The past decade has witnessed a revolution in our understanding of microglia, especially since their roles in the healthy CNS have started to unravel. These cells were shown to actively maintain health, in concert with neurons and other types of CNS cells, providing further insight into their crucial involvement with diseases. Edited by Drs. Marie-Ève Tremblay and Alexei Verkhratsky, Microglia: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Potential shares with the scientific and medical community the latest discoveries in the microglial research field, with a truly comprehensive collection of chapters written by the top specialists across five continents. The book begins by explaining briefly what they are, from both historical and evolutionary points of view, and how they can be studied. The first section explains their physiological roles in the maturation, function, and plasticity of the CNS. The second section focuses on their general involvement in neuropathophysiology, and the third section on their critical implication in specific CNS diseases, including neurotrauma, neuropathic pain, ischemia and stroke, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, substance use and addiction, sleep disorders, ageing, and neurodegenerative diseases. The fourth section presents their clinical potential as a targeted therapeutic tool for these CNS diseases.

Autorentext

Marie-Eve Tremblay , Ph.D. is a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Neurobiology of Aging and Cognition, and an Associate Professor in the Division of Medical Sciences at the University of Victoria in Victoria, Canada. Her research findings have stimulated the development of a totally new field of research investigating the roles of microglia in the healthy brain.

Alexei Verkhratsky, MD, Ph.D., DSc. is Professor of Neurophysiology in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at The University of Manchester in Manchester, England. Alexei Verkhratsky is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of cellular neurophysiology, best known for his contributions to our knowledge of the physiology and pathophysiology of neuroglia.