Hypothalamus And Neuropsychiatric Neurodegenerative And Other Disorders

Book Description :

The Human Hypothalamus: Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Volume 181 in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology series, provides comprehensive summaries of recent research on the brain and nervous system as they relate to clinical neurology. This volume identifies the neurobiology and neurophysiology of disorders relating to the hypothalamus and provides treatment information for these disorders. Disorders covered include neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, periodic, and autoimmune disorders. Coverage includes Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, sleep, pain, depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, schizophrenia, autism, aggressions, addiction, and more. Summarizes research on how the hypothalamus relates to neurological disorders Contains neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, periodic and autonomic disorders Includes the neurobiology of, and treatment for, each disorder Covers depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, schizophrenia, autism, aggression, addiction, and more Provides coverage of sleep and pain

Book Description :

The Handbooks of Neurology provide comprehensive summaries of recent research on the brain and nervous system as they relate to clinical neurology. This volume identifies the neurobiology and neurophysiology of disorders relating to the hypothalamus and provides treatment information for these disorders. Disorders covered include neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, periodic, and autoimmune disorders. Coverage includes Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy, sleep, pain, depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, schizophrenia, autism, aggressions, addiction, and more. Summarizes research on how the hypothalamus relates to neurological disorders Contains neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, periodic, and autonomic disorders Includes the neurobiology of, and treatment for, each disorder Covers depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, schizophrenia, autism, aggression, addiction and more Provides coverage of sleep and pain

Book Description :

Psychiatric disorders are uniquely human. Yet we need animal models to test hypotheses about biological mechanisms. Treatment development relies on model systems to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutics. How can such a profound paradox be resolved? Dr. Sylvie Granon of the Institute Pasteur in Paris has successfully assembled a collection of fifteen review chapters that address multiple aspects of rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Outstanding experts describe paradigms relevant to Alzheimer s disease, mental retardation, schizophrenia, autism, attentional deficit hyperactivity disorder, impulsivity, drug addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, multiple sclerosis, and sudden infant death syndrome. Traditional lesioning and pharmacological methods are contrasted with newer targeted gene mutation strategies for generating rodent models. Strengths and limitations of transgenic and knockout mouse models are discussed by many of the insightful authors. In Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat speaks English and tell us We re all mad here. Unfortunately, real animals do not talk, and cannot tell us about their abnormal internal emotional or mental states, if any. It is essential to recognize that researchers will never be able to replicate schizophrenia or autism or depression in a mouse. Many psychiatric dysfunctions appear to originate primarily in the human frontal cerebral cortex, a highly developed structure that dramatically eclipses the modest frontal cortex of rodents. Numbers of synapses and available pathways for making neural connections that permit higher executive functions are enormously greater in humans as compared to other species. Expansion of the human prefrontal cortex is an evolutionary recent phenomenon. There has not been enough time for thorough trouble-shooting and beta-testing of its neural circuitry. No wonder so much can go so wrong. Endophenotypes offer a neat solution to our conundrum. Rather than trying to replicate the full human syndrome, specific components of behavioral symptoms and neuroanatomical abnormalities can be modeled in rodents. While mental illnesses that are primarily caused by incorrect developmental neuroanatomy or aberrant neurotransmitter pharmacology in the prefrontal cortex may be difficult to model in mice, whose prefrontal cortex is minimal, connections between frontal cortex and other brain regions such as thalamus are similar across species. Homologies between rodents and primates in frontal cortex connections and specific behavioral functions have been extensively described by Bryan Kolb. The inability of Alzheimer s patients to store new memories represents a discrete characteristic that can be paralleled in rats and mice, who store new memories using similar neurophysiological mechanisms. Schizophrenic patients display deficits in sensorimotor gating and errors in working memory. Very similar procedures and equipment are available to assay prepulse inhibition and working memory in humans, monkeys, rats, and mice. Neuropharmacological pathways mediating the biological actions of abused drugs are similar in humans and rats. Drug addicts show poor impulse control and poor decision making in tasks that are analogous to some forms of errors in the five choice serial reaction time task for rats and mice. Genetic mutations that produce synaptic dysfunctions or amyloid plaques in the human brain are inserted into the mouse genome to create mouse models of mental retardation, which are then evaluated on learning and memory tasks. Thus, a simpler focus on individual endophenotype components of a human disease permits reasonable analogies to be generated in model organisms. The ideal animal model of a human syndrome is quantitative, readily replicated across laboratories, and incorporates three types of validity. Face validity is the conceptual analogy to a human symptom or endophenotype. Some unusual social behaviors in mice offer a conceptual analogy to the first diagnostic symptom of autism, abnormal reciprocal social interactions. Construct validity employs the same cause or precipitating event in the animal model and the human disease. Inflammatory demyelination presents construct validity for a rodent model of multiple sclerosis. Predictive validity confirms the specific therapeutic response. Treatments that work in the human disease also work in the animal model. For example, antidepressants that are effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder should effectively reverse the behavioral traits of a rat model of this syndrome. Very few animal models of neuropsychiatric diseases incorporate all three types of validity. The authors contributing to this volume explain the challenges, failures and successes of an impressively wide range of model organisms. As the true causes of mental illnesses are identified, neuroscientists and pharmaceutical researchers will design more targeted model systems with true construct validity to the etiologies of neuropsychiatric syndromes. Behavioral assays will continue to be invented and refined to optimize face validity to the endophenotypes of the human disease. Ultimately these endeavors will result in model organisms with high predictive validity and translational value, to enhance the discovery of effective cures for debilitating major mental illnesses.

