Brain Somatic Cross-Talk and the Central Control of Metabolism

The present book summarizes presentations to an IPSEN Foundation Conference on Brain Somatic Cross Talk and the Central Control of Metabolism, organised in 2002. It proposes a state-of-the-art outline of the multifaceted neuronal networks which serve the highly selective purpose of adapting growth, metabolism, reproduction, and more generally energy consumption to the availability of food resources. The physiology of over twenty neurotransmitters and peptides underlying these functions is presented, together with their neuronal targets, their mechanism of action and their current or anticipated relevance for pathology. Functions covered are as diverse as regulation of food intake and sleep, adaptation to emergency situations, and finally mental disorders - as well as early, irreversible imprinting of epigenetic influences on physiological and behavioural patterns, which in some cases can even be transmitted from generation to generation. Book jacket.