when these are considered in the light of the authors' new observations, many longstanding conflicts and debates are resolved.

This book provides an atlas of the normal human brain based on three dimensional reconstructions of magnetic resonance scans obtained in normal living adults as well as neurological patients with focal brain lesions. It provides detailed descriptions of sulci and gyri and illustrates how they appear in different brains. The book shows how different slice orientations obtained in the same brain produce different images that can be anatomically misinterpreted, in normal brains as well as brains with lesions. The book also addresses quantitative differences between the human brain and the brains of apes; gray and white matter differences between the hemispheres; and differences related to gender, age, and congenital deafness.

This volume provides up-to-date information concerning new applications of brain imaging to the study of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The chapters, written by experts in this field, focus on the various imaging methodologies that have recently been used to study the natural history of the disease with emphasis on each of the distinctive clinical features that characterize the disorder (e.g., bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor and gait disturbance). Individual chapters also address the role of imaging in differential diagnosis, and in the evaluation of cognitive dysfunction/dementia in parkinsonian patients. Considerable emphasis is placed on potential applications of neuroimaging in clinical trials to assess new pharmacologic and surgical treatment strategies for PD, including deep brain stimulation (DBS), cell transplantation, and gene therapy. In-depth discussion is provided on advanced imaging applications, including rest-state and activation fMRI, volumetric MR, PET assessment of dopaminergic and cholinergic neurotransmission, and echosonography. Additional topics cover recent developments in the use of brain imaging to assess disease mechanisms including neuroinflammation, protein aggregation, and disordered brain network organization in PD.