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Dynamics of brain monoamines
BOOK REVIEWS
671
development of inhibitory mechanisms which appear to serve as sculptor's chisels in shaping what, at least to the brain, must be meaningful patterns from the raw data pouring in from the periphery. The traditional separation between "specific" and "nonspecific" ("centrencephalic") thalamic systems is now dying an honorable death, after serving so well and long as a source of experimental hypotheses. The more the diffuse, nonspecific, systems are analyzed by refined electrophysiological and anatomical methods the more it appears that they constitute a heterogeneous collection of structures, with perhaps more specificity of function than was thought likely ten or twenty years ago. Hassler proposes in his chapter a complex functional model, which may be partially testable, to replace the now obsolete separation of "specific" and "other" thalamic systems. That the cortex projects upon the thalamus is an old story. That it does so with great precision of topology is shown very well by the reports of Rinvik, Petras, Holl~inder and Szabo, who demonstrate the presence of a systematic distribution of corticofugal afferents to the thalamus, and of Palmer et al. on the cortical projection to the tectum. The electrophysiological data relating to these projections are still incomplete, although a good start has been made on the somesthetic system by Frigyesi and Schwartz, Mme AlbeFessard et al. and Massion and Rispal-Padel. The direct relevance to the central theme of the book of the contributions by some of the participants is not clearly established, either by them or the introducer and summarizer. While some of these accessory papers are fine contributions they do by themselves tend t'o obscure the central focal theme, in addition to inducing a certain "d~ja vu" feeling in this reviewer. This book, then, is highly recommended to graduate or post-doctoral students with a major interest in central neurophysiology, to clinical neurophysiologists seeking a thorough updating of present knowledge on thalamic organization, and to experimental neuroscientists interested in the mammalian CNS. It is not easy to read, and this is due to the high density of data and lack of order in the field, not to the literarY ability of the contributors - which is generally excellent. I would suggest that if neuroanatomists cannot always follow in good conscience the Nomina Anatomica or agree upon nuclear boundaries, then books of this kind should be provided with a little dictionary o f - at least roughly - equivalent terms for the benefit of outsiders to their field. EDUARDO EIDELBERG
Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Ariz. 85013 (U.S.A.)
Dynamics of brain monoamines. - - J. C. de la Torre. (Plenum, New York, 1972, 210 p., $18.50). Backed up by approximately one thousand references, the author describes the behavior of monoamines in the normal and abnormal brain. In this endeavor, he uses histological, histochemical, electrophysiologlcal, biochemical, and pathological approaches to describe a welter of phenomena. The
material is poured into the following four chapters: (1) Metabolism of amines; (2) Methods of studying cerebral monoamines and their enzymes; (3) Normal and abnormal physiology of monoamines in the central nervous system; (4) Neuropsychopathology. In the first de la Torre describes the conventional metabolic steps of synthesis and degradation of monoamines. The roles of 0-methyl-transfdrase and monoamine oxidase, however, are based on a monograph of 1964 while only after this date some insight into this problem began to emerge. In the second chapter, urhaary metabolites, autoradiographic, electron microscopic, and fluorescence studies are described. In spite of this chapter's headlines, no enzymologlcal methods are mentioned. Chapter three is somewhat heterogeneous. In addition to problems of amine localization and release, sections on sleep mechanisms, on behavior and, finally, on blood-brain barrier are included. In this section de la Torre presents a great deal of his own work on the fate of L-dopa in the rat brain, demonstrating that very little, if any, of this amino acid penetrates beyond the capillary wall without the action of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors. But it should be mentioned that in the brain of other species dopa does leave the capillaries even in the absence of the inhibitors. This section furnishes also a vivid acount of the complexity of the blood-brain barrier and it is illustrated with clear diagrams and with beautiful pictures obtained with the Falek-Hillarp method. In the last chapter, we find the usual sections on mongolism, on the pink spot-controversy, on the serotonin and catecholamine hypotheses of psychoses on Parkinson's disease, etc. This monograph displays many characteristics of a oneman book. It is highly readable, but it also shows the almost inevitable short-comings of this kind of endeavor; in particular, a more systematic treatment of the basic facts on which the book is, or should be, built would have increased its value. Many technical terms which appear in the text are not given in the Index. Since the material is so immense, we have to respect the author's choice of topics. One passing reference to amphetamine, however, seems to be an inadequate representation of this most important substance which influences the action and metabolism of monoamines in so many ways and which is closely related to the schizophrenic syndrome. In spite of these criticisms, I consider this book a most valuable addition to the literature. It should be particularly welcome to the clinicians who, with a minimum of chemistry, want to catch up with this most rapidly developing field. E. A. ZELLER
Northwestern University, Medical Center, Chicago, IlL 60611 (U.S.A.)
