Fluid Environment of the Brain presents the proceedings of a symposium held in Bar Harbor, Maine in September 1974 under the joint sponsorship of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and the National Cancer Institute. Contributors discuss the fluid matrix of the brain and the functional relationships among neurons, neuroglia, and their extracellular fluids in normal and pathological states. They focus on the cerebral interstitial fluid and the membranes—or barrier mechanisms—which contribute to the regulation of the physical and chemical characteristics of these fluids. This book is organized into four sections encompassing 17 chapters and begins with an overview of anatomical relationships, with special reference to the morphology of the walls around fluid compartments in the nervous tissue. The reader is then introduced to the physiology of the blood-brain barrier and the choroid plexus, as well as the exchange between the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain. Methods for determining the permeability of the blood-brain barrier are described. The book also explores amino acid transport mechanisms in the choroid plexus, distribution of hormones by CSF, and the physiological aspects of lactate and peptides in the CSF. Special consideration is given to the attempts to use CSF as a means of studying the chemistry, metabolism, and possible endocrine functions of the brain. This book is of interest to pharmacologists and clinicians, as well as physiologists and neurochemists.

Table of Contents:
Participants Preface Section I. Anatomical Relationships Morphology of the Walls around Fluid Compartments in Nervous Tissue Section II. Physiology of the Blood-Brain Barrier General Properties of the Blood-Brain Barrier with Special Emphasis on Glucose Comparison of Methods for Determining Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Experimental Modification of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability by Hypertonic Solutions, Convulsions, Hypercapnia and Acute Hypertension Ontogeny of Mammalian Brain-Barrier Systems Extra-Axonal Cation Regulation in Insects Brain Barrier Systems in Cyclostomes Section III. Physiology of the Choroid Plexus Solute Transport across the Frog Choroid Plexus Features of the Choroid Plexus of the Cat, Studied In Vitro Development of Amino Acid Transport Mechanisms in the Choroid Plexus Section IV. Exchange Between Cerebrospinal Fluid and Brain Normal and Pathological Distribution of Water in Brain The Exchange of Material between Cerebrospinal Fluid and Brain Bulk Flow of Cerebral Extracellular Fluid as a Possible Mechanism of Cerebrospinal Fluid-Brain Exchange Metabolites of Cerebral Transmitters Entering the Cerebrospinal Fluid; Their Value as Indicators of Brain Function Distribution of Hormones by Cerebrospinal Fluid Lactate in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Relation to Brain and Blood Peptides in Cerebrospinal Fluid; Purification of Factors Affecting Sleep and Activity Subject Index