The Neuromodulators

Glutamate and GABA are the main information carrying neurotransmitters in the brain. Their action is modulated by a further series of small molecules called neuromodulators. The major neuromodulators in the brain are acetylcholine (both muscarinic and nicotinic), dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine and serotonin. These have an enormous range of functions in a wide variety of brain mechanisms. This book attempts to give a general overview of this field with a section devoted to each of these. Each section starts with anatomy, both structural and functional. The various types of receptors for these agents are described and then the effects of stimulating these receptors. These receptors trigger a variety of electrical reactions that generally involve potassium, sodium or calcium channels. Also reviewed are other receptors that trigger a wide variety of post-synaptic signaling cascades that influence a large number of neuronal functions including receptor sensitivity, synaptic plasticity and gene manipulation. Finally the relevance of these systems to disease states is detailed. There are many reviews of individual neuromodulators but this is the only book where one author attempts to cover the whole field.

Professor Peter Jenner is a specialist in preclinical aspects of neurodegenerative diseases, notably Parkinson’s disease. He has spent the major part of his career at King’s College London where he was Head of Pharmacology for 14 years before returning to his research roots and subsequently becoming Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology. Peter has expertise in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics but neuropharmacology based on functional models of neurodegenerative diseases has formed the major focus of his work. Peter holds a BPharm, PhD and DSc degree from the University of London. He has published well over 1000 articles with more than 700 peer reviewed papers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the British Pharmacological Society, the Royal Society of Medicine and of King’s College London. Peter was recently honoured with a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest and made an Honorary Fellow of The British Pharmacological Society for his contribution to research in to movement disorders.

Peter has worked closely with the pharmaceutical industry for many years and acts as an adviser and consultant to both major pharma and biotech companies. He has a wide knowledge of the drug discovery and drug development process and has been involved from molecule synthesis through to drug registration for use in man. Peter was the Founder, Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Proximagen, a biotech focussed on the treatment and cure of neurodegenerative diseases that was listed on AIMs and subsequently purchased by a US based healthcare company. He is a regular speaker at international meetings and also takes time to speak at Parkinson’s disease patient-carer groups across the UK.

John Smythies is a neuropsychiatrist and neuroscientist and has made significant contributions to both these disciplines. Together with Humphrey Osmond he developed the first biochemical theory of schizophrenia―the transmethylation hypothesis. This has recently come back into focus following the finding that DNA methylation is abnormal in schizophrenia. He has made extensive contributions to knowledge in a number of fields including the neuropharmacology of psychedelic drugs; the functional neuroanatomy of synapses with particular regard to the role of synaptic plasticity, endocytosis and redox factors ; the role in the brain of orthoquinone metabolites of catecholamines; and, in particular, theories of brain-consciousness relations. More recently he has worked on epigenetic processes in information processing in the brain, and the functional neuroanatomy of the claustrum. Smythies has served as President of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology from 1970-1974, Consultant to the World Health Organization from 1963-1968, and Editor of the International Review of Neurobiology from 1958-1991. He was elected a member of the Athenaeum in 1968. He has published over 240 scientific papers and sixteen books. Smythies has held positions as the Charles Byron Ireland Professor of Psychiatric Research at the University of Alabama Medical Center at Birmingham, Visiting Scholar at the Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California San Diego, and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Neurology, University College London.