Author Description

Authored by internationally recognized scientists, this special issue of Developmental Neuroscience presents selected papers from the Second International Meeting on Brain Energy Metabolism held at Blaubeuren, Germany, in 1995. It expands the research focus dealing with functional aspects of energy metabolism in neural tissue that was presented at the first meeting at Carcassonne in 1993. New evidence is presented on the complexity and importance of the continuous dynamic trafficking of key substances between astrocytes and neurons, all promoting significant roles for the astroglial cell population in the metabolic integrity of neural tissue. The latest studies shed new light on current issues of neural amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism. Papers deal with metabolic mechanisms for cellular responses to stress and damage from a variety of insults, and develop insights on the interrelationships and interdependence of the different neural cell populations. This up-to-date publication incorporates a wealth of knowledge and points to new directions in research which are of significance to a broad spectrum of developmental neuroscientists as well as to researchers in physiology, biochemistry and nutrition with an interest in brain energy metabolism.