The Fourth Edition of The Neuron provides a comprehensive first course in the cell and molecular biology of nerve cells. The book begins with properties of the many newly discovered ion channels that have emerged through mapping of the genome. These channels shape the way a single neuron generates varied patterns of electrical activity. Covered next are the molecular mechanisms that convert electrical activity into the secretion of neurotransmitter hormones at synaptic junctions between neurons. The following section examines the biochemical pathways that are linked to the action of neurotransmitters and that can alter the cellular properties of neurons or sensory cells that transduce information from the outside world into the electrical code used by neurons. The final section reviews our rapidly expanding knowledge of the molecular factors that induce an undifferentiated cell to become a neuron, and then guide it to form appropriate synaptic connections with its partners. This section also focuses on the role of ongoing experience and activity in shaping these connections, and finishes with an account of mechanisms thought to underlie the phenomena of learning and memory. The book contains scores of color figures and fully updated chapters; online content packaged exclusively with the Fourth Edition includes detailed animations of neural processes, in-depth supplemental reading, and additional full-color figures and tables.

This volume provides an introduction to the general principles of neuromodulation--the key neurobiological process for understanding how the brain works. Emphasizing ion channels and biochemical mechanisms of protein phosphorylation, the book shows how neurons regulate their intracellular calcium concentration by modulating the activity of certain ion channels. It goes on to explain the function of intracellular calcium and describes some fascinating neuromodulatory phenomena in the mammalian brain that have long awaited the kind of mechanistic investigations possible in simpler systems. Bridging the gap between neurochemistry and neurophysiology, the authors make complex concepts and research approaches comprehensible to scientists in either field.