- Email: [email protected]
Handbook of sensory physiology. Vol. I. Principles of receptor physiology
464
BOOK
Electroencephalography a n d Clinical N e u r o p h y s i o l o g y Elsevier Publishing C o m p a n y , A m s t e r d a m - Printed in The N e t h e r l a n d s
REVIEWS
E d i t e d b y H . PETSCHE a n d JOHN R . H U G H E S
Handbook of sensory physiology. Vol. I. Principles of receptor physiology. - - W. R. Loewenstein (Editor). (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1971, 600 p., 262 Fig., U.S. $46.20, DM 168.00; subscription price $37.00, DM 134.40). This volume is an important contribution to the literature on the functioning of sensory receptors. But the reader will be somewhat disappointed because, while certain aspects of receptor physiology are well developed, on the other hand some are given only a cursory treatment. The general plan of the book does not appear clearly and there is no logical connection between the various chapters. The volume begins with an article on mechano-chernical conversion, of unquestionable interest, but written in such a way that the most scrupulous reader will never find in it any mention connecting this paper to sensory receptor physiolog3. The insertion of the latter in this book appears thus of dubious utility. The second chapter is a good reviev, of recent data on the role of acetylcholine in excitable membranes, but essentially on the enzymatic properties of acetylcholinesterase and on acetylcholine fixation upon the proteins of receptor sites. Thus. this article will interest the reader to whom these problems are rather unfamiliar. But the same criticism, somewhat attenuated, could be formulated about this article as the one expressed about the preceding. No mention is made anywhere of an application of the data presented to the problems of receptor function. The third chapter written by L. Tauc is devoted to synaptic transmission. Emphasis is laid upon the recent and fundamental discovery according to which excitatory or inhibitory effects elicited on the same neurone by different afferences can be produced by the same intermediary acting upon postsynaptic sites having distinct properties. These results are essentially based upon the study of synaptic systems of gastropods, especially of aplysia. Grundfest is the author of chapter IV. He goes back to the distinction between membranes electrically excitable and electrically non-excitable and applies this notion to receptors. Some interesting pages bear upon electrogenesis in receptors and upon interaction between the receptor and secondary and tertiary neurones. The important problem of coding is treated only shortly. Let us hope that an important article will be consecrated to this problem in a subsequent volume. Chapters VI and VII concern the relation between stimulus strength and sensation. In both chapters insistence is laid upon the "power law" that is to replace the rather simplistic Fechner law. In chapter VIII, after a rapid I<'xic~x t,( the dlllerent types of generator potentials (depolarieing and hyperpolarizing), insistence is laid upon the analysis of the input output relation and upon the application to this relation of theoretical data, which allow the construction of a mathematical model appropriate to each type of receptor.
Chapters IX and X give a many detailed description of transduction in mechano-receptors and especially in Pacinian corpuscles. Loewenstein gives a good review of actual data on the properties of these receptors. Teorell then ti)rmulates a much more theoretical and general approach to the mechanism of mechano-electric transmission, an approach which is most stimulating. The presence of the 3 pages constituting chapter XI appears unnecessary. The useful data thai they mighl ha~ ccoI> rained on the response of nerve fibers to mechanical forces should have been included in a more general paper on mechano-electrical transduction. The excellent chapter XIV is written by Flock. Starting with a study of the receptors of the lateral line of aquatic vertebrates, this author extends the discussion to the transducing mechanism of the various ciliated receptor cells. Chapters XV and XVI contain two extremely valuable contributions: one of Ottoson and Shcperd devoted to the properties of the neuromuscular spindle of the frog, the other of Terzuolo and Knox to the crustacean stretch receptor. In chapter XIl. Cone and Pak describe the very early and rapid physico-chemical events which in photo-receptors connect the absorption of radiant energy by the photo-pigment and the receptor potential. Chapter V enters in a domain rather unlitmiliar to sensory physiologists: the formation of sensory connections and the development of neuronal specificity. This ontogenetic approach appears particularly promising. Chapter XllI concerns an interesting analysis of phototaxy in algae. The last chapter describes essentially the morphology and organization of cutaneous receptors. It contains only a very short mention of the neuromuscular spindle and Golgi endings in tendons. The reader will notice that the present review deliberately upsets the numerical order of the chapters of the book so as to represent precisely one of the major defects of this work: the lack of a logical sequence between the various articles. The purpose of the editors was obviously difficult to fulfil. The various authors should have been able to extricate themselves from their highly specialized personal work, so as to emphasize the general principles of receptor functioning. The editorial board, of course, cannot be made responsible for the shortcomings of such authors. The above criticisms put the reviewer all the more at ease to say that this first book appears to us as a good omen of the high quality of those that will follow. In spite of its imperfections, this book makes interesting reading and will be of the greatest service to all those who are interested in sensory physiology. P. LAGET
Laboratoire de Physiologie gdn#rale, Facultd des Sciences. Paris (France) l:,lec'troenccT#~, c/in. NeuroldO'siol.. 1972, 32:464
