Functional Biochemistry of the Neuroglia

The first issue of the Sechenov Journal of Physiology began with an arti'cle by George E. Vladimirov entitled "Functional Bio- chemistry of the Brain - some conclusions and perspectives". Vladimirov wrote (p. 4): While there has been great success in the study of physiological aspects of higher nervous activity, we tend to ignore the physico-chemical nature of such fundamental physiological phenomena as the processes of excitation and inhibition in the nervous system. Elucidation of the chemical bases of these phenomena, and understanding of the spatio-temporal details of their functioning must be the aim of functional biochemistry of the brain, a subject of growing interest in our" country. And later, considering the difficulties of investigation of the brain by conventional biochemical methods, Vladimirov remarked, "In different samples of the brain taken for analysis, variation may occur in such factors as the structure of the cellular layers of the grey matter, the ratio between neuronal ~ glial elements, (emphasis mine, L.P.) and the proportion of intercellular material.