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Excitatory amino acid transmission. Neurology and neurobiology, Vol. 24
498
BOOK REVIEWS
The first contribution is not really centred on synapses but on aging. It raises a fundamental question: to what extent is it meaningful to distinguish between 'normal' and pathological aging? Can the symptoms of aging be ascribed to a single cause? The provisional answer is that aging is a complicated and diverse process in the brain as in other tissues. The review on pathological processes is centred on Alzheimer's disease and, while emphasizing the resemblance between 'normal' aging and this disease, concludes that a deficiency in the cholinergic system is probably critical. The second review article is a very good updating on the controversy which started 13 years ago on a well established paradigm, the vesicular theory of synaptic transmission. This 'vesicle hypothesis' was proposed by Del Castillo and Katz in the mid-fifties, it states that the quantal release of neurotransmitters would correspond to the existence of synaptic vesicles, which release their content by exocytosis in the synaptic cleft. This hypothesis is considered as well established truth by many neurobiologists, in spite of many attacks; these attacks led the tenants of the vesicle hypothesis to revise their version of the initial theory, at least in the case of cholinergic neurotransmission in the electric organ of the fish Torpedo (the model of the cholinergic synapse for the biochemists, the model for the physiologists being the motor end-plate of skeletal muscle). Far from being a specialized debate, this question is crucial to understand the functioning of synapses, of neurotransmission, hence of the mode of action of many neurotropic drugs. This chapter is illustrated with simple but exphcit diagrams and is concluded by a new modified version of the vesicle hypothesis which tries to reconcile the opposite viewpoints. As this is a book for scholars, with a deliberate choice of quasi-exhaustive bibliography, one may regret that the numerous references were not listed in alphabetical order (which does not rule out the use of numbers in the text). This will be the only restriction in the present appreciation of a very interesting book. Ghislaln Nicaise
Cytologie Exp~rimentale, Universitd de Nice, 06034 Nice (France)
Excitatory amino acid a'ansmission. Neurology and neurobiology, Vol. 24. - - T.P. Hicks, D. Lodge and H. McLennan (Eds.) (Alan R. Liss, New York, 1987) The book presents articles given as papers at a 'Satellite Symposium' to the Vancouver congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. Most leading experts in the field of excitatory amino acid neurotransmission were present at that meeting. Hence, it gives a good overview of the work of most important labs active in this very rapidly progressing and expanding field. A good number of the papers, moreover, have the right type of short review character, which summarizes the work of a given group in various papers to come as well as already published papers and thus gives a good impression on
the development in some of the labs. These articles are usually quite useful. Also very useful is the introductory summary on the development in this field, particularly, concerning the history of the discovery that various amino acid receptors exist in the central nervous system. Although this introductory chapter has certainly a personal liss, and in my feeling, perhaps gives a little too little credit to the early physiological evidence by the lab of Ingemar Engberg, that various glutamate receptors exist in the central nervous system, this is a very useful introduction which sets a good scene for understanding and following the book. A number of very nice presentations are in this book, which are certainly helpful to newcomers in this field. Other articles are somewhat doubtful since they do not give the background reason why the experiments were done and some would have needed some reviewing and editing. Too many articles are short replications of already pubhshed work which do not add any new information. These articles make the book unnecessary voluminous. This applies unfortunately also to some of the leaders in the field. Thus I had expected that CoUingridge's lab would be able to present a more general review on their excellent work. Some articles have problems in that they are not totally correct in naming phenomena. This applies for example to a contribution by Stelzer et al., who called 'kindling epilepsy' a phenomenon which probably has little to do with kindling, since repetition of such stimulation in vivo usually does not induce kindling epilepsy. A problem with these types of book are usually also that leaders in the field are given to little place. Thus it would have been useful if for example a similar size of space would have been given to Cotman, Collingridge, Meyer, Westbrook, Lodge and some others to give short general overviews. Special contributions from other labs could have been added to substitute to this information. I am of course aware that such an organization creates often problems. This book is nevertheless recommendable since it assembles papers from most of the active labs and a complete list of references which makes it a useful reference search book. This is certainly a book very useful to all those who are interested in the pharmacology of glutamate receptors and their physiological and even the pathophysiological significance. Uwe Heinemann
Institute of Normal and PathologicalPhysiology, University of Cologne, 5000 Cologne 41 (FR.G.)
