Chemical and Molecular Basis of Nerve Activity

Chemical and Molecular Basis of Nerve Activity contains 16 chapters that discuss the significant advances in the study of the molecular events underlying bioelectricity and nerve excitability. After briefly describing the physiology and mechanisms of the nervous system, this book goes on examining the physiologically significant features and nerve activity roles of acetylcholines and acetylcholinesterase. A chapter highlights the mechanism of acetylcholinerase inhibition by nerve gases and insecticides. Other chapters explore the characteristic properties of choline acetylase enzyme; the relationships between chemical forces and electrical activity; and the effect of acetylcholine and analog compounds on the isolation of receptor protein and on synaptic junctions. The remaining chapters deal with the essential role of acetylcholine in the generation of bioelectric current and the differences between axonal conduction and synaptic transmission. The supplementary texts look into the progress in the biochemistry of excitability and present an integral model of nerve excitability. This book will be of great benefit to biologists and neurologists.