PLASTICITY IN NERVE CELL FUNCTION.

Abstract

In clinical practice it is becoming more and more evident that neuronal plasticity plays an important role not only in normal function, but also during pathophysiological events and regeneration in the CNS. Therefore, a book entitled Plasticity in Nerve Cell Function is of potential interest to many clinicians in the field. The book is a monograph written by one of the authorities in the field, Professor Platon Kostyuk, Director of the A. A. Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, Kiev, Ukraine. It should be noted, however, that the emphasis of this book is on the basic, i.e. molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal plasticity with very little discussion concerning the link between neuronal plasticity and clinical practice. For many, the term neuronal plasticity has become more or less synonymous with synaptic plasticity, i.e. changes in the efficacy of synaptic transmission in the CNS. The aim of this book, however, is to discuss neuronal plasticity in its broad sense, including all aspects of neuronal function. As pointed out by the author in the preface of the book, this is a book about the …