Epilepsy and the reticular formation. - - G.H. Fromm, C.L. Faingold, R.A. Browning and W.M. Burnham (Eds.) (Alan R. Liss, New York, 1987, 224 p., U.S. $49.50) This book has 11 contributors, four of whom are editors, led by G. Fromm who has championed the importance of the brain-stem in seizure phenomena. The Foreword is by the well known Prof. H. Gastaut who presents a useful historical per-
BOOK REVIEWS
The first contribution is not really centred on synapses but on aging. It raises a fundamental question: to what extent is it meaningful to distinguish between 'normal' and pathological aging? Can the symptoms of aging be ascribed to a single cause? The provisional answer is that aging is a complicated and diverse process in the brain as in other tissues. The review on pathological processes is centred on Alzheimer's disease and, while emphasizing the resemblance between 'normal' aging and this disease, concludes that a deficiency in the cholinergic system is probably critical. The second review article is a very good updating on the controversy which started 13 years ago on a well established paradigm, the vesicular theory of synaptic transmission. This 'vesicle hypothesis' was proposed by Del Castillo and Katz in the mid-fifties, it states that the quantal release of neurotransmitters would correspond to the existence of synaptic vesicles, which release their content by exocytosis in the synaptic cleft. This hypothesis is considered as well established truth by many neurobiologists, in spite of many attacks; these attacks led the tenants of the vesicle hypothesis to revise their version of the initial theory, at least in the case of cholinergic neurotransmission in the electric organ of the fish Torpedo (the model of the cholinergic synapse for the biochemists, the model for the physiologists being the motor end-plate of skeletal muscle). Far from being a specialized debate, this question is crucial to understand the functioning of synapses, of neurotransmission, hence of the mode of action of many neurotropic drugs. This chapter is illustrated with simple but exphcit diagrams and is concluded by a new modified version of the vesicle hypothesis which tries to reconcile the opposite viewpoints. As this is a book for scholars, with a deliberate choice of quasi-exhaustive bibliography, one may regret that the numerous references were not listed in alphabetical order (which does not rule out the use of numbers in the text). This will be the only restriction in the present appreciation of a very interesting book. Ghislaln Nicaise
Cytologie Exp~rimentale, Universitd de Nice, 06034 Nice (France)
Excitatory amino acid a'ansmission. Neurology and neurobiology, Vol. 24. - - T.P. Hicks, D. Lodge and H. McLennan (Eds.) (Alan R. Liss, New York, 1987) The book presents articles given as papers at a 'Satellite Symposium' to the Vancouver congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. Most leading experts in the field of excitatory amino acid neurotransmission were present at that meeting. Hence, it gives a good overview of the work of most important labs active in this very rapidly progressing and expanding field. A good number of the papers, moreover, have the right type of short review character, which summarizes the work of a given group in various papers to come as well as already published papers and thus gives a good impression on
the development in some of the labs. These articles are usually quite useful. Also very useful is the introductory summary on the development in this field, particularly, concerning the history of the discovery that various amino acid receptors exist in the central nervous system. Although this introductory chapter has certainly a personal liss, and in my feeling, perhaps gives a little too little credit to the early physiological evidence by the lab of Ingemar Engberg, that various glutamate receptors exist in the central nervous system, this is a very useful introduction which sets a good scene for understanding and following the book. A number of very nice presentations are in this book, which are certainly helpful to newcomers in this field. Other articles are somewhat doubtful since they do not give the background reason why the experiments were done and some would have needed some reviewing and editing. Too many articles are short replications of already pubhshed work which do not add any new information. These articles make the book unnecessary voluminous. This applies unfortunately also to some of the leaders in the field. Thus I had expected that CoUingridge's lab would be able to present a more general review on their excellent work. Some articles have problems in that they are not totally correct in naming phenomena. This applies for example to a contribution by Stelzer et al., who called 'kindling epilepsy' a phenomenon which probably has little to do with kindling, since repetition of such stimulation in vivo usually does not induce kindling epilepsy. A problem with these types of book are usually also that leaders in the field are given to little place. Thus it would have been useful if for example a similar size of space would have been given to Cotman, Collingridge, Meyer, Westbrook, Lodge and some others to give short general overviews. Special contributions from other labs could have been added to substitute to this information. I am of course aware that such an organization creates often problems. This book is nevertheless recommendable since it assembles papers from most of the active labs and a complete list of references which makes it a useful reference search book. This is certainly a book very useful to all those who are interested in the pharmacology of glutamate receptors and their physiological and even the pathophysiological significance. Uwe Heinemann
Institute of Normal and PathologicalPhysiology, University of Cologne, 5000 Cologne 41 (FR.G.)
Epilepsy and the reticular formation. - - G.H. Fromm, C.L. Faingold, R.A. Browning and W.M. Burnham (Eds.) (Alan R. Liss, New York, 1987, 224 p., U.S. $49.50) This book has 11 contributors, four of whom are editors, led by G. Fromm who has championed the importance of the brain-stem in seizure phenomena. The Foreword is by the well known Prof. H. Gastaut who presents a useful historical per-