Veasey (U. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) present 13 papers concentrating on three areas concerning age-related oxidative modification of neural functioning: the roles of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species in cellular biology; an overview of redox imbalance injury with effects on mitochondria, signaling, endoplasmic reticular functioning, and aging in general; and the roles that redox imbalances play in age-related susceptibility to disease and in the disease processes. The first two topics essentially set the stage for the third, which includes such specific subjects as oxidative stress and compensatory responses in Alzheimer disease, oxidative stress associated signal transduction cascades in Alzheimer disease, pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, protein oxidation triggers of the unfolded protein response and neuronal injury in chemically induced Parkinson's disease, and methionin sulfoxide reductase therapy for Parkinson's disease. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)