Synaptic Transmission Cellular and Molecular Basis

A comprehensive, up-to-date review of synaptic transmission, covering all major aspects of the subject, from the biosynthesis of neurotransmitters through release mechanisms to receptors and signaling. Zimmermann also demonstrates the integration of recent discoveries about the nervous systemof higher animals into a larger picture that notes functional and structural similarities between neurons and non-neuronal cells, primitive neurons and even plant systems. This area, which is advancing rapidly, is a topic taught at some length in all neurobiology courses, and could also be thesubject of an advanced seminar course. An outstanding overview, the book cites virtually all of the important papers in the recent literature, and the accessible text is supported by numerous two-color illustrations and section summaries. This book would serve as a supplementary text or primer inthis area for graduate students and for investigators in related fields. Because it gives more current coverage than is readily available in neuroscience textbooks, the work may also be useful as a monograph to some neurobiologists.

Herbert Zimmermann is a Professor at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat in Frankfurt, Germany.