Book Description :

The Cerebral Cortex in Neurodegenerative and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Experimental Approaches to Clinical Issues focuses on how pre-clinical investigations are addressing the clinical issues surrounding the involvement of the cerebral cortex in selected conditions of the nervous system, including Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s, addiction, and cardiovascular dysregulation. Each chapter is written by an expert in his/her field who provides a comprehensive review of the clinical manifestations of cortical involvement and experimental techniques currently available to tackle cortical issues in disease. Thus, this present title provides a link between cortical clinical problems and investigational approaches to help foster future research with high translational value. Offers a comprehensive overview on the best available in vivo and in vitro models to study cortical involvement Presents models and specific techniques that help to guide investigators in their choices on how to address research questions experimentally Provides expert commentary and a perspective on future trends at the end of each chapter Addresses translational advances and promising therapeutic options Includes references to key articles for additional detailed study

Book Description :

"The subcortical structures of the brain, such as the striatum and thalamus, are positioned deep within the brain and are heavily implicated in the regulation of mood, reward, and memory function. Further, these structures are heavily connected to the frontal lobes of the brain, which include regions that are implicated in complex cognitive tasks. Despite their importance in daily functioning and implication in neuropsychiatric disorders (such as schizophrenia and geriatric depression) and in movement disorders (such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's diseases), these regions are under-studied, in part due to the paucity of methods available for accurate visualization and extensive analysis of in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Five high-resolution T1-weighted MR atlases and three-dimensional surface representations of the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus were created to consolidate and improve the workflow of an automated segmentation pipeline, MAGeT-Brain. Application of the atlases as input to MAGeT-Brain was implemented to ultimately enable subject-based automated segmentation of the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus in subject MRI data for the investigation of the normal and healthy aging process. Chapter 3 describes the creation of the five atlases of the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus, and details the atlas-to-template warping technique used to warp a three-dimensional atlas derived from expertly annotated serial histological sections to five high-resolution MR templates, for their implementation to the MAGeT-Brain pipeline. Registration quality and segmentation accuracy of the atlases were assessed using the Dice's Kappa metric before their implementation to the MAGeT-Brain pipeline.In the context of healthy aging, volumetric analysis of subcortical structures, such as the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus, has been the sole primary focus of MR-based aging studies. With the improved methodology of the MAGeT-Brain segmentation pipeline, this thesis sought to investigate the normative age relationships of the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus occurring throughout the healthy adult lifespan; examining various morphological and microstructural features beyond volumetry, which despite being extensively studied is still not yet resolved. Chapter 4 details the age relationships of volume, local surface area, and myelin in the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus observed across the adult lifespan in healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 80 using structural T1-weighted and T2-weighted MRI data.Expanding on the results obtained from previous healthy aging studies, we observed age-related linear volumetric decline in the left and right striatum and globus pallidus, and a quadratic volume-age relationship in the left and right thalamus, with complementary posterior areal contraction in all three structures bilaterally. Moreover, we observed a quadratic inverted U shape relationship between T1w/T2w subcortical myelin and age, with a peak T1w/T2w value occurring in middle age (at around 50 years old). This thesis serves to provide a normative baseline for disorders in which these structures are compromised and implicated. This project will have important implications in future research on healthy aging and neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders." --

