The Chemistry of Behavior : a molecular approach to neuronal plasticity

This book discusses a particular aspect of brain function, that of storage and retrieval of memory of past experience, in terms of neuronal plasticity. In discussing this aspect of brain functions, however, it discusses brain mecha- nisms in their wider sense as well. Clearly, the central nervous system is a highly interconnected system from all points of view, and it would not be possible to understand function in terms of only a single event or only a sin- gle neurotransmitter. This is true for any biochemical activity that accompanies neuronal functional activity and accompanies behavior. The authors have commendably recognized this complexity, and recognize still more the need to present information in a compact and uniform manner in spite of the tremendous expansion of our knowledge in recent years. It is a somewhat easier task to gather a set of authors and record their results for a multiauthor symposium, but it is a most admirable endeavor for two authors to summarize a field that encompasses subjects such as transmission barri- ers, lipids, proteins, energy, hormones, to name a few that this book covers so well in a compact manner, and in such depth as well. Metabolism and func- tion cannot really be understood without understanding structural factors, changes in membrane properties, and changes in metabolism.