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Neurophysiology of postural mechanisms
295
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
BOOK
REVIEWS
Edited by H . PETSCHE and JOHN R . HUGHES
Neurophysiology of postural mechanisms. - - T. D. M. Roberts (Butterworth, London, 1967, 354 p., £5.0.0).
lucid and very readable, and each of the chapters ends with a good summary. Puzzling, however, is why the first third of the book should be devoted to a basic introduction to neurophysiology, all the more so, since this has already been published separately. The reader who needs this elementary course would require many more illustrations than are given, if not a highly pictorial imagination. A lengthy chapter is then devoted to a description of joint anatomy, quadrupedal and bipedal locomotion - only very loosely related to posture - - and a review of Rademaker's work on the reflexes of standing. No reference is made to the extensive work on central coordination of locomotion by von Hoist. The anatomy and physiology of the sense organs of the labyrinth are described in detail. From here on (p. 201), the remaining 100 pages are now really concerned with posture, with the exception of some excursions into learning and conditioning, neuroanatomy of the cerebellum, physiology of sleep, etc. There are, however, very worthwhile sections on the reflexes of balance and the central co-ordinating mechanisms of posture. The approach here is to deal with acceleratory, positional and righting reflexes and standing as building bricks for the complex mechanisms of body posture. The central apparatus, however, is then described not from a functional point of view, but starting from morphology and leading to functional interrelationships, illustrated by anatomical and flow diagrams. It is inevitable that in any textbook some of the reviewer's pet references will be missed. Nevertheless, it is perhaps surprising that W. R. Hess and R. Hassler's extensive results on brain stimulation and posture are omitted; Chambers et al.'s (Arch. ital. Biol., 1963) important paper on chronic lesions in the reticular formation is not mentioned, nor is the work of Granit, Job and Kaada (1952) on gamma activity in the pinna reflex and that of von Euler and S6derberg (1952) on EEG arousal and gamma activity. Developmental aspects are often a clue to the understanding of complex brain mechanisms. The only developmental reference (p. 153) is on the placing response which is said to be absent in the newborn infant and learned at a later age. Recent work by Zappella et al. has shown that this is wrong. As a whole this book has merits for which Dr. Roberts should be thanked, but it is unbalanced in its proportions and an integration of the material into a model is lacking.
A comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the neurophysiology of posture is to be welcomed. Dr. Roberts's book is a n attempt to provide such a text. The style is
Department of Developmental Neurology, Groningen (The Netherlands)
The uptake and storage of noradrenaline in sympathetic nerves. - - Leslie L. Iversen. (Cambridge University Press, 1967, 253 p., 57s. 6d. in U. K., U. S. $11.00 in U.S.A.).
Dr. Iversen's review discusses recent publications concerning the transmitter of the sympathetic nerves, noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and related compounds. The rapid development in this field resulted in vast numbers of papers, but the author has succeeded in selecting the relevant ones and is able to present the controversial findings in an unbiased manner. The book deals mainly with the mechanisms that control the function and activity of the sympathetic nerve terminal. The initial description of the methods used, including histochemical techniques, gives a good basis for the understanding of the results. The next chapters discuss the localization of the catecholamines in the tissues, including intracellular storage, and the biosynthesis and metabolic degradation of these compounds. The author combines extremely well the results obtained by histochemical techniques with biochemical and pharmacological findings. The following part is concerned with the release of the nerve transmitter from its stores and the possible mechanisms mediating this release, as well as with the uptake or re-uptake of free noradrenaline. This uptake mechanism of noradrenaline seems to be the most important factor determining the activity of noradrenaline which has been injected or released by sympathetic stimuli. The next chapters discuss the mode of action of drugs which affect these mechanisms, which interfere with the receptor sites where the catecholamines produce their action and the mode of action of sympathomimetic amines. The final chapter deals with the catecholamines of the central nervous system and the possible function of central adrenergic mechanisms. The book is very well written and gives valuable information to a reader who is not too familiar with this field. It is also a good source of the pertinent literature. GEORG HERTTING, M.D.