Book Description :

The Functional Scalp Acupuncture (FSA) model promotes the application of neuroscience and evidenced-based acupuncture research to the treatment of chronic pain, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), autoimmune, and Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscience has dramatically increased our knowledge and understanding of the underlying dysfunction in each of these conditions. As we shall soon discover, each disorder has a well-established 'neurobiological signature' that can give us clues as to where the imbalances lie and how to improve functional brain integration. In recent years, developments in neuroscience have offered significant breakthroughs in understanding the brain chemistry and neurobiology behind the symptoms associated with neuropsychiatric, neurobehavioral, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune disorders. From a neurobiological perspective, all of these disorders stem from a functionally disconnected and, therefore, asynchronous brain. Notably, in all of these disorders, the root cause can, in part, be explained by the lack of top-down control from the prefrontal cortex to subcortical limbic structures. This setup creates asynchrony, where brain structures, networks, and regions can become functionally disconnected and out of sync with each other. As a result of this disconnection, learning problems, memory issues, emotional, immune, sensory, social, and behavioral dysfunctions are bound to result. In the Functional Scalp Acupuncture model, an asynchronous brain is responsible for many of the physical, mental, emotional, and social difficulties related to the whole spectrum of neurobehavioral, neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune conditions. We can consider that they are all disorders related to cognitive, sensory, motor, and emotional regulation where the rhythm and timing are out of sync in one or more parts of the brain. They all are also disorders where inflammation is rampant. Contemporary acupuncturists need a comprehensive program that targets the primary problems - functional disconnection and inflammation. Lack of functional connectivity plus inflammation in our patient's brains results in many of the symptoms that present in our clinics. In light of what we now know, we can start to understand all disorders as asynchronous brain structures and networks that are churning out the neurophysiology that creates symptoms. The research can help us to become more astute at identifying symptoms that signify brain asynchrony in specific receiving and processing centers, e.g., from the midbrain, the thalamus, the basal ganglia, and somatosensory cortex, to limbic, sensory, and cognitive integration areas such as the insular cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventromedial PFC, and the orbitofrontal cortex. It can also help clue us in to brain network involvement, neurotransmitter imbalances, and synaptic impairment. In the FSA model, decreasing inflammation and improving the function of the prefrontal cortex, the somatosensory cortex, the motor cortex, and the association cortices, (as well as supporting functional connectivity to limbic structures), leads to brain integration and resolution of symptoms. The revolutionary import is that we can now consider depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, autism, ADHD, OCD, autoimmune, and Alzheimer's disease as brain asynchrony in need of balance.

Book Description :

Collectively, neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by chronic and progressive loss of neurons in discrete areas of the brain, producing debilitating symptoms such as dementia, loss of memory, loss of sensory or motor capability, decreased overall quality of life eventually leading to premature death. Two types of cell death are known to occur during neurodegeneration: (a) apoptosis and (b) necrosis. The necrosis is characterized by the passive cell swelling, intense mitochondrial damage with rapid loss of ATP, alterations in neural membrane permeability, high calcium influx, and disruption of ion homeostasis. This type of cell death leads to membrane lysis and release of intracellular components that induce inflammatory reactions. Necrotic cell death normally occurs at the core of injury site. In contrast, apoptosis is an active process in which caspases (a group of endoproteases with specificity for aspartate residues in protein) are stimulated. Apoptotic cell death is accompanied by cell shrinkage, dynamic membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation, DNA laddering, loss of phospholipids asymmetry, low ATP levels, and mild calcium overload. This type of cell death normally occurs in penumbral region at the ischemic injury site and in different regions in various neurodegenerative diseases.

