Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Neurons by Gordon Fain, Harvard
University Press, 拢40.50, ISBN 0674581555
Beyond Neurotransmission edited by Paul Katz, Oxford University Press,
拢45, ISBN 0198524242
THE human brain is stuffed with puzzles. How, for instance, do
antidepressants work? In trying to answer questions like this it鈥檚 tempting to
head straight for the physical evidence鈥攖he changes in cells and
molecules. But by sticking merely to the physical, and sidestepping behaviour
and mental processes, are we missing the whole picture?
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The truth is that we need to grasp what鈥檚 happening at the cellular and
molecular level before we can begin to tackle the essence of brain function.
Luckily, knowledge in this area has been accumulating at an explosive rate,
especially with the advent of genetic neurobiology. There is a fascinating story
to tell, and both Gordon Fain in Molecular and Cellular Physiology of
Neurons and Paul Katz in Beyond Neurotransmission take up the
challenge.
Fain is an expert on the physiology of vision, and has based his book on
lectures he gave to advanced undergraduates and postgraduates at the University
of California at Los Angeles. As someone who has struggled for 25 years to get
similar ideas on neural signalling across to my students, I know this will be a
joy to use in teaching. Fain explains complex concepts with exquisite clarity,
although students will need some knowledge of calculus and undergraduate physics
to get the most from this book.
So how does neurotransmission work? Classical theory has it that the brain
uses chemicals鈥攏eurotransmitters鈥攖o convey 鈥渋nformation鈥� between
nerve cells. These chemical messages have either a positive or a negative effect
on the nerve cell receiving them, dictating whether or not it will become
momentarily excited.
But over the past twenty years or so, we鈥檝e discovered chemical interactions
between nerve cells are far more varied and subtle than we had thought. A whole
second level of communication exists, in which chemicals change the properties
of nerve cells or synapses in ways other than simple fast excitation. For
instance, they might alter a protein in a nerve cell. These types of
interaction, known as neuromodulation, are much harder to pin down than
classical neurotransmission.
This is where Katz鈥檚 book comes in. His 16 contributors, mainly American,
tackle the foundations of neuromodulation at a cellular and molecular level. The
essays describe the role neuromodulators play in sensory processing, motor
behaviour and learning.
The furious pace of developments in neuroscience at the cellular level makes
it hard to keep up. Absorb Fain鈥檚 and Katz鈥檚 books for a taste of the excitement
neuroscientists themselves are feeling.