Neuromuscular Function and Disorders focuses on the various processes underlying disordered neuromuscular function. Topics covered include the nature of membrane defects in myotonia and familial periodic paralysis; the disorder of neuromuscular transmission responsible for myasthenia gravis and the various pseudo-myasthenic syndromes; and the disorders of Schwann cell function which cause demyelination.
This book is comprised of 28 chapters divided into two sections and begins with a discussion on the normal anatomy and physiology of peripheral nerve and muscle. Included in the first section are descriptions of the ionic mechanisms responsible for the resting and action potentials of nerve and muscle; the sequential stages in neuromuscular transmission; excitation-contraction coupling; the sliding filament mechanism of myofibrillar shortening; and the morphological and functional properties of motor units. The neurophysiology of exercise and muscle fatigue is also considered, along with the nature of the trophic influences exerted by the motoneuron and muscle fiber upon each other. The second half of the book deals entirely with various diseases of peripheral nerve and muscle, together with diagnostic procedures and therapeutic management. A consistent theme in this section is the recognition of neural abnormalities in diseases hitherto considered as primary disorders of the muscle fiber.
This monograph should be of value to neurologists, medical students, research workers, and students and research scientists in physiology, zoology, pharmacology, kinesiology, and physical education.

Contenu

Part 1: Muscle Fibers and Motoneurones
1 The Muscle Fiber
2 The Motoneurone and its Axon
3 Resting and Action Potentials
4 The Neuromuscular Junction
5 Muscle Contraction
6 Motor Units
7 Exercise and Fatigue
8 Trophic Interactions of Nerve and Muscle: Denervation and Reinnervation
9 Use and Disuse
10 Trophic Influence of Muscle on Nerve
11 Muscle Growth
12 Aging
Part 2: Disorders of Muscle and Nerve
13 Neuropathic and Myopathic Disorders: Sick Motoneurone Hypothesis
Disorders of Muscle Fiber Membranes
14 Myotonia
15 Familial Periodic Paralysis
Disorders of Muscle Fiber Contents
16 The Muscular Dystrophies
17 Polymyositis, Malignant Hyperthermia and Other Myopathies
Disorders of Neuromuscular Junctions
18 Myasthenia Gravis
19 Pseudomyasthenic Syndromes and Other Synaptic Defects
Disorders of Nerve Fibers
20 Wallerian Degeneration and Fiber Regeneration
21 Demyelination and Remyelination
22 Nerve Compression
23 The Double Crush Syndrome
Disorders of Motoneurones
24 Motoneurone Degeneration
25 Toxic and Metabolic Neuropathies
26 Reversible Motoneurone Dysfunction in Thyrotoxicosis
27 Trans-synaptic Motoneurone Degeneration
28 Conclusions
Appendices
References
Index