Book Description :

Molecular Aspects of Neurodegeneration, Neuroprotection, and Regeneration in Neurological Disorders presents readers with comprehensive and cutting-edge information on the neurochemical mechanisms of various types of neurological disorders. The book covers information on signal transduction processes associated with neurochemistry of neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative, neurotraumatic, and neuropsychiatric disorders. The book also discusses risk factors, symptoms, pathogenesis, biomarkers, and the potential treatments of neurological disorders. The comprehensive information in this monograph may not only help in early detection of various neurological disorders, but will also promote the discovery of new drugs. Provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular aspects of neurodegeneration, neuroprotection, and neuro-regeneration, along with therapeutic strategies for various types of neurological disorders Provides cutting-edge research information on the signal transduction processes associated with the neurochemistry of neurological disorders Discusses risk factors, symptoms, pathogenesis, biomarkers, and the potential for treatments of neurological disorders

Book Description :

Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative condition which manifests a motor disorder, psychiatric disturbance, and a decline in cognitive functioning. Cortisol dysregulation in HD has been reported in a limited number of human and mouse model studies, but no published research has focussed on investigating the relationship between cortisol levels and the clinical signs of HD. Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and it is involved in a broad range of physical, behavioural, and cognitive functions. The concentration of circulating cortisol is a marker of HPA axis integrity and the ability of the HPA axis negative feedback loop to regulate itself. HPA axis dysfunction is associated with psychiatric and cognitive signs in a number of medical conditions, neuropsychiatric disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. There is strong evidence of relationships between high cortisol, particularly around the time of morning awakening, and depression as well as between high cortisol and poor memory ability. In HD, however, these relationships have not been studied despite the fact that depression and memory decline are prominent early psychiatric and cognitive signs of this disease. A link between a neurobiological marker of HD progression and the first clinical signs of depression and memory decline may provide an objective indication of early pathophysiological changes in HD. Such a relationship may also make it possible to clinically assess the therapeutic benefit of an early intervention. The aim of the current research project was to extend on previous HD research by examining the relationship between cortisol levels and cognitive and psychiatric signs and symptoms in the early stages of HD. This thesis comprises two studies that have been written up as manuscripts and submitted for publication. Individually, the papers aim to examine the relationship between cortisol levels and signs of depression (Study 1) and memory performance (Study 2) in pre-diagnosed participants (pre-HD) and patients who had received a diagnosis of HD in the past 5 years (early-HD). Salivary cortisol was collected at four time points over a 24-hour period in 57 participants (17 early-HD, 20 pre-HD, 20 gene-normal healthy controls). To place this research project in the context of previous HPA axis studies of HD, cortisol levels within the subject sample of this project were first analysed at four time points across a 24-hour period, without taking into account clinical signs. The results indicated a trend for higher cortisol levels in pre-HD at all four time points. Study 1 of the thesis reports depression symptoms as measured by the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self-Report (IDS-SR), and Study 2 reports verbal learning and memory ability as measured using the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition (CVLT-II). Results from Study 1 indicated that the morning cortisol concentration in early-HD was dependent on the severity of depression, such that higher levels of depression were associated with higher morning cortisol than in non-depressed early-HD. This pattern was not observed in control and pre-HD. Study 2 reports an association between poorer memory encoding and retrieval, and higher evening cortisol in participants with more severe HD motor signs. This association was also not evident in control and pre-HD. Overall, these results indicate that cortisol dysregulation appears to begin well in advance of an HD diagnosis, perhaps resulting in chronic hypercortisolism through the pre-HD phase. Once HD is diagnosed, cortisol may be differentially influenced depending on the presence or absence of depression. Cortisol also appears to be related to memory decline in HD, but only once motor signs have become pronounced. Neuropathological changes related to HPA axis function, which worsen with disease progression, could account for these findings. Cortisol, and therefore HPA axis function, could thus be considered as a candidate biomarker of HD progression which is meaningfully associated with early neuropsychiatric and cognitive signs of HD.

