pH and Brain Function

Over the past decade, researchers in neuroscience have made enormous strides in understanding how brain cells regulate their intracellular pH and the consequences this has for the pH in their immediate extracellular environment. At the same time, it has become clear that neural activity within the brain induces changes in both intracellular and extracellular pH, which in turn have important consequences for brain function. Until now, all of this exciting new information has been scattered in the scientific literature. pH and Brain Function answers the growing need for a single authoritative source in which these data and concepts are integrated and presented in a format useful to the entire neurobiological community.

pH and Brain Function offers thorough coverage of this increasingly important area of research, beginning with the fundamental concepts, which include methodological and theoretical issues such as the measurement of pH and the concept of pH in neurobiology. It explores aspects of regulation and modulation of intracellular pH in brain cells, surveys the changes in pH that occur with neural activity and how these changes affect neural activity, and discusses the role of pH in the pathophysiology of neurological diseases.

Specific areas covered include:

• pH as an intrinsic modulator of synaptic transmission and plasticity, and of neuronal excitability
• The effects of pH on voltage- and ligand-gated channels (e.g., NMDA and GABA receptors)
• How protons and calcium ions interact at the level of regulation and modulation
• The role of pH in epilepsy, anoxia/ischemia, and excitotoxicity

pH and Brain Function is an authoritative, comprehensive reference and an important resource for researchers in all areas of neuroscience as well as cell biology and physiology.