BOOK
Electroencephalography a n d Clinical N e u r o p h y s i o l o g y Elsevier Publishing C o m p a n y , A m s t e r d a m - Printed in The N e t h e r l a n d s
REVIEWS
E d i t e d b y H . PETSCHE a n d JOHN R . H U G H E S
Handbook of sensory physiology. Vol. I. Principles of receptor physiology. - - W. R. Loewenstein (Editor). (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1971, 600 p., 262 Fig., U.S. $46.20, DM 168.00; subscription price $37.00, DM 134.40). This volume is an important contribution to the literature on the functioning of sensory receptors. But the reader will be somewhat disappointed because, while certain aspects of receptor physiology are well developed, on the other hand some are given only a cursory treatment. The general plan of the book does not appear clearly and there is no logical connection between the various chapters. The volume begins with an article on mechano-chernical conversion, of unquestionable interest, but written in such a way that the most scrupulous reader will never find in it any mention connecting this paper to sensory receptor physiolog3. The insertion of the latter in this book appears thus of dubious utility. The second chapter is a good reviev, of recent data on the role of acetylcholine in excitable membranes, but essentially on the enzymatic properties of acetylcholinesterase and on acetylcholine fixation upon the proteins of receptor sites. Thus. this article will interest the reader to whom these problems are rather unfamiliar. But the same criticism, somewhat attenuated, could be formulated about this article as the one expressed about the preceding. No mention is made anywhere of an application of the data presented to the problems of receptor function. The third chapter written by L. Tauc is devoted to synaptic transmission. Emphasis is laid upon the recent and fundamental discovery according to which excitatory or inhibitory effects elicited on the same neurone by different afferences can be produced by the same intermediary acting upon postsynaptic sites having distinct properties. These results are essentially based upon the study of synaptic systems of gastropods, especially of aplysia. Grundfest is the author of chapter IV. He goes back to the distinction between membranes electrically excitable and electrically non-excitable and applies this notion to receptors. Some interesting pages bear upon electrogenesis in receptors and upon interaction between the receptor and secondary and tertiary neurones. The important problem of coding is treated only shortly. Let us hope that an important article will be consecrated to this problem in a subsequent volume. Chapters VI and VII concern the relation between stimulus strength and sensation. In both chapters insistence is laid upon the "power law" that is to replace the rather simplistic Fechner law. In chapter VIII, after a rapid I<'xic~x t,( the dlllerent types of generator potentials (depolarieing and hyperpolarizing), insistence is laid upon the analysis of the input output relation and upon the application to this relation of theoretical data, which allow the construction of a mathematical model appropriate to each type of receptor.
Chapters IX and X give a many detailed description of transduction in mechano-receptors and especially in Pacinian corpuscles. Loewenstein gives a good review of actual data on the properties of these receptors. Teorell then ti)rmulates a much more theoretical and general approach to the mechanism of mechano-electric transmission, an approach which is most stimulating. The presence of the 3 pages constituting chapter XI appears unnecessary. The useful data thai they mighl ha~ ccoI> rained on the response of nerve fibers to mechanical forces should have been included in a more general paper on mechano-electrical transduction. The excellent chapter XIV is written by Flock. Starting with a study of the receptors of the lateral line of aquatic vertebrates, this author extends the discussion to the transducing mechanism of the various ciliated receptor cells. Chapters XV and XVI contain two extremely valuable contributions: one of Ottoson and Shcperd devoted to the properties of the neuromuscular spindle of the frog, the other of Terzuolo and Knox to the crustacean stretch receptor. In chapter XIl. Cone and Pak describe the very early and rapid physico-chemical events which in photo-receptors connect the absorption of radiant energy by the photo-pigment and the receptor potential. Chapter V enters in a domain rather unlitmiliar to sensory physiologists: the formation of sensory connections and the development of neuronal specificity. This ontogenetic approach appears particularly promising. Chapter XllI concerns an interesting analysis of phototaxy in algae. The last chapter describes essentially the morphology and organization of cutaneous receptors. It contains only a very short mention of the neuromuscular spindle and Golgi endings in tendons. The reader will notice that the present review deliberately upsets the numerical order of the chapters of the book so as to represent precisely one of the major defects of this work: the lack of a logical sequence between the various articles. The purpose of the editors was obviously difficult to fulfil. The various authors should have been able to extricate themselves from their highly specialized personal work, so as to emphasize the general principles of receptor functioning. The editorial board, of course, cannot be made responsible for the shortcomings of such authors. The above criticisms put the reviewer all the more at ease to say that this first book appears to us as a good omen of the high quality of those that will follow. In spite of its imperfections, this book makes interesting reading and will be of the greatest service to all those who are interested in sensory physiology. P. LAGET
Laboratoire de Physiologie gdn#rale, Facultd des Sciences. Paris (France) l:,lec'troenccT#~, c/in. NeuroldO'siol.. 1972, 32:464