Meet the editor

Stavros J. Baloyannis, Professor Emeritus of Neurology at Aristotelian University, Thessaloniki, Greece, graduated from the School of Medicine, Aristotelian University. He received training in neurology at Aristotelian University and Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London. He also trained in neuropathology and electron microscopy at several institutions including the Institute of Neurology, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium,

University of Pennsylvania, USA, and Yale University, and in acoustic-neuropathology at Harvard University. He also trained in neuroimmunology at Yale University. His research interests include the blood-brain barrier, mitochondria in Alzheimer's disease, synaptogenesis, neurodegeneration, dendritic and synaptic pathology, and Golgi apparatus in dementias. Dr. Baloyannis' special interests include neuroethics, neurolinguistics, neurophilosophy, the history of neurosciences, neurology and art, and the brain and music. He is a member of 62 scientific societies and an honorary member of the Academy of Hellenic Air Forces. He is president of a society for the amelioration of quality of life in neurological diseases, and former president of an orthodox association for medical missions. He is a visiting professor at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, and Democritus University, Greece. He is the author of 29 textbooks, 727 papers in neurology and neurosciences, and 3 books of poems. From 1992 to 2011, Dr. Baloyannis was head of the Department of Neurology at the Aristotelian University, Thessaloniki, Greece where he is now director of the research institute for Alzheimer's disease.

Contents

**Section 1**

**Section 2**

for Recovery

**Section 3**

Target for a Therapeutic Approach

*by Stavros J. Baloyannis*

*by Kenneth J. McLeod*

Vagal Afferents, and Beyond

*by Abdullah Abdulrhman Al Abdulgader*

**Preface XI**

Physiology and Function **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

**Chapter 2 35**

Pathophysiology and Neuroplasticity **57**

**Chapter 3 59**

**Chapter 4 75**

Aging and Dementia **89**

**Chapter 5 91**

**Chapter 6 117**

Mitochondria in the Cerebral and Cerebellar Cortex in Alzheimer's Disease,

Reversal of Cognitive Aging through Enhancement of Cardiac Output

Dynamics of Praxis Functions in the Context of Maturation of the Parietal

Human Consciousness: The Role of Cerebral and Cerebellar Cortex,

Cerebral Damage after Stroke: The Role of Neuroplasticity as Key

Movement-Related Cortical Potential Associated with Jaw-Biting Movement in the Patients with Oral Cancer after the Surgery *by Ichiro Nakajima, Mitsuyo Shinohara and Hiroiku Ohba*

*by Mubarak Muhammad and Tasneem Muhammad Hassan*

and Frontal Brain Regions in the Period 4-6 Years of Age *by Neli Cvetanova Vasileva and Jivko Dimitrov Jekov*

## Contents


## **Chapter 7 135**

Lipid Rafts and Development of Alzheimer's Disease *by Mario Díaz and Raquel Marin*

Preface

The cerebral cortex is the most elegant and sophisticated structure of the brain. It plays a dominant role in elaborating sensory perception, organizing voluntary motion, memory, and judgment, emotions and behavior, interior life and thinking, speech and linguistic skills, art and music, learning and creativity, as well as the

Personhood and social performance of human beings are developed, organized, and modulated by the cortex of the brain hemispheres in collaboration with the

Each cortical area of the cerebral lobes plays a particularly crucial role in the creation, organization, and harmonization of mental faculties, in adjusting self-control and emotional stability, in developing self-identification and controlling multiple social interactions, shaping also the rational profile and the existential dimensions of a

Amazingly, there is close cerebro-cerebellar connectivity and collaboration with the majority of the subcortical centers, concerning primarily the motor performances as well as most of the higher mental faculties, such as memory, emotions, perception, thinking transpersonal experiences, [1] creativity, innovation, and imagination.

The cerebellum plays a valuable coordinating role in the majority of the

neuronal morphological variability of the cerebral cortex, the functional collaboration between cerebrum and cerebellum is a continuous harmonious process, resulting in the functional stability of the brain, [3] based on the contribution of the cerebellum in the consistency and appropriateness of motor and cognitive performances [4]. It is thought that the external information analyzed by the brain hemispheres is harmoniously matched with the internal

A substantial body of evidence, based mostly on neuroimaging, advocates in favor of the important role that the cerebellum plays in the timing and adaptive manipulation of the majority of motor and cognitive processes generated and organized in the cortex of the brain hemispheres, including working memory, language processing [6], unconscious learning, music training, [7] and exploration

In pathological conditions, the cerebrum and cerebellum may continue their close functional collaboration via neuronal plasticity and cerebrocerebellar reserve [9, 10]. However, in cases where the underlining etiology of the pathological alterations is severe, such as in toxic conditions, [11] viral diseases [12] affecting the cerebrum or the cerebellum, hereditary ataxias,

activities of the brain hemispheres [2]. Although the organization and uniform cytoarchitecture of the cerebellar cortex are very different from the considerable

philosophy and the programming of life.

predictions generated by the cerebellum [5].

of novel patterns of cognition and social behavior [8].

cerebellar cortex.

human being.
