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Psychotropic agents. Part I. Antipsychotics and antidepressants
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Psychotropic agents. Part I. Antipsychotics and antidepressants. - - F. Hoffmeister and G. Stille (Eds.). Handbook of experimental pharmacology, Vol. 55/1. - - G.V.R. Born, A. Farah, H. Herken and A.D. Welch (Eds.) (Springer, Heidelberg, 1980, 734 p., DM 92)
This volume may be of great value for electroencephalographers who are interested in pharmaco-electroencephalography. N o fewer than 59 contributors in 26 chapters deal with different aspects of antipsychotics and andidepressants. Since the book also contains m a n y chapters which go far beyond the range of electroencephalography, this review is confined to those chapters which seem to be relevant to the scope of this Journal. The large number of articles is hard to reconcile with a homogeneous structure of the content of this voluminous book. Thus, several overlappings are found (e.g. ch. 4 'Behavioural pharmacology and antipsychotics' by Kreiskott and ch. 6 'Stereotyped behavior and its relevance for testing neuroleptics' by Randrup et al.). Some of the contributions consist of a few pages only and have even similar titles (ch. 9 and 10: 'Biochemical effects of neuroleptic drugs' by Bartholini and Lloyd, and 'Biochemical effects (in men)' by Ackenheil); or ch. 12 'Clinical pharmacology (pharmacokinetics)' by MiHler-Oerlinghausen, and 13 'Metabolism and kinetics' by Breyer-Pfaff, with 11 and 12 pages, respectively, the list of references not included). The still existing confusion in the nomenclature of psychotropic drugs was probably one reason to divide the psychotropic agents into two large groups, 'antipsychotics,' and the rest of agents which all were put together under the heading 'antidepressants.' That not even this rather violent act was able to solve the problem of terminology is illustrated by ch. 15 'Endocrine effects of neuroleptics' by Sulmant and Givant, in section VIII, headed 'Antidepressants.' Yet also the arrangement of the chapters is not kept up to the end: oh. 17 ' M A O inhibitors and antidepressants" by Kline and Cooper is a short monograph starting with their history, then dealing with pharmacology, function, mode of action, experimental evaluation, and a practicum for clinical use, among others, whereas the following chapter by Moiler-Nielsen is purely a presentation of the general pharmacology of tricyclic antidepressants, as the title reads. On the other hand, ch. 26 ' A n t i p s y c h o t i c s and experimental seizure models' by Kretzsctunar and Teschendorf is an article belonging to both the antidepressants and antipsychotics. This lack of consistency, certainly due to the great number of authors, will make it difficult for the user to extract the optimum of information from the volume. It is for this reason that once more the question may arise, whether ' H a n d b o o k s ' in the traditional sense of the word can still fulfill their purpose today. The editors saw themselves faced with the onerous task to have reviewed an immense field of knowledge: Would it not have been better to do this with the help of only a few scientists and to burden them with a heavy task than to choose a large number of representative authors and to charge each with a small section only?
BOOK REVIEWS As to references, however, this book is a rich source. A list of references follows each chapter. The 3-columned author index comprises no fewer than 90 pages. Apart from some contributions already mentioned, the following chapters may be of particular interest for the users of this Journal: ch. 7 'Neurophysiological properties of neuroleptic agents in animals' in which Jurna gives a comprehensive and valuable review of this field. This chapter is followed by a brief article by Roubicek on 'Antipsychotics: neurophysiological properties (in man)' in which mainly the author's own power spectra studies are dealt with. The "Neurophysiological properties of antidepressants in animals' are described in ch. 19 in a very concise and yet informative way by Gertrud Gogolitk, with most emphasis laid on EEG studies. The following chapter, ch. 20 by Itil and Soldatos, dealing with the same topic in man (' Clinical neurophysiological properties of antidepressants'), is unfortunately only a review of the authors' own studies by means of their preferred method of EEG quantification. A further article of possible interest for the clinical electroencephalographer is Lader and Bhanji's ch. 24 "Physiological and psychological effects of antidepressants in man,' a paper of 8 pages only, which therefore hardly can be considered an extensive review. The last chapter, by Kretzschmar and Teschendorf, on 'Antipsychotics and experimental seizure models' is concerned with the seizure potentiation effect of neuroleptics. To discuss the chapters on biochemistry, toxicity, pharmacokinetics, behavioral and endocrine effects, which are extensively treated in the volume, would go too far in this context. One chapter, however, deserves special attention: Janke's 'Psychometric and psychophysiological actions of antipsychotics in men' (ch. 14), a review based on single-doses studies with healthy subjects. It deals with both psychometric methods and psychophysiological findings and is likely to be of great value for every clinician who wants to obtain hard data in his drug studies. In spite of the short-comings quoted above, the editors have to be congratulated on their herculean task, to have brought together the numerous facts, obtained by so many different techniques in many and rapidly growing fields. It is perhaps chimerical nowadays to still expect from a ' H a n d b o o k ' a fairly comprehensive presentation of the today's knowledge in one discipline without too many inconsistencies and redundancies. H. PETSCHE
Institute of Neurophysiology, University of Vienna, Vienna (Austria)
The thalamus and midbrain of man. A physiological atlas using electrical s t i m u l a t i o n . - R.R. Tasker, L.W. Organ and P.A. Hawrylyshyn (Thomas, Springfield, !11., 1982, 505 p., U.S. $49.50) In this volume the authors provide a vade mecum to a long experience with h u m a n depth stimulation. Part I entitled Techniques gives a brief review of the twostage stereotaxic technique using the Leksell frame and both air
