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The opiate receptors
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The Opiate Receptors, b y G . W . P a s t e r n a k ( E d . ) , Seres: The Receptors ( B y l u n d , D . B . , Ed.), H u m a n a P r e s s , C l i f t o n , N J, 1988, xviii ÷ 4 9 9 p a g e s , I S B N 0 - 8 9 6 0 9 - 2 3 0 - 9 , £ 74.10 A series concerning receptors is not complete without a book on opioid receptors. Although it is likely thal the molecular structure of the opioid receptor(s) will soon be disclosed, enough other information aboul these receptors is available justifying a review of this subject. The book has 14 chapters grouped in 7 sections and 23 contributors, all but one from the U.S A This may have resulted in some bias in the presented material, since many scientists outside the U.S.A. are dealing with opioid research. The book contains 58 tables, but only 14 figures. Section 1 deals with historical information about the opioid receptors. The next section describes the characterization of opioid receptor binding sites, including the areceptor. This is followed by a section about the localization of the various receptors. Section 4 contains 2 chapters on mechanisms of receptor action. The pharmacological correlation of binding sites with function is the topic of section 5, and this is followed by the regulation of opioid receptors, including the role of these receptors in tolerance and dependence. The last section"Future Vistas" ends with clinical perspectives. The reader is left with the impression that, although a lot of information has been gained in the field, the biological and clinical significance of these receptors is not fully understood. More couM have been told about the clinical studies done so far. The title of the book is not covering the information presented: a better choice would have been "The opioid receptors". The index is short and not very informative. The book can be recommended to scientists in the field of opioid research. J . M . VAN REE
Hierarchies in Neurology: a reappraisal of a Jacksonian concept, b y C. K e n n e t h a n d M . S w a s h ( E d s . ) , S p r i n g e r - V e r t a g , B e r l i n - H e i d e l b e r g - N e w Y o r k , 1989, xiv + 183 p a g e s . I S B N 3 - 5 4 0 - 1 9 5 3 9 - 4 , D M 90 The sesquicentennial of Hughlings Jackson's birth coincided with a combined meeting o f the Association of British Neurologists and the American Neurological Association at the London Hospital. This book has evolved from that conference. The book contains five sections: Historical; Consciousness and Memory; Epilepsy; Sensory Systems; and Motor System. Reading Jackson in the original is a formidable unde~aking, apparently not only for the Dutch: Jackson's observations on epilepsy rank among the greatest contributions to our knowledge and understanding of epilepsy, perhaps on a par with Hippocrates' writings on the Sacred Disease, with the exception that although the latter were written in Greek they are much easier to read (p. 57). The combination of intelligent reappraisal without genuflexion before an idol is an attractive trait of the book. One of the most interesting chapters treats Jackson's views on consciousness. Fairly well known is his doctrine of concomitance of mental and nervous states that occur in parallel but do not interfere with each other. Less well known is Jackson's distinction between subject consciousness and object consciousness: "Subject consciousness is something deeper than knowledge; it is that by which knowledge is possible. Perhaps we may say that it is an awareness of our existence as individuals, as persons having the objective states making up for each the (his) universe; it is us in an emphatic sense". I doubt, whether the contribution of the famous contributor does contribute. The argument turns on the work of a distinsuished quantum physicist Henry Margenau, who has outlined a theory whereby quantum physics could possibly explain the phenomenon of brain-mind interaction. Margenau surmises that the mind acts as a non-material field, and does not necessarily have a definitive position in space. My impression is that here the soul issmuggled into the discussion as a field that is not an energy field in any physical sense, but yet able to act at micro-sites in the nervous system, if they are small enough to be governed by probabilistic quantum laws. For this reviewer, quantum physics are in the realm of revealed knowledge; he is r e m i n d ~ of the ~scussion on the existence of a Supreme Being by Voltaire and yon Euler in the presence of Catherine the Great of Russia. Von Euler wrote down a mathematical formula and concluded: ergo God exists. Voltaire lefr defeated. Jackson kept quiet about things whereof he could not speak, a most commendable attitude. Bumke and Foerster (p. 20, line 4 from bottom) edited a Handbueh der Neurotogie, not a Handbuch der Physiologic, published by J. Springer, Berlin.
