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Model Systems of Development and Aging of the Nervous System pp 421–432Cite as

The Iris as a Model of Aging

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Abstract

Ideally, a model of aging of neurotransmission should be as close as possible to the physiological process, so that normal mechanisms of aging can be studied separately from pathological conditions such as vascular and metabolic changes, degenerative processes, and chronic infections. A second requirement is that the pattern of aging of the animal should be long enough to reflect the several steps of the complex process of aging of higher vertebrates, including primates. Finally, the model should be amenable to physiological, biochemical, and pharmacological manipulations at the in vivo and in vitro levels. We believe that the neuromuscular junction of aging animals, particularly the avian iris, provides an excellent model of aging to study both neurotransmission in the synapse and function at the effector organ level.

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Authors
  1. Ezio Giacobini
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  2. Isabella Mussini
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 4200 East 9th Avenue, 80262, Denver, CO, USA

    Antonia Vernadakis

  2. Neurobiologie du Développement, INSERM U249, F-34060, Montpellier Cedex, France

    Alain Privat

  3. Department of Anatomy, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 27514, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Jean M. Lauder

  4. Department of Physiology-Anatomy, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Paola S. Timiras

  5. Department of Pharmacology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, PO Box 3926, 62708, Springfield, IL, USA

    Ezio Giacobini

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© 1987 Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, Boston

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Giacobini, E., Mussini, I. (1987). The Iris as a Model of Aging. In: Vernadakis, A., Privat, A., Lauder, J.M., Timiras, P.S., Giacobini, E. (eds) Model Systems of Development and Aging of the Nervous System. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2037-1_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2037-1_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9212-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2037-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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