Involvement of Gangliosides in Neuroplasticity of the Central Nervous System in Physiological and Pathological Conditions

In reviewing a complex and multifaceted research subject, such as the ganglioside field, one may follow three different approaches, which can be exemplified by an analogy taken from literature. A writer can express a theme in a set of loosely related tales as Maupassant did; he can use a frame, into which tales are inserted, as in Boccaccio’s Decamerone; or he can organize the entire material into a single novel, characterized by a leitmotiv, as Dostoyevski did in his masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov. While reading papers on gangliosides and trying to review the work done in this field, we have the clear impression that it is impossible to organize it into a single story and that tales seem to be more appropriate to describe this subject.