The Neuron: Cell and Molecular Biology - Softcover

Levitan, Irwin B.; Kaczmarek, Leonard K.

4.4

40 ratings by Goodreads

9780195100211: The Neuron: Cell and Molecular Biology

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195100212 ISBN 13: 9780195100211

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1996

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Intended for use by advanced undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, The Neuron: Cell and Molecular Biology is an intriguing study of the unique biochemical and physiological properties of neurons, which emphasizes the molecular mechanisms that generate and regulate their activity. Keeping abreast of the enormous advances in neuroscience in the five years since the first edition was published, the authors have revised all their chapters in the second edition. What was formerly the first chapter has been expanded substantially and divided into two separate chapters to emphasize the cell biology of neurons and glia, and their commonalities with other kinds of cells. The section on intracellular communication has also been expanded and reorganized.
Levitan and Kaczmarek introduce the concept of ion channels as specialized membrane proteins at an early stage, making the idea of selective membrane permeability more accessible in terms of the properties of specific ion channel proteins. In addition, they emphasize the astonishing diversity of voltage-dependent ion channels that has become evident in recent years, and discuss the implications of this diversity for neuronal physiology.
In the section on intercellular communication, the chapter on neurotransmitter secretion has also been rewritten to reflect the new level of understanding of secretion that has resulted from the identification of many of the molecular players in vesicle fusion and exocytosis. The other chapters in this section have also been fully revised to incorporate new information resulting from the cloning and characterization of the multitude of glutamate receptors as well as to describe novel elements of intracellular signaling pathways in neurons and other cells. Finally, the last section has been substantially updated to reflect the recent successes of molecular studies of development and plasticity. As more and more of the molecular entities that are essential for neuronal development and adult plasticity are identified and characterized, phenomena that previously could be studied only at the descriptive level can now be explained in greater depth.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Irwin B. Levitan, Ph.D., is the Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Neuroscience at Brandeis University. Leonard K. Kaczmarek, Ph.D., is Professor of Pharmacology and Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and Chairman of the Pharmacology Department at Yale University School of Medicine.

Review:

Praise for the First Edition:

"The text is impressively modern, with up-to-date information on the trendiest areas of neurobiology. The book is highly visual, with figures on virtually every page. The figures deserve special comment because they are a teacher's dream: simple and uncluttered, but conceptually powerful.
Frankly, although the recommendation is often abused, The Neuron is one of those books that really do belong on every shelf."--Nature

"The authors have produced an extremely well integrated, highly readable, soft-cover volume which can introduce students of neuroscience into the field and graduates into a refresher and review on recent developments in a most readable and logical progression....Interspersed with
wisdom."--Journal of the Neurological Sciences

"The authors have risen to the challenge of distillation in this contemporary and useful book. This is a first rate textbook for a course in cellular neurobiology for upper-level university students. The students appreciated the consistent clarity and the uniformity of style. The illustrations
are highly conceptual and were easily understood. The up-to-date presentation of many exciting recent findings is a great strength. The authors have contributed a monograph devoted to this subject that is a handy primer for many, and a reference volume for others and their research has contributed
significantly to our current understanding."--The Quarterly Review of Biology

"Very well written...This book will be of use in enlightening even senior specialists not directly related to the field such as pathologists and non-neurobiologists...beautifully illustrated....A must for every teaching and research laboratory."--Cell Biology International Reports

"...this [is] an outstanding, easily readable, and quite up-to-date overview of fundamental neurobiology."--Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences "In the summary, this is a superbly written and well-illustated text covering all the major aspects of neuroscientific knowledge....Regardless
of the state of knowledge or the specific expertise of the reader, every neuroscientist should keep a copy handy."--om the "Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Vol. 24, no.4, 1999)." well-illustrated text covering all the major

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.