Book Description :

Published since 1959, International Review of Neurobiology is a well-known series appealing to neuroscientists, clinicians, psychologists, physiologists, and pharmacologists. Led by an internationally renowned editorial board, this important serial publishes both eclectic volumes made up of timely reviews and thematic volumes that focus on recent progress in a specific area of neurobiology research. This volume is a collection of articles covering Novel Approaches to Studying Basal Ganglia and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Topics covered include molecular profiling of direct and indirect striatal medium spiny neurons, the role of epigenetics in development and function of basal ganglia and transgenic animal models for Parkinson's disease.

Book Description :

This book focuses on the exciting recent progress in restorative neurology and neuroscience. The book includes chapters on major neurodegenerative disorders of the brain and the visual system, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, spinal cord trauma, and multiple sclerosis. The primary goal of the book is to give an overview of new developments in translational research and in potential therapeutic strategies, including stem cell therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy, pharmacotherapy, neuroprostheses and deep brain stimulation. * Provides the reader with a unique overview over all aspects of new advances in the therapy of neurological and psychiatric disorders * Covers all levels of biological organization including novel molecular and cellular targets, electrophysiological, anatomical and behavioural substrates of neurodegeneration and the application of whole brain in vivo imaging * Broad focus with contributions by the top scientists worldwide in the respective disciplines

Book Description :

Published continuously since 1944, the Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology serial has been a continuous, essential resource for protein chemists. Covering reviews of methodology and research in all aspects of protein chemistry, including purification/expression, proteomics, modeling and structural determination and design, each volume brings forth new information about protocols and analysis of proteins while presenting the most recent findings from leading experts in a broad range of protein-related topics. Covers reviews of methodology and research in all aspects of protein chemistry Brings forth new information about protocols and analysis of proteins while presenting the most recent findings from leading experts in a broad range of protein-related topics

Book Description :

Ischemic and Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries: Mechanisms and Potential Therapies presents readers with comprehensive and cutting-edge information on molecular mechanisms, including the signal transduction processes associated with neurodegeneration and neuroprotection in ischemic, spinal cord, severe and mild brain injuries. The book also covers the molecular mechanisms of drugs used for the treatment of neurotraumatic disease. Chapters are organized by molecular aspects and neuroprotective strategies by disease, including ischemic injury, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The book integrates and consolidates knowledge on neurotraumatic diseases, with the hope of bringing forth more dramatic advances and developments, not only on molecular mechanisms, but also on the causes of, and treatments for, neurotraumatic diseases. Offers a clearly written, logically organized, comprehensive overview on the molecular aspects of risk factors, pathogenesis, biomarkers, and therapeutic strategies for ischemic, spinal cord, severe and mild brain injuries Provides cutting-edge research information on the signal transduction processes associated with neurodegeneration and neuroprotection in ischemic, spinal cord, severe and mild brain injuries Presents chapters that are organized by molecular aspects and neuroprotective strategies by disease, including ischemic injury, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Book Description :

This book provides an up-to-date overview of the role of neurosteroids and neuroactive steroids in the regulation of brain processes and neuropsychiatric disorders. It addresses the neurosteroid function in brain development and plasticity, in both the normal and the pathological brain. It also suggests possible therapeutic approaches to the use of natural occurring or sinthetic neurosteroids. The contributors suggest that neuroactive steroids could have a role in clinical practice.

