Nicotinic Acetycholine Receptors - From Molecular Biology to Cognition

'This book is unlike any recent scientific book. It is more like a forty-year research meeting in one of the world's most creative neurobiology laboratories -- an intellectual tour de force that surveys an extraordinary range of fields of inquiry, from snake venom action to myasthenia gravis, addiction, learning, schizophrenia, and cognitive function. To undertake the study of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in all its aspects requires a Renaissance mind, and it is exactly this that Changeux and Edelstein have brought to bear on one of the most important topics in neuroscience.' -- Tamas Bartfai, Chair and Professor, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute'The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor has served for many decades as the prototype for neurotransmitter receptors. Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter shown to be involved in the function of the mammalian brain and its nicotinic receptor the first receptor to be characterized. Jean-Pierre Changeux is the indisputable pioneer in this field. This volume summarizes with great lucidity the history of a highly important topic in neuroscience.' -- Paul Greengard, Nobel Laureate in Medicine, The Rockefeller University'One hesitates to call this book a monograph, for despite its comprehensive treatment of a complex subject it is not meant solely for specialized readers. In concentrating on a single class of neuroreceptors, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, it seeks to draw out general principles which apply more widely. It will therefore be welcomed not only by serious workers and students in the field of neurobiology, but also by anyone interested in the broader field of neuroscience.' -- Sir Aaron Klug OM FRS, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, University of Cambridge'The human brain is as much a chemical as an electrical network. Its intricacy and sophistication set it apart from any known technical device. The groundbreaking papers by Monod, Jacob, Wyman, and Changeux in the 1960s on chemical regulation and control were eye-opening for all of us who were doing experimental research in this field, and they have turned out to be crucial for understanding biological evolution and learning in a broad sense. Since then Changeux and Edelstein have achieved international fame for their work on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, amply documented in this masterful account.' -- Manfred Eigen, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Goettingen'Changeux and Edelstein have provided a concise yet highly comprehensive account of perhaps the prototypical neurotransmitter complex, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The story of how the roles played by this signal transduction system in nicotine dependence, learning, memory, and the processes of cognition came to be unraveled is an exciting saga, both beautiful and profound. A lovely historico-scientific document.' -- Floyd E. Bloom, Professor Emeritus, The Scripps Research Institute'Changeux and Edelstein describe a classically Cartesian process of scientific investigation that leads to a most non-Cartesian conclusion. Having elucidated the mechanisms of action and interaction by which the various elements that make up the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor operate throughout the nervous system, from neuromuscular junctions to the brain itself, the authors turn to the role of these structures and mechanisms in supporting cognition and giving access to consciousness -- thus parting ways with Descartes and the view that the mind is able somehow to exist independently of the body. A work of truly remarkable erudition and insight.' -- Roger Guillemin, Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Salk Institute for Biological Studies'From the molecule to thought itself -- an extraordinary journey! Changeux and Edelstein are uniquely qualified to relate this utterly fascinating story, whose philosophical implications are no less important than the scientific research underlying them.' -- Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, ISIS-UniversitÚ Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg'Approaches a detective story in its accessibility (for the relatively knowledgeable in neuroscience)... Illustrations are clear and informative.' -- Scitech Book News'Appropriate for anyone who is interested in the scientific process... This book will become a classic on the process of scientific discovery.' -- Doody's Review Service