Epigenetics and Neuroplasticity - Evidence and Debate

Schahram Akbarian · Farah Lubin

Nov 2014 · Academic Press

About this ebook

The ‘epi-(Greek for ‘over’, ‘above’)genome’, with its rich cache of highly regulated, structural modifications—including DNA methylation, histone modifications and histone variants—defines the moldings and three-dimensional structures of the genomic material inside the cell nucleus and serves, literally, as a molecular bridge linking the environment to the genetic materials in our brain cells. Due to technological and scientific advances in the field, the field of neuroepigenetics is currently one of the hottest topics in the basic and clinical neurosciences. The volume captures some of this vibrant and exciting new research, and conveys to the reader an up-to-date discussion on the role of epigenetics across the lifespan of the human brain in health and disease.

• Topics cover the entire lifespan of the brain, from transgenerational epigenetics to neurodevelopmental disease to disorders of the aging brain.
• All chapters are written with dual intent, to provide the reader with a timely update on the field, and a discussion of provocative or controversial findings in the field with the potential of great impact for future developments in the field.

About the author

Schahram Akbarian studied medicine at the Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany. He is a board certified psychiatrist and molecular neuroscientist who trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge and the University of California at Irvine. In 2002, he joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester where he established a research program in psychiatric epigenetics and served as the Director of the Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute. Presently, he heads the Division of Psychiatric Epigenomics in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is a former recipient of the Klerman award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the Judith Silver Memorial award of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the Outstanding resident award of the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Eva King Killam Award for Outstanding Translational Research, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.Dr. Akbarian has been a principal investigator on National Institutes of Health-funded research projects since 2001and published close to 100 articles in scientific journals and book chapters. He is a member of professional societies such as the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and presently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and on Editorial Boards of various journals in the field