Accession Number: ATLA0001712259; Hosting Book Page Citation: p 596-611.; Language(s): English; General Note: Bibliography: p 610-611.; Issued by ATLA: 20130825; Publication Type: Essay.

Pathogenesis in tauopathies involves the accumulation of tau in the brain and progressive synapse loss accompanied by cognitive decline. Pathological tau is found at synapses, and it promotes synaptic dysfunction and memory deficits. The specific role of toxic tau in disrupting the molecular networks that regulate synaptic strength has been elusive. A novel mechanistic link between tau toxicity and synaptic plasticity involves the acetylation of two lysines on tau, K274, and K281, which are associated with dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD). (...) We propose that an increase in tau acetylated on these lysines blocks the expression of long‐term potentiation at hippocampal synapses leading to impaired memory in AD. Acetylated tau could inhibit the activity‐dependent recruitment of postsynaptic AMPA‐type glutamate receptors required for plasticity by interfering with the postsynaptic localization of KIBRA, a memory‐associated protein. Strategies that reduce the acetylation of tau may lead to effective treatments for cognitive decline in AD. (shrink)

Recent articles by Nicholas Saunders, Carl Helrich, and Jeffrey Koperski raise important questions about attempts to make use of quantum mechanics in giving an account of particular divine action in the world. In response, I make two principal points. First, some of the most pointed theological criticisms lose their force if we attend with sufficient care to the limited aims of proposals about divine action at points of quantum indetermination. Second, given the current state of knowledge, it remains an open (...) option to make theological use of an indeterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics. Any such proposal, however, will be an exploratory hypothesis offered in the face of deep uncertainties regarding the measurement problem and the presence in natural systems of amplifiers for quantum effects. (shrink)

When Darwin's theory of natural selection threatened to put Paley's Designer out of a job, one response was to reemploy God as the author of the evolutionary process itself. This idea requires an account of how God might be understood to act in biological history. I approach this question in two stages: first, by considering God's action as creator of the world as a whole, and second, by exploring the idea of particular divine action in the course of evolution. As (...) creator ex nihilo God acts directly in every event as its sustaining ground. Because God structures the world as a lawful order of natural causes, God also acts indirectly by means of creatures. More controversially, God might act directly within the world to affect the course of events; this action need not take the form of a miraculous intervention, if the natural order includes the right sort of indeterministic chance. In each of these ways God's purposes can shape evolutionary processes. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Varieties of Divine Action God as Agent of Intentional Actions Divine Action and Created Causes Works cited.