The Opiate Receptors, b y G . W . P a s t e r n a k ( E d . ) , Seres: The Receptors ( B y l u n d , D . B . , Ed.), H u m a n a P r e s s , C l i f t o n , N J, 1988, xviii ÷ 4 9 9 p a g e s , I S B N 0 - 8 9 6 0 9 - 2 3 0 - 9 , £ 74.10 A series concerning receptors is not complete without a book on opioid receptors. Although it is likely thal the molecular structure of the opioid receptor(s) will soon be disclosed, enough other information aboul these receptors is available justifying a review of this subject. The book has 14 chapters grouped in 7 sections and 23 contributors, all but one from the U.S A This may have resulted in some bias in the presented material, since many scientists outside the U.S.A. are dealing with opioid research. The book contains 58 tables, but only 14 figures. Section 1 deals with historical information about the opioid receptors. The next section describes the characterization of opioid receptor binding sites, including the areceptor. This is followed by a section about the localization of the various receptors. Section 4 contains 2 chapters on mechanisms of receptor action. The pharmacological correlation of binding sites with function is the topic of section 5, and this is followed by the regulation of opioid receptors, including the role of these receptors in tolerance and dependence. The last section"Future Vistas" ends with clinical perspectives. The reader is left with the impression that, although a lot of information has been gained in the field, the biological and clinical significance of these receptors is not fully understood. More couM have been told about the clinical studies done so far. The title of the book is not covering the information presented: a better choice would have been "The opioid receptors". The index is short and not very informative. The book can be recommended to scientists in the field of opioid research. J . M . VAN REE
Hierarchies in Neurology: a reappraisal of a Jacksonian concept, b y C. K e n n e t h a n d M . S w a s h ( E d s . ) , S p r i n g e r - V e r t a g , B e r l i n - H e i d e l b e r g - N e w Y o r k , 1989, xiv + 183 p a g e s . I S B N 3 - 5 4 0 - 1 9 5 3 9 - 4 , D M 90 The sesquicentennial of Hughlings Jackson's birth coincided with a combined meeting o f the Association of British Neurologists and the American Neurological Association at the London Hospital. This book has evolved from that conference. The book contains five sections: Historical; Consciousness and Memory; Epilepsy; Sensory Systems; and Motor System. Reading Jackson in the original is a formidable unde~aking, apparently not only for the Dutch: Jackson's observations on epilepsy rank among the greatest contributions to our knowledge and understanding of epilepsy, perhaps on a par with Hippocrates' writings on the Sacred Disease, with the exception that although the latter were written in Greek they are much easier to read (p. 57). The combination of intelligent reappraisal without genuflexion before an idol is an attractive trait of the book. One of the most interesting chapters treats Jackson's views on consciousness. Fairly well known is his doctrine of concomitance of mental and nervous states that occur in parallel but do not interfere with each other. Less well known is Jackson's distinction between subject consciousness and object consciousness: "Subject consciousness is something deeper than knowledge; it is that by which knowledge is possible. Perhaps we may say that it is an awareness of our existence as individuals, as persons having the objective states making up for each the (his) universe; it is us in an emphatic sense". I doubt, whether the contribution of the famous contributor does contribute. The argument turns on the work of a distinsuished quantum physicist Henry Margenau, who has outlined a theory whereby quantum physics could possibly explain the phenomenon of brain-mind interaction. Margenau surmises that the mind acts as a non-material field, and does not necessarily have a definitive position in space. My impression is that here the soul issmuggled into the discussion as a field that is not an energy field in any physical sense, but yet able to act at micro-sites in the nervous system, if they are small enough to be governed by probabilistic quantum laws. For this reviewer, quantum physics are in the realm of revealed knowledge; he is r e m i n d ~ of the ~scussion on the existence of a Supreme Being by Voltaire and yon Euler in the presence of Catherine the Great of Russia. Von Euler wrote down a mathematical formula and concluded: ergo God exists. Voltaire lefr defeated. Jackson kept quiet about things whereof he could not speak, a most commendable attitude. Bumke and Foerster (p. 20, line 4 from bottom) edited a Handbueh der Neurotogie, not a Handbuch der Physiologic, published by J. Springer, Berlin.