Psychotropic agents. Part I. Antipsychotics and antidepressants. - - F. Hoffmeister and G. Stille (Eds.). Handbook of experimental pharmacology, Vol. 55/1. - - G.V.R. Born, A. Farah, H. Herken and A.D. Welch (Eds.) (Springer, Heidelberg, 1980, 734 p., DM 92)
This volume may be of great value for electroencephalographers who are interested in pharmaco-electroencephalography. N o fewer than 59 contributors in 26 chapters deal with different aspects of antipsychotics and andidepressants. Since the book also contains m a n y chapters which go far beyond the range of electroencephalography, this review is confined to those chapters which seem to be relevant to the scope of this Journal. The large number of articles is hard to reconcile with a homogeneous structure of the content of this voluminous book. Thus, several overlappings are found (e.g. ch. 4 'Behavioural pharmacology and antipsychotics' by Kreiskott and ch. 6 'Stereotyped behavior and its relevance for testing neuroleptics' by Randrup et al.). Some of the contributions consist of a few pages only and have even similar titles (ch. 9 and 10: 'Biochemical effects of neuroleptic drugs' by Bartholini and Lloyd, and 'Biochemical effects (in men)' by Ackenheil); or ch. 12 'Clinical pharmacology (pharmacokinetics)' by MiHler-Oerlinghausen, and 13 'Metabolism and kinetics' by Breyer-Pfaff, with 11 and 12 pages, respectively, the list of references not included). The still existing confusion in the nomenclature of psychotropic drugs was probably one reason to divide the psychotropic agents into two large groups, 'antipsychotics,' and the rest of agents which all were put together under the heading 'antidepressants.' That not even this rather violent act was able to solve the problem of terminology is illustrated by ch. 15 'Endocrine effects of neuroleptics' by Sulmant and Givant, in section VIII, headed 'Antidepressants.' Yet also the arrangement of the chapters is not kept up to the end: oh. 17 ' M A O inhibitors and antidepressants" by Kline and Cooper is a short monograph starting with their history, then dealing with pharmacology, function, mode of action, experimental evaluation, and a practicum for clinical use, among others, whereas the following chapter by Moiler-Nielsen is purely a presentation of the general pharmacology of tricyclic antidepressants, as the title reads. On the other hand, ch. 26 ' A n t i p s y c h o t i c s and experimental seizure models' by Kretzsctunar and Teschendorf is an article belonging to both the antidepressants and antipsychotics. This lack of consistency, certainly due to the great number of authors, will make it difficult for the user to extract the optimum of information from the volume. It is for this reason that once more the question may arise, whether ' H a n d b o o k s ' in the traditional sense of the word can still fulfill their purpose today. The editors saw themselves faced with the onerous task to have reviewed an immense field of knowledge: Would it not have been better to do this with the help of only a few scientists and to burden them with a heavy task than to choose a large number of representative authors and to charge each with a small section only?
BOOK REVIEWS As to references, however, this book is a rich source. A list of references follows each chapter. The 3-columned author index comprises no fewer than 90 pages. Apart from some contributions already mentioned, the following chapters may be of particular interest for the users of this Journal: ch. 7 'Neurophysiological properties of neuroleptic agents in animals' in which Jurna gives a comprehensive and valuable review of this field. This chapter is followed by a brief article by Roubicek on 'Antipsychotics: neurophysiological properties (in man)' in which mainly the author's own power spectra studies are dealt with. The "Neurophysiological properties of antidepressants in animals' are described in ch. 19 in a very concise and yet informative way by Gertrud Gogolitk, with most emphasis laid on EEG studies. The following chapter, ch. 20 by Itil and Soldatos, dealing with the same topic in man (' Clinical neurophysiological properties of antidepressants'), is unfortunately only a review of the authors' own studies by means of their preferred method of EEG quantification. A further article of possible interest for the clinical electroencephalographer is Lader and Bhanji's ch. 24 "Physiological and psychological effects of antidepressants in man,' a paper of 8 pages only, which therefore hardly can be considered an extensive review. The last chapter, by Kretzschmar and Teschendorf, on 'Antipsychotics and experimental seizure models' is concerned with the seizure potentiation effect of neuroleptics. To discuss the chapters on biochemistry, toxicity, pharmacokinetics, behavioral and endocrine effects, which are extensively treated in the volume, would go too far in this context. One chapter, however, deserves special attention: Janke's 'Psychometric and psychophysiological actions of antipsychotics in men' (ch. 14), a review based on single-doses studies with healthy subjects. It deals with both psychometric methods and psychophysiological findings and is likely to be of great value for every clinician who wants to obtain hard data in his drug studies. In spite of the short-comings quoted above, the editors have to be congratulated on their herculean task, to have brought together the numerous facts, obtained by so many different techniques in many and rapidly growing fields. It is perhaps chimerical nowadays to still expect from a ' H a n d b o o k ' a fairly comprehensive presentation of the today's knowledge in one discipline without too many inconsistencies and redundancies. H. PETSCHE
Institute of Neurophysiology, University of Vienna, Vienna (Austria)
The thalamus and midbrain of man. A physiological atlas using electrical s t i m u l a t i o n . - R.R. Tasker, L.W. Organ and P.A. Hawrylyshyn (Thomas, Springfield, !11., 1982, 505 p., U.S. $49.50) In this volume the authors provide a vade mecum to a long experience with h u m a n depth stimulation. Part I entitled Techniques gives a brief review of the twostage stereotaxic technique using the Leksell frame and both air