Brief summary of items that will be covered in the course:
1. General introduction to the relationships between the brain and the blood: The blood brain barrier and blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier ? structural and functional relationships.
2. General introduction to the brain as an immune privileged site.
3. Brief summary of the cellular composition of the brain and the interplay among the interacting cell types.
4. The diversity of innate immunity within and outside the brain, during ontogeny and in adulthood.
5. Cellular and molecular aspects of central nervous system regeneration processes
6. Life-long cell renewal in the adult brain- neurogenesis, and gliogenesis: Mechanisms of control, and implications for cognition, coping with stress, and depression.
7. The role of immunity in brain plasticity and repair
8. Immunity and cell renewal.
9. Immunity and resilience to stress.
10. The role of the immune system in aging and dementia; prospect of harnessing the immune system to help the brain
Contemporary Neuroimmunology - Course schedule
Introduction
Neurogenesis
Central nervous system mechanisms of repair
Immune cells in spinal cord repair, and in Alzheimer?s disease
Stress and depression
The functional role of stem cells in the brain (Dr. Yaniv Ziv, The Weizmann)
ALS, why it is so devastating?
Immune cells in neurodevelopmental diseases (Rett and Schizophrenia)
Brain aging, and age-related dementia