Book Description :

As the global population ages the impact of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are significant forces in shaping human health and quality of life in the 21st century. Insights into understanding these diseases, and knowing how to treat them are major frontiers of scientific research. Neurodegenerative Diseases: Unifying Principles is the result of a conceptual revolution over the last decade in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases as sharing unifying features. There is an increasing appreciation of the common biological and pathological features across seemingly varied neurodegenerative diseases that entail protein misfolding dysfunction and its consequences over time. Providing an overview of this conceptual change is the main theme for the book. Conventional approach emphasize the differences among neurodegenerative disorders, here Drs. Cummings and Pillai compile the increasingly compelling evidence that these disorders share many features and that insights in one may be rapidly translated into advances in another. The goal is to accelerate understanding by showing linkages among biological, pathological, can clinical aspects of this class of diseases. This collection of 19, inter-related chapters, articulates and broadens our view of the unifying features that initiate and drive disease progression across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases over time. This book will serve as an outstanding sourcebook of insights from experts that have played key roles in this story.

Book Description :

As the global population ages the impact of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are significant forces in shaping human health and quality of life in the 21st century. Insights into understanding these diseases, and knowing how to treat them are major frontiers of scientific research. Neurodegenerative Diseases: Unifying Principles is the result of a conceptual revolution over the last decade in our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases as sharing unifying features. There is an increasing appreciation of the common biological and pathological features across seemingly varied neurodegenerative diseases that entail protein misfolding dysfunction and its consequences over time. Providing an overview of this conceptual change is the main theme for the book. Conventional approach emphasize the differences among neurodegenerative disorders, here Drs. Cummings and Pillai compile the increasingly compelling evidence that these disorders share many features and that insights in one may be rapidly translated into advances in another. The goal is to accelerate understanding by showing linkages among biological, pathological, can clinical aspects of this class of diseases. This collection of 19, inter-related chapters, articulates and broadens our view of the unifying features that initiate and drive disease progression across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases over time. This book will serve as an outstanding sourcebook of insights from experts that have played key roles in this story.

Book Description :

Metabolic syndrome as an important risk factor for stroke, Alzheimer disease, and depression presents readers with cutting edge and comprehensive information on relationship among metabolic syndrome, stroke, Alzheimer disease, and depression. It is hoped that this monograph will be useful to postgraduate students, faculty, research scientists, pharmacologists, nutritionists, and physicians, who are curious about the molecular mechanisms that link metabolic syndrome with stroke, Alzheimer disease, and depression.

Book Description :

Geriatric neuropsychiatry is an integrative activity bridging the fields of psychiatry, neurology, neuroscience and geriatrics. It reflects commitment to the principles that, improved understanding of brain-behavior relationships can lead to a higher quality of life for older individuals. Psychiatric manifestations of neurological disorders and the neurobiological basis of psychiatric disorders are the two pillars standing apart to hold erect the concept of neuropsychiatry. Neuropsychiatry is devoted to understanding the neurobiological basis of human behavior. Measurement of cognitive functio.

Book Description :

Rev. ed. of: The American Psychiatric Press textbook of geriatric neuropsychiatry. 2nd ed. 2000.

Book Description :

The purpose of this monograph is to present readers with a comprehensive and cutting edge description of neurochemical effects of diet (beneficial and harmful effects) in normal human brain and to discuss how present day diet promotes pathogenesis of stroke, AD, PD, and depression in a manner that is useful not only to students and teachers but also to researchers, dietitians, nutritionists and physicians. A diet in sufficient amount and appropriate macronutrients is essential for optimal health of human body tissues. In brain, over-nutrition, particularly with high-calorie diet, not only alters cellular homeostasis, but also results in changes in the intensity of signal transduction processes in reward centers of the brain resulting in food addiction. Over-nutrition produces detrimental effects on human health in general and brain health in particular because it chronically increases the systemic and brain inflammation and oxidative stress along with induction of insulin resistance and leptin resistance in the brain as well as visceral organs. Onset of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress not only leads to obesity and heart disease, but also promotes type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which are risk factors for both acute neural trauma (stroke) and chronic age-related neurodegenerative and neuropsychological disorders, such as Alzheimer disease (AD), Parkinson disease (PD) and depression.