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Emerging 425 million years ago during our evolution, the substance known now as myelin enables the split-second acceleration of nerve impulses. Remarkably, myelin occupies nearly half the volume of the human brain and is critical for our intellectual and motor performance. We owe our reflexes to myelin: it is what makes us brake when a child dashes out onto the road, or snatch away a hand absent-mindedly placed on a burning hot stove.The study of myelin's role in theconduction of nerve impulses has led to a better understanding of several diseases including multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Charcot-Marie-Tooth peripheral neuropathies, and other genetic diseases of myelin.
List of contents
- Contents
- Prologue
- 1. The vertebrate nervous system and the miraculous appearance of myelin
- 2. The cellular building blocks of the vertebrate nervous system
- 3. The discovery of myelin: A long story full of twists and turns
- 4. A highly sophisticated substance
- 5. Myelin's three functions
- 6. A long evolutionary adventure
- 7. How myelin forms during development
- 8. Genetic disorders of myelin
- 9. Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable demyelinating disease
- 10. Myelin disorders of the peripheral nervous system
- 11. Corpus callosum lesions and other disconnections of myelinated tracts
- 12. Delays in myelination associated with a very preterm birth
- 13. Myelin and cognition: A fascinating challenge for researchers
- 14. Conclusion: The "gray gold" and "white gold" of the brain: Two treasures with a common destiny
- For more about myelin disorders, treatments, and the latest research
- References
- Acknowledgments
- Index
About the author
The Authors:
Bernard Zalc is a neuroscientist and a Director Emeritus of Research at Inserm. He leads the ICM brain and spinal cord research center (Institut du cerveau et la moelle épinière) at Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris.
Florence Rosier is a Science and Health Journalist who regularly contributes to the science and medicine section of Le Monde.
The translator:
Robert N. Cory is a medical translator and former neuroscientist living in Quebec City. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at CNRS-Inserm in Montpellier, France.
