Psychoneuroendocrinology Of Aging

Current demographic statistics show that modern societies are rapidly aging. Aging in general is accompanied by an increased susceptibility to physical and mental disease as well as an increased risk of mortality. Health care costs are expected to rise enormously. Therefore, successful aging with less disease burden and dependency is emerging as one of the most crucial health care goals of the upcoming decades. In this dissertation, endocrine health and its age-related changes are focused. In men, a continuous decline of sex steroids such as testosterone or dehydroepiandrosterone occurs around the ages of 40 years leading to psychological and physical adaptation processes. The presented results indicate an integrated hormone parameter consisting of declining sex steroids as a useful biomarker of healthy aging in men. Furthermore, psychosocial risk factors such as depressive symptoms or chronic stress were shown to be associated with an intensified age-related decline of this integrated hormone parameter. In addition, the age-related deterioration in body composition was also shown to be associated with psychosocial risk and protective factors.

The mechanism whereby hormones exert their feedback effects as well as the behavioral abnormalities seen in many endocrine diseases have been clarified by the demonstration of hormone receptors in specific brain areas and by selective modification of neurotransmitter content and turnover induced by different hormones. On the other hand a large number of studies have unraveled the nature of the neuroanatomic pathways and of many neurotransmitters that impinge upon the neurosecretory cells controlling, through the hypothalamic hormones, pituitary secrections; consequently peripheral endocrine changes may reflect brain function and its related disorders. Despite the great amount of knowledge accumulated in the last few years, many aspects of the interrelationship between the central nervous and the endocrine systems in adults are still little understood. This book summarizes reports delivered at a recent workshop at the University of Parma, Italy. In the first part, the psychoneuroendocrine pattern in the so called normally aging brain is described. In the second part, the psychoneuroendocrine pattern is depicted for the most stressfull expressions of pathological aging like the Alzheimer type, multi-infarct dementia, Parkinson's disease, depression and memory impairments. Furthermore, the possibility of using endocrine patterns as a biological marker of the pathologically aging brain is suggested. These reports lay the basis for new proposals in the pathogenesis of aging and for new endocrine approaches in the prevention and treatment of aging impairments.

Offering a fresh, authoritative take on a topic of increasing relevance, this book is comprehensive in scope, yet concise and accessible. Key contributors from health psychology, gerontology, and related fields pool their knowledge.

A comprehensive, multidisciplinary review, Neural Plasticity and Memory: From Genes to Brain Imaging provides an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the study of the neurobiology of memory. Leading specialists share their scientific experience in the field, covering a wide range of topics where molecular, genetic, behavioral, and brain imaging techniq

Psychoendocrinology covers the advances in the field of biology and the development of highly refined measurement techniques for hormones. The book discusses the partitioning of neuroendocrine steroids and peptides between vascular and cerebral compartments; the mechanisms of the female reproductive behavior; and the sensory, hormonal, and neural determinant of maternal behavior. The text describes the effects of sexual behavior on gonadal function in rodents; the hormonal regulation of learning performance; and the hormonal modulation of memory. The psychobiological perspective on the psychoneuroendocrinology of stress and the behavioral effects of the endogenous opioids are also considered. The book further tackles the hormonal interactions on temperature regulation and temperature regulation under modified physiological states. Endocrinologists, psychobiologists, neurologists, neurobiologists, and students taking related courses will find the book useful.

We live in an aging world. Illnesses that are prevalent and cause significant morbidity and mortality in older people will consume an increasing share of health care resources. One such illness is depression. This illness has a particularly devastating impact in the elderly because it is often undiagnosed or inadequately treated. Depression not only has a profound impact on quality of life but it is associated with an increased risk of mortality from suicide and vascular disease. In fact for every medical illness studied, e.g. heart disease, diabetes, cancer, individuals who are depressed have a worse prognosis. Research has illuminated the physiological and behavioral effects of depression that accounts for these poor outcomes. The deleterious relationship between depression and other illnesses has changed the concept of late-life depression from a "psychiatric disorder" that is diagnosed and treated by a psychiatrist to a common and serious disorder that is the responsibility of all physicians who care for patients over the age of 60. This is the first volume devoted to the epidemiology, phenomenology, psychobiology, treatment and consequences of late-life depression. Although much has been written about depressive disorders, the focus has been primarily on the illness as experienced in younger adults. The effects of aging on the brain, the physiological and behavioral consequences of recurrent depression, and the impact of other diseases common in the elderly, make late-life depression a distinct entity. There is a compelling need for a separate research program, specialized treatments, and a book dedicated to this disorder. This book will be invaluable to psychiatrists, gerontologists, clinical psychologists, social workers, students, trainees, and others who care for individuals over the age of sixty.