The Nervous System and the Heart

Description

In The Nervous System and the Heart, Gert Ter Horst and a panel of distinguished authorities illuminate the complexities and importance of heart-brain and brain-heart interactions in human health. These well-regarded experts critically review what is known about autonomic control of the heart, hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal modulation, heart pain, modulation by humoral factors, and the relationship between cognitive/neuropsychiatric disorders and heart disease. Other topics treated include the role of the corticosteroids in both the cardiovascular control circuitry and the myocardium, the role of cytokines in cardiovascular regulation and in the process of arteriosclerotic plaque formation, and the occurrence of mood disorders in heart disease patients. Highly relevant and up-to-date, The Nervous System and the Heart offers the first comprehensive treatment of the important mutual interactions of the heart and the brain. By integrating specialist knowledge in cardiology with that from neuroscience, this important book constitutes a brilliant guide to today's novel approaches to neural control of the heart and the prospects for consequent reduction of cardiovascular mortality.