Department of Pharmacology, University of Vienna (Austria) Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1968, 24:295
H. F. R. PRECItTL
Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1968, 24:295
Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
BOOK
REVIEWS
Edited by H . PETSCHE and JOHN R . HUGHES
Neurophysiology of postural mechanisms. - - T. D. M. Roberts (Butterworth, London, 1967, 354 p., £5.0.0).
lucid and very readable, and each of the chapters ends with a good summary. Puzzling, however, is why the first third of the book should be devoted to a basic introduction to neurophysiology, all the more so, since this has already been published separately. The reader who needs this elementary course would require many more illustrations than are given, if not a highly pictorial imagination. A lengthy chapter is then devoted to a description of joint anatomy, quadrupedal and bipedal locomotion - only very loosely related to posture - - and a review of Rademaker's work on the reflexes of standing. No reference is made to the extensive work on central coordination of locomotion by von Hoist. The anatomy and physiology of the sense organs of the labyrinth are described in detail. From here on (p. 201), the remaining 100 pages are now really concerned with posture, with the exception of some excursions into learning and conditioning, neuroanatomy of the cerebellum, physiology of sleep, etc. There are, however, very worthwhile sections on the reflexes of balance and the central co-ordinating mechanisms of posture. The approach here is to deal with acceleratory, positional and righting reflexes and standing as building bricks for the complex mechanisms of body posture. The central apparatus, however, is then described not from a functional point of view, but starting from morphology and leading to functional interrelationships, illustrated by anatomical and flow diagrams. It is inevitable that in any textbook some of the reviewer's pet references will be missed. Nevertheless, it is perhaps surprising that W. R. Hess and R. Hassler's extensive results on brain stimulation and posture are omitted; Chambers et al.'s (Arch. ital. Biol., 1963) important paper on chronic lesions in the reticular formation is not mentioned, nor is the work of Granit, Job and Kaada (1952) on gamma activity in the pinna reflex and that of von Euler and S6derberg (1952) on EEG arousal and gamma activity. Developmental aspects are often a clue to the understanding of complex brain mechanisms. The only developmental reference (p. 153) is on the placing response which is said to be absent in the newborn infant and learned at a later age. Recent work by Zappella et al. has shown that this is wrong. As a whole this book has merits for which Dr. Roberts should be thanked, but it is unbalanced in its proportions and an integration of the material into a model is lacking.
A comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the neurophysiology of posture is to be welcomed. Dr. Roberts's book is a n attempt to provide such a text. The style is
Department of Developmental Neurology, Groningen (The Netherlands)
The uptake and storage of noradrenaline in sympathetic nerves. - - Leslie L. Iversen. (Cambridge University Press, 1967, 253 p., 57s. 6d. in U. K., U. S. $11.00 in U.S.A.).
Dr. Iversen's review discusses recent publications concerning the transmitter of the sympathetic nerves, noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and related compounds. The rapid development in this field resulted in vast numbers of papers, but the author has succeeded in selecting the relevant ones and is able to present the controversial findings in an unbiased manner. The book deals mainly with the mechanisms that control the function and activity of the sympathetic nerve terminal. The initial description of the methods used, including histochemical techniques, gives a good basis for the understanding of the results. The next chapters discuss the localization of the catecholamines in the tissues, including intracellular storage, and the biosynthesis and metabolic degradation of these compounds. The author combines extremely well the results obtained by histochemical techniques with biochemical and pharmacological findings. The following part is concerned with the release of the nerve transmitter from its stores and the possible mechanisms mediating this release, as well as with the uptake or re-uptake of free noradrenaline. This uptake mechanism of noradrenaline seems to be the most important factor determining the activity of noradrenaline which has been injected or released by sympathetic stimuli. The next chapters discuss the mode of action of drugs which affect these mechanisms, which interfere with the receptor sites where the catecholamines produce their action and the mode of action of sympathomimetic amines. The final chapter deals with the catecholamines of the central nervous system and the possible function of central adrenergic mechanisms. The book is very well written and gives valuable information to a reader who is not too familiar with this field. It is also a good source of the pertinent literature. GEORG HERTTING, M.D.
Department of Pharmacology, University of Vienna (Austria) Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1968, 24:295
H. F. R. PRECItTL
Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1968, 24:295