COGNITIVE SCIENCES RESEARCH PROGRESS

COGNITIVE SCIENCES RESEARCH PROGRESS

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Chapter 1 SUBCELLULAR TRAFFICKING OF BACE1: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS IN THE CONTROL OF β-AMYLOID GENERATION

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE β-SECRETASE BACE1

THE SUBCELLULAR TRANSPORT OF BACE1

THE ROLE OF THE CYTOPLASMATIC DOMAIN OF BACE1 IN ITS SUBCELLULAR TRAFFICKING

HOW COULD GGA 1 DEPENDENT TRAFFICKING OF BACE1 INFLUENCE Aβ GENERATION ?

CONCLUSIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

REFERENCES

Chapter 2 BRAIN VESICULAR MONOAMINE TRANSPORTER AND APOPTOSIS: PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPMENT AND NEURODEGENERATION

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

VMAT2 VERSUS MONOAMINE OXIDASE

DEVELOPMENTAL EXPRESSION OF VMAT2

MICE LACKING VMAT2

VMAT2 AND PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH IN THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

PARKINSON’S DISEASE

SPONSORS

REFERENCES

Chapter 3 MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IS TOO LATE: THE CASE FOR PRESYMPTOMATIC DETECTION AND TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION

2. THE BRAIN RESERVE HYPOTHESIS

2.1. Normal Developmental Changes in the Brain during Childhood and Adolescence

2.2. Education and Cultural Influences

2.3. Genetic and Epigenetic Contributions to Brain Reserve

2.4. Normal Brain Alterations with Aging

2.5. Summary

3. NEURONAL PLASTICITY

3.1. Synaptic Changes with Learning

3.2. Compensations in Brain Injury

3.3. Summary

4. MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (MCI) AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD)

4.1. Clinical Approach and Definition of MCI

4.2. Neuropathology of MCI and AD

4.3. Non-AD Neuropathologies

4.4. The Amyloid Hypothesis and Disease-Modifying Treatment

4.5. Summary

5. PRESYMPTOMATIC DETECTION OF MCI AND AD

5.1. Evidence for Presymptomatic Neuropathology in AD

5.2. Imaging Biomarkers

5.3. Serum and CSF Biomarkers

5.4. Psychometric Assessments to Predict MCI or AD

5.5. Summary

6. OVERALL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

6.1. The Argument for Presymptomatic Detection

6.2. Future Directions

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

REFERENCES

Chapter 4 SEMANTICALLY MEDIATED INTEGRATION OF COGNITION IN HOMO SAPIENS: EVOLUTION, GRAMMAR, UNCERTAINTY, AND COGNITIVE ACCURACY

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

BRAIN, BONDING, LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND EVOLUTION

Bonding and the Limbic System

Differentiation, Language, and Socialization

Cultural Belief Systems

Language, Semantics, grammar, and Cultural Variance

Integration of Semantics and Grammar, Biases, and Cognition

Evolution of Grammar

Evolution of Subjective Cultural Classifications

Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Grammar

Evolution and Dominance Hierarchies

Cultural Social Inheritance

HUMAN BRAIN MODEL

Frontal Lobe Integration: Executive Functioning and Working Memory

Information Content and Information Processing

Cognitive Processing

HUMAN BRAIN AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cultural Inheritance

Information and Process Bias

Uncertainty and Deviation from the Mean

Authoritarian Communication

Event-level Accuracy

Accurate Evaluations: Information and Processing

Benefits of Critical Thinking to Cognitive Accuracy

Cultural Belief System and Constraints on Accurate Thinking

Reference Points for Cognitive Accuracy and Rational Bias

Cognitive Awareness

Correcting Irrational Biases

Implications of Irrational Bias

Reference Point Drift

Irrationality of Self-Esteem versus Rational Acceptance of Human Imperfection

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND CONSIDERATIONS

AUTHOR NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

REFERENCES

INDEX

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