Advances in experimental medicine and biology, Voi. 24, The visual system: Neurophysiology, biophysics, and their clinical applications. - - G. B. Arden (Editor). (Plenum, New York, 1972, 335 p., $17.50). This collection of 32 papers, ranging in length from 4 to 20 pages, records the proceedings of the Ninth Symposium of the International Society for Clinical Electroretinography, held at Brighton, England, July 1971. This was a "satellite
671
development of inhibitory mechanisms which appear to serve as sculptor's chisels in shaping what, at least to the brain, must be meaningful patterns from the raw data pouring in from the periphery. The traditional separation between "specific" and "nonspecific" ("centrencephalic") thalamic systems is now dying an honorable death, after serving so well and long as a source of experimental hypotheses. The more the diffuse, nonspecific, systems are analyzed by refined electrophysiological and anatomical methods the more it appears that they constitute a heterogeneous collection of structures, with perhaps more specificity of function than was thought likely ten or twenty years ago. Hassler proposes in his chapter a complex functional model, which may be partially testable, to replace the now obsolete separation of "specific" and "other" thalamic systems. That the cortex projects upon the thalamus is an old story. That it does so with great precision of topology is shown very well by the reports of Rinvik, Petras, Holl~inder and Szabo, who demonstrate the presence of a systematic distribution of corticofugal afferents to the thalamus, and of Palmer et al. on the cortical projection to the tectum. The electrophysiological data relating to these projections are still incomplete, although a good start has been made on the somesthetic system by Frigyesi and Schwartz, Mme AlbeFessard et al. and Massion and Rispal-Padel. The direct relevance to the central theme of the book of the contributions by some of the participants is not clearly established, either by them or the introducer and summarizer. While some of these accessory papers are fine contributions they do by themselves tend t'o obscure the central focal theme, in addition to inducing a certain "d~ja vu" feeling in this reviewer. This book, then, is highly recommended to graduate or post-doctoral students with a major interest in central neurophysiology, to clinical neurophysiologists seeking a thorough updating of present knowledge on thalamic organization, and to experimental neuroscientists interested in the mammalian CNS. It is not easy to read, and this is due to the high density of data and lack of order in the field, not to the literarY ability of the contributors - which is generally excellent. I would suggest that if neuroanatomists cannot always follow in good conscience the Nomina Anatomica or agree upon nuclear boundaries, then books of this kind should be provided with a little dictionary o f - at least roughly - equivalent terms for the benefit of outsiders to their field. EDUARDO EIDELBERG
Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Ariz. 85013 (U.S.A.)
Dynamics of brain monoamines. - - J. C. de la Torre. (Plenum, New York, 1972, 210 p., $18.50). Backed up by approximately one thousand references, the author describes the behavior of monoamines in the normal and abnormal brain. In this endeavor, he uses histological, histochemical, electrophysiologlcal, biochemical, and pathological approaches to describe a welter of phenomena. The
material is poured into the following four chapters: (1) Metabolism of amines; (2) Methods of studying cerebral monoamines and their enzymes; (3) Normal and abnormal physiology of monoamines in the central nervous system; (4) Neuropsychopathology. In the first de la Torre describes the conventional metabolic steps of synthesis and degradation of monoamines. The roles of 0-methyl-transfdrase and monoamine oxidase, however, are based on a monograph of 1964 while only after this date some insight into this problem began to emerge. In the second chapter, urhaary metabolites, autoradiographic, electron microscopic, and fluorescence studies are described. In spite of this chapter's headlines, no enzymologlcal methods are mentioned. Chapter three is somewhat heterogeneous. In addition to problems of amine localization and release, sections on sleep mechanisms, on behavior and, finally, on blood-brain barrier are included. In this section de la Torre presents a great deal of his own work on the fate of L-dopa in the rat brain, demonstrating that very little, if any, of this amino acid penetrates beyond the capillary wall without the action of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors. But it should be mentioned that in the brain of other species dopa does leave the capillaries even in the absence of the inhibitors. This section furnishes also a vivid acount of the complexity of the blood-brain barrier and it is illustrated with clear diagrams and with beautiful pictures obtained with the Falek-Hillarp method. In the last chapter, we find the usual sections on mongolism, on the pink spot-controversy, on the serotonin and catecholamine hypotheses of psychoses on Parkinson's disease, etc. This monograph displays many characteristics of a oneman book. It is highly readable, but it also shows the almost inevitable short-comings of this kind of endeavor; in particular, a more systematic treatment of the basic facts on which the book is, or should be, built would have increased its value. Many technical terms which appear in the text are not given in the Index. Since the material is so immense, we have to respect the author's choice of topics. One passing reference to amphetamine, however, seems to be an inadequate representation of this most important substance which influences the action and metabolism of monoamines in so many ways and which is closely related to the schizophrenic syndrome. In spite of these criticisms, I consider this book a most valuable addition to the literature. It should be particularly welcome to the clinicians who, with a minimum of chemistry, want to catch up with this most rapidly developing field. E. A. ZELLER
Northwestern University, Medical Center, Chicago, IlL 60611 (U.S.A.)
Advances in experimental medicine and biology, Voi. 24, The visual system: Neurophysiology, biophysics, and their clinical applications. - - G. B. Arden (Editor). (Plenum, New York, 1972, 335 p., $17.50). This collection of 32 papers, ranging in length from 4 to 20 pages, records the proceedings of the Ninth Symposium of the International Society for Clinical Electroretinography, held at Brighton, England, July 1971. This was a "satellite