The second volume of the Handbook does not parallel any volume of the first edition; it is one more sign, or reflection, of the expansion of the field. By emphasizing the experimental approach, it illustrates the tools that have re cently become available for investigating the nervous system. Also, perhaps even more than other volumes, it illustrates the multidisciplinary nature of the field, requiring multidisciplinary methodology. It is now recognized that the availability of methodology is often the rate-limiting determinant of studies and that improvements or innovations in instrumentation can open up new avenues. A new improved method, although opening up new possibilities and being crucial to making advances, is only a tool whose use will determine its use fulness. If we do not recognize its possibilities, its use will be limited; if we do not recognize its limitations, it will mislead us. It is the possibilities and limitations and the results obtained that are illustrated here.

This book contains up-dated versions of articles which proved very popular when first published in Neurochemistry International. The articles draw attention to developments in a specific field perhaps unfamiliar to the reader, collating observations from a wide area which seem to point in a new direction, giving the author's personal view on a controversial topic, or directing soundly based criticism at some widely held dogma or widely used technique in the neurosciences.

Basic Neurochemistry: Principles of Molecular, Cellular, and Medical Neurobiology, the outstanding and comprehensive classic text on neurochemistry, is now newly updated and revised in its Eighth Edition. For more than forty years, this text has been the worldwide standard for information on the biochemistry of the nervous system, serving as a resource for postgraduate trainees and teachers in neurology, psychiatry, and basic neuroscience, as well as for medical, graduate, and postgraduate students and instructors in the neurosciences. The text has evolved, as intended, with the science. It is also an excellent source of current information on basic biochemical and cellular processes in brain function and neurological diseases for continuing medical education and qualifying examinations. This text continues to be the standard reference and textbook for exploring the translational nature of neuroscience, bringing basic and clinical neuroscience together in one authoritative volume. Our book title reflects the expanded attention to these links between neurochemistry and neurologic disease. This new edition continues to cover the basics of neurochemistry as in the earlier editions, along with expanded and additional coverage of new research from: Intracellular trafficking; Stem cells, adult neurogenesis, regeneration; Lipid messengers; Expanded coverage of all major neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders; Neurochemistry of addiction; Neurochemistry of pain; Neurochemistry of hearing and balance; Neurobiology of learning and memory; Sleep; Myelin structure, development, and disease; Autism; and Neuroimmunology. Completely updated text with new authors and material, and many entirely new chapters Over 400 fully revised figures in splendid color 61 chapters covering the range of cellular, molecular and medical neuroscience Translational science boxes emphasizing the connections between basic and clinical neuroscience Companion website at http://elsevierdirect.com/companions/9780123749475

Originally published in 2006, the second edition of The Design of Experiments in Neuroscience continues to be an excellent and eminently readable guideline for students beginning their scientific careers. Although all of the examples are specific to neuroscience, this slender volume offers valuable illumination on core practices, principles, and experimental approaches pertinent for all new researchers. Chapter topics cover recognizing pseudoscience, ethics, how to critically read journal articles, how to pick an experimental question, basic research design, controlling variables, and tips for becoming an independent investigator. Each of the eight chapters provides descriptive figures and extra information boxes, questions to check reader comprehension, additional thought questions, further reading suggestions, and Web resources. The six appendixes are as valuable as the main text, including information on working with data, writing research papers, a sample paper, questions and exercises for review, a glossary, and answers to chapter questions. Neuroscientist Harrington (Smith College) has created a wonderful resource that should be a must read for every neuroscientist in training, if not all novice scientists. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students. Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students. Reviewed by C. L. Iwema.

The second volume of the Handbook does not parallel any volume of the first edition; it is one more sign, or reflection, of the expansion of the field. By emphasizing the experimental approach, it illustrates the tools that have re cently become available for investigating the nervous system. Also, perhaps even more than other volumes, it illustrates the multidisciplinary nature of the field, requiring multidisciplinary methodology. It is now recognized that the availability of methodology is often the rate-limiting determinant of studies and that improvements or innovations in instrumentation can open up new avenues. A new improved method, although opening up new possibilities and being crucial to making advances, is only a tool whose use will determine its use fulness. If we do not recognize its possibilities, its use will be limited; if we do not recognize its limitations, it will mislead us. It is the possibilities and limitations and the results obtained that are illustrated here.