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The brain vascular system
BOOK REVIEWS (157 pages) can be read in a n afternoon, and this is not an inordinate investment of time to obtain a quick overview of the area. The book is divided into two sections, the first half being Sternbaeh's text, and the second a collection of reprints from the area of psychophysiology. While Sternbach defines psychophysiology as "...the study of the interrelationships between the physiological and psychological aspects of behavior ...typically [employing] h u m a n subjects...", placing no restriction on the physiological measures used (except that they are "usually recorded on a polygraph"), he proceeds to ignore, in large part, the mass of E E G data pertaining to the subject. Brief mention of alpha blocking is given in the chapter on activation, but no consideration is given to evoked potential changes and perception, conditioned "driving" or to the "contingent negative variation", all of which fall under his definition of the area. It is also notable that minimal treatment is given to E M G phenomena. As one might expect, this leaves the book slanted heavily toward a consideration of the autonomic nervous system. Even here the treatment is incomplete. However, some understanding of the basic concepts, such as autonomic balance, the Law of Initial Values, stimulus-response specificity and individual response stereotype, is imparted. The presentations of some of the more involved concepts, such as Lacey's Autonomic Lability Score and the use of covariance analysis, are so light as to be confusing. Most of the illustrated examples are unfortunately not real; they are not even "typical examples", but are schemata. The set of references is too short to be of much real value. The selection of readings is quite good, sampling from such giants in the field as Cannon, Gellhorn, Darrow, R. C. Davis, Sclmore and Wenger. The real value of the book is in this collection of papers, for most of these are not easily accessible to the student. Noteworthy for its absence from this collection is the work by Lacey and his co-workers. Philosophically, Sternbach is apparently an amateur dualist, a n d most of the material he presents relative to the goals and values of psychophysiology and his attempts to delineate psychophysiology from physiological psychology are of little value. In short, if the book were to be issued as a moderately priced paperback, it would be worth buying, largely for the collection of reprints it contains. DALE W. MCADAM
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa (U.S.A.) Electroenceph. clin. NeurophysioL, 1967, 22:594-595 The brain vascular system. - - Harry A. Kaplan and Donald H. Ford (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1966, 230 p., ~12.00).
This monograph offers a valuable survey on the vascular network of the central nervous system based primarily on gross anatomical preparations by the authors. The embryonic development of the vascular system of the central nervous system is reviewed in great detail; this portion of the book amounts to almost one-fifth of the entire text. This chapter is well written and illustrated by
595
drawings. It represents an excellent summary of the subject and fills a n important gap in the literature. The bulk of this monograph deals with the microscopic anatomy of the arterial and venous system of the brain according to different anatomical regions. All major arteries and veins are described systematically on the basis of anatomical dissections and X-ray photographs of individual blood vessels, injected post mortem. The distribution of various vascular branches is also represented in diagrams for easy survey. Special attention is given to the arterial collateral circulation, both extracranial and intracranial. These chapters are of considerable interest to clinicians, and particularly to those dealing with cerobrovascular accidents resulting in infarction and to neurosurgeons who treat aneurysms and other vascular malformations by direct surgical approach. The vascular supply of the spinal cord is described briefly, but adequately, including the relative importance of the various segmental arteries. Considerable attention is given, in a separate chapter, to the meninges, their gross anatomy, development, microscopic anatomy, and their relationship to the vascular system. Some of this, as well as the subsequent description of the cisternal and ventricular system, seems to represent somewhat of a deviation from the original purpose of the monograph. A great deal of minute attention is paid to the choroid plexuses and to the arachnoid villi; this is justified on the basis of their relationship to the vascular system. However, the detailed histology and electron microscopy of these structures only emphasizes the lack of a similar microscopic description of the cerebral vasculature proper. The review on formation and function of the cerebrospinal fluid should have been perhaps more elaborate. Similarly, the final chapter on the anatomy and physiology of the blood-brain barrier seems to be too brief. It also deals with some aspects of the barrier in detail while it leaves others without adequate coverage. This is likely to cause confusion to the reader with limited knowledge on the subject to whom this part of the book must have been addressed. A n interesting touch has been added by reproducing the appropriate wood cuts from the Fabrica of Vesalius at the onset of most of the chapters. The value of these reproductions could have been enhanced by an explanatory text concerning the errors in these illustrations according to our present-day knowledge of the vascular system. This book, in particular the meticulous and wellreproduced treatment of the embryonic development and adult morphology of the vascular system, is an important contribution and fills an important gap in the medical literature at a time when the clinical importance of the cerebral vasculature is greater than ever. The printing and design of the book is elegant and the illustrations, both photographic and radiographic, are beautifully reproduced. LOUIS BAKAY, M.D.
State University of New York, Buffalo, N. Y. (U.S.A.) Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1967, 22:595
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa (U.S.A.) Electroenceph. clin. NeurophysioL, 1967, 22:594-595 The brain vascular system. - - Harry A. Kaplan and Donald H. Ford (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1966, 230 p., ~12.00).
This monograph offers a valuable survey on the vascular network of the central nervous system based primarily on gross anatomical preparations by the authors. The embryonic development of the vascular system of the central nervous system is reviewed in great detail; this portion of the book amounts to almost one-fifth of the entire text. This chapter is well written and illustrated by
595
drawings. It represents an excellent summary of the subject and fills a n important gap in the literature. The bulk of this monograph deals with the microscopic anatomy of the arterial and venous system of the brain according to different anatomical regions. All major arteries and veins are described systematically on the basis of anatomical dissections and X-ray photographs of individual blood vessels, injected post mortem. The distribution of various vascular branches is also represented in diagrams for easy survey. Special attention is given to the arterial collateral circulation, both extracranial and intracranial. These chapters are of considerable interest to clinicians, and particularly to those dealing with cerobrovascular accidents resulting in infarction and to neurosurgeons who treat aneurysms and other vascular malformations by direct surgical approach. The vascular supply of the spinal cord is described briefly, but adequately, including the relative importance of the various segmental arteries. Considerable attention is given, in a separate chapter, to the meninges, their gross anatomy, development, microscopic anatomy, and their relationship to the vascular system. Some of this, as well as the subsequent description of the cisternal and ventricular system, seems to represent somewhat of a deviation from the original purpose of the monograph. A great deal of minute attention is paid to the choroid plexuses and to the arachnoid villi; this is justified on the basis of their relationship to the vascular system. However, the detailed histology and electron microscopy of these structures only emphasizes the lack of a similar microscopic description of the cerebral vasculature proper. The review on formation and function of the cerebrospinal fluid should have been perhaps more elaborate. Similarly, the final chapter on the anatomy and physiology of the blood-brain barrier seems to be too brief. It also deals with some aspects of the barrier in detail while it leaves others without adequate coverage. This is likely to cause confusion to the reader with limited knowledge on the subject to whom this part of the book must have been addressed. A n interesting touch has been added by reproducing the appropriate wood cuts from the Fabrica of Vesalius at the onset of most of the chapters. The value of these reproductions could have been enhanced by an explanatory text concerning the errors in these illustrations according to our present-day knowledge of the vascular system. This book, in particular the meticulous and wellreproduced treatment of the embryonic development and adult morphology of the vascular system, is an important contribution and fills an important gap in the medical literature at a time when the clinical importance of the cerebral vasculature is greater than ever. The printing and design of the book is elegant and the illustrations, both photographic and radiographic, are beautifully reproduced. LOUIS BAKAY, M.D.
State University of New York, Buffalo, N. Y. (U.S.A.) Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1967, 22:595