Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology. A new multivolume edition edited by prof. A. Lajtha, published by Springer Science, 2007–2008

Abstract

In the 1970s, the five-volume Handbook of Neurochemistry was issued under the editorship of Prof. A. Lajtha. It was an important event in neurobiology and neurochemistry. In the 1980s, the Handbook of Neurochemistry was reissued in ten volumes. The rapid development of molecular neurobiology resulted in the appearance of new fields, including neuroimmunology. A new edition of the Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology has now been issued in 25 volumes. It contains fundamental data on current molecular neurobiology, neuroimmunology, and neuropathology. This is the first time that the series contain Neuroimmunology , which summarizes achievements in neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neurophysiology, and the pathology of the nervous system. One volume of Neuroimmunology was edited by Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Armen Galoyan, who recommended the wellknown neuroimmunologist Prof. H. Besedovsky (for Germany) as a coeditor. After 5 years of laborious work, this volume was published in 2008 by Springer Science. This book presents research performed by scientists in various countries. The seventh chapter “The Brain’s Immune System: The Chemistry and Biology of Signal Molecules” (pp. 155‐195) summarizes studies performed by Galoyan and his colleagues in Armenia. Galoyan was not selected as a coeditor by chance. He has organized a number of symposia on neuroimmunology: in 1992, the joint meeting of the International Neurochemical Society and American Neurochemical Society in Houston; in 1997, the International conference “The Brain and the Immune System” in Yerevan‐Dilidjan; in 1999, the 16th meeting of the American Neurochemical Society “Neurochemical and Molecular‐Biological Aspects of the Brain’s Immune System” in New Orleans; and in 2001, the International conference “Biochemical and Molecular‐Biological Aspects of the Immune System of the Brain” in Yerevan‐Dilidjan.