AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

The study of neurochemistry has tended to follow two main pathways. One of these, the isolation and characterization of the constituents of nervous tissue, had its beginnings over eighty years ago in the laboratory of J.L.W. Thudicum, the "Father of Neurochemistry". The other path has led to studies of the metabolism of nervous tissue, both in vitro and in vivo. It is the aim of most neurochemists to bring these two divergent paths into a closer alignment in arder to gain inaight into the unique function of this important tissue. The studies described in this thesis also follow two different paths. It is hoped that these two approaches complement each ether, however, and lead to a better understanding of the chemistry and the functional role of the gangliosides in nervous tissue. [...]