Discovery Of Neurotransmitters Research Articles

Considerations of Consciousness and Emotive Memory

The role of chemistry is generally overlooked in theories of consciousness; most neuroscientists focus exclusively on electrodynamic signaling. We argue that chemodynamic signaling modes must also be considered. As an aide to continuing this discourse, we clarify key terms, namely: Feelings, Emotions, Code and Neural net. In particular, we distinguish between “memory” as applied to the binary formatted “information” employed by computers, which lack any affective quality, and “emotive memory”, the recall of subjective “cognitive information” experienced by neural nets. Most concepts of consciousness focused on the electrodynamic activation, witness the many popular books and movies, as well as scientific papers based on this premise. However, the discovery of neurotransmitters (NTs) and development of psychoactive drugs indicates that consciousness is also enabled by chemodynamic processes, which particularly impact affective states. A graphic timeline is presented which highlights the historical milestones in the neuroscientific clarification of signaling modes pertinent to consciousness. We opine that a combined chemodynamic and electrodynamic description of emotive memory will clarify the causative processes from which the experiential consciousness of the neural net emerges. Consider that without chemically encoded emotive memory, a conscious creature could not long survive; its consciousness would be moot.

Elliot S Valenstein, The war of the soups and the sparks: the discovery of neurotransmitters and the dispute over how nerves communicate, New York, Columbia University Press, 2005, pp. xviii, 237, illus., £19.50, $31.00 (hardback 0-231-13588-2).

Elliot S Valenstein, The war of the soups and the sparks: the discovery of neurotransmitters and the dispute over how nerves communicate, New York, Columbia University Press, 2005, pp. xviii, 237, illus., £19.50, $31.00 (hardback 0-231-13588-2).

The War of the Soups and the Sparks: The Discovery of Neurotransmitters and the Dispute over How Nerves Communicate (review)

The War of the Soups and the Sparks: The Discovery of Neurotransmitters and the Dispute over How Nerves Communicate (review)

The war of the soups and the sparks: the discovery of neurotransmitters and the dispute over how nerves communicate

1. Setting the Stage: The Neuron Doctrine and the Synapse2. The Autonomic Nervous System: Testing Drugs on Visceral Organs and Skeletal Muscles3. An Idea Ahead of Its Time: The First Hint at the Existence of Chemical Neurotransmitters4. Henry Dale: Laying the Foundation5. Otto Loewi: An Inspired Dream and a Speculative Leap6. The Road to the Nobel Prize7. Walter Cannon: A Near Miss by America's Most Renowned Physiologist8. The War of the Soups and the Sparks9. Loewi, Dale, and Cannon: The Later Years10. Brain Neurotransmitters: A New Continent to Explore11. Epilogue: Some Final ReflectionsNotesIndex

A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewFull AccessA History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of ProzacWalter E. Barton, M.D.Walter E. BartonSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:1 Sep 1998https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.49.9.1241AboutSectionsView EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail This is the right time for this new book, a social history of psychiatry that examines changing attitudes toward mental illness, the contributors to the changes, and the advances in clinical practice. Edward Shorter's history admirably meets these objectives. It is interesting, clear, and lively, and it answers the question "Why did the change occur?" In providing answers, the author is often opinionated and controversial. He is certain to get your attention and to make you think.The author has impressive credentials. He is the Hannah professor of the history of medicine at the University of Toronto. He has written several books on such medical topics as the modern family, bedside manners, women's bodies, and psychosomatic illness.Shorter develops his history of psychiatry in eight chapters. Some of the highlights are outlined here.The birth of psychiatry. Johann Reil coined the word "psychiatry" in 1816. The mad were cared for by their families, and jails took over when the family couldn't handle them. Monasteries and almshouses helped out when there was no family.The asylum era. One reason for the growth in numbers of patients in the asylums, Shorter says, was the admission of those who were already mad but had previously been cared for by families and almshouses. The author also writes about the handling of patients in the asylums, and why the asylum failed.The first biological psychiatry. Research and teaching in psychiatry were dominated by the Germans for 100 years, until 1933. The individuals who left their names on signs and syndromes are discussed. The reader can discover why Kraepelin and not Freud was the dominant historical figure.Nerves. In the second half of the 19th century, nerves, nervousness, and neurasthenia offered an escape from the asylum. Shorter describes how the spa became fashionable for psychiatric conditions, and he discusses the impact of Weir Mitchell's "rest cure."The psychoanalytic hiatus. This chapter covers the roots of Freudian concepts and how psychoanalysis made it possible to wrest treatment of patients from the neurologists. The author believes Freud was a disaster.Alternatives. Discussed here is the evolution of therapy for neurosyphilis, insulin coma therapy, lobotomy, and electroshock. The reader learns why the author thinks "the subject of community psychiatry in the United States was, and remains, a kind of grotesque joke."The second biological psychiatry. This chapter begins with the antecedents, such as early genetic studies, of the second biological psychiatry, which burst forth in the 1970s. By 1995 a gene defect in schizophrenia was tentatively located on chromosome 6. Research on the brain and the discovery of neurotransmitters are discussed. The excitement caused by chlorpromazine and the many drugs that followed is a fascinating account. The chapter also describes the rise of antipsychiatry and ends with the controversy over electroconvulsive therapy.From Freud to Prozac. Shorter notes that the end of the 20th century saw a new tendency for people "to psychologize distress, rather than to medicalize it," which increases the demand for psychologic therapy. Also evident is the extension of the boundary of what constitutes depression. Prozac is the drug that makes people feel better.Also discussed here is the recognition of the need for a reliable classification of diagnoses so what some scientists say means the same to all scientists. The chapter covers early DSM s, John Feighner's criteria published in 1972, DSM-III and DSM-III-R with Robert Spitzer, and the continuing evolution with DSM-IV.Edward Shorter's A History of Psychiatry is recommended reading for all psychiatrists and mental health professionals. The curious will discover the author's perception of the role of drug companies in creating a demand for their product, his view of why asylums were formed and why they failed, and why he thinks psychoanalysis and Freudian concepts were a disaster that slowed the discovery of neuroscience.The book is must reading for all who have an interest in medical history. Shorter tells a most readable story of change and development over 200 years.Dr. Barton is professor of psychiatry emeritus at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. He is a past-president and former medical director of the American Psychiatric Association.by Edward Shorter; New York City, John Wiley & Sons, 1997, 436 pages, $30 FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByUse of a decision support system for benchmarking analysis and organizational improvement of regional mental health care: Efficiency, stability and entropy assessment of the mental health ecosystem of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain)22 March 2022 | PLOS ONE, Vol. 17, No. 3 Volume 49Issue 9 September 1998Pages 1241-1242 Metrics History Published online 1 September 1998 Published in print 1 September 1998

Cerebral circulation revisited: An historical essay

Three centuries of investigations relevant to cerebral circulation, from the discoveries of circulation by Harvey (1628) and Willis (1664) to the 2-deoxyglucose methods of Sokoloff (1977), have been surveyed. Perspective is provided from discussion of such developments as: the discovery of oxygen and its role in combustion, respiration and cellular metabolism; recognition of the blood-brain barrier especially as selective exchange transport systems; introduction of the concept of metabolism and elucidation of details of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation; the discovery of neurotransmitters and an understanding of the ionic bases for conduction and neural activity; and introduction of modern techniques for studying cerebral circulation and metabolism, specifically, the Kety-Schmidt N2O method and the Sokoloff [14C]deoxyglucose autoradiographic method for regional and local applications, with subsequent adaptation to PET studies in situ.