The Neuron

Irwin B. Levitan, Ph.D., Founding Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson UniversityLeonard K. Kaczmarek, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

• Preface to the Fourth Edition ; I. Introduction ; 1. Signaling in the Brain ; 2. Form and Function in Cells of the Brain ; II. Electrical Properties of Neurons ; 3. Electrical Signaling in Neurons ; 4. Membrane Ion Channels and Ion Currents ; 5. Ion Channels Are Membrane Proteins ; 6. Ion Channels, Membrane Ion Currents, and the Action Potential ; 7. Diversity in the Structure and Function of Ion Channels ; III. Intercellular Communication ; 8. Intercellular Communication: How Neurons Communicate: Gap Junctions and Neurosecretion ; 9. Synaptic Release of Neurotransmitters ; 10. Neurotransmitters and Neurohormones ; 11. Receptors and Transduction Mechanisms I: Receptors Coupled Directly to Ion Channels ; 12. Receptors and Transduction Mechanisms II: Indirectly Coupled Receptor/Ion Channel Systems ; 13. Sensory Receptors ; IV. Behavior and Plasticity ; 14. The Birth and Death of a Neuron ; 15. Neuronal Growth and Trophic Factors ; 16. Adhesion Molecules and Axon Pathfinding ; 17. Formation, Maintenance, and Plasticity of Chemical Synapses ; 18. Intrinsic Neuronal Properties, Neural Networks and Behavior ; 19. Learning and Memory

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 absurd, The Neuron is one of those books that really does belong on every shelf.