AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. BASIC AND CLINICAL ASPECTS

DESCRIPTION

A traditional view of the AutonomicNervous System (ANS) considers only its peripheralpart: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. However, this view misses toconsider the most important ANS function: themaintenance of homeostasis. This term is used today to define not only thestrategies that allow the body proper response to changes in the environment(reactive homeostasis), but also temporal mechanisms that allow the body topredict the most likely timing of environmental stimuli (predictive homeostasisbased on biological rhythms).

This bookdiscusses the ANS from both an enlarged and a timedperspective. First, it presents how the organization of the ANSis hierarchical into different levels. Following that, the book discusses howthe ANS changes functionally in the three-bodyconfigurations (wakefulness, slow sleep, rapid eyemovement sleep) found in a 24-hour cycle. Finally, the most important clinicalimplications of this enlarged and timed vision of ANSwill be discussed.

Autonomic Nervous System Basic and Clinical Aspects is a comprehensive text intendedfor medical students and health professionals who are interested in a deeperapproach to this important part of the nervous system. It provides a detailedand complete understanding of the neuroscience behind the ANS,allowing a proper clinical applicability of this knowledge.

AUTHOR

Dr. Cardinali got his MD andPhD degrees at the University del Salvador, Buenos Aires. During 1971 and 1972 he wasResearch Assistant, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, MIT, USA.Since 1973 he is Research Career Awardee of the ArgentineNational Research Council, being promoted to its highest stage (SuperiorInvestigator) in 1992. From 1986 to 2008 he was Professor of Physiology,Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, beingnominated as Professor Emeritus in 2010. Since 2009 he is Director of Teaching& Research, Faculty of Medical Sciences, PontificiaUniversidad Católica Argentina,Buenos Aires. Dr.Cardinali´s fields of interest include the Physiologyand Pharmacology of Biologic Rhythms and Melatonin. The most relevant awardsand honors Dr. Cardinalihas received include the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, New York (1977), theCurt P. Richter Prize, International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology(1983), the Doctorates honoris causain Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain(1991) and University of Salamanca, Spain (1998) and the membership at theRoyal Academy of Medicine, Spain (1991). In 2007 he was awarded with the ScopusPrize, Elsevier, Amsterdam,for being the most cited Argentine scientist in biomedicine, and the BernardoHoussay Award, Argentine Government. In 2008 he received the Aaron B. LernerPioneer Award in Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to the Field ofMelatonin Research, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Dr. Cardinali is  one of the three most cited Argentinianscientists, according to the Google Scholar ranking.