Molecules and Mental Illness
by Samuel H. Barondes
List Price:
Our Price: $19.00
You Save: $46.00 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Samuel H. BarondesEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-02
ISBN: 8189617443
Number of pages: 225
Publisher: Indo American Books
Book Reviews of Molecules and Mental Illness
Book Review: About the Book
Summary: 5 Stars
About the Book
In the past few decades we have learned a great deal about proteins and nucleic acids, the molecular building blocks of all biological systems. This knowledge is being applied in many branches of medicine. The goal of this book is to show its impact on our view of mental illness and its treatment.
Until recently, few people have been thinking about the connections between molecules and mental illness, because to do this requires familiarity with two very different intellectual and professional traditions. Myopportunity to combine them came during my postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) between 1960 and 1963. When I arrived at NIH, I had completed medical school and was thinking of embarking on a career in psychiatry. But I also wanted to learn more about fundamental biology by working in a laboratory. At NIH I met Gordon Tomkins, who was deeply committed to relating basic science to medicine and had founded a department to achieve this goal. Gordon was bursting with knowledge and enthusiasm about the infant field of molecular biology and was convinced that it would ultimately explain almost everything (which, to me, meant even psychiatry).
To provide a taste of molecular biology, Gordon arranged for me to become the second postdoctoral fellow in the then tiny laboratory of Mar-shall Nirenberg. I began there immediately before Marshall`s discovery that a synthetic nucleic acid, called poly U, could act as an artificial genetic message. Within months I became an industrious student of poly U, while Marshall went on to work with other synthetic nucleic acids, ultimately deciphering the genetic code by which nucleic acid sequences are translated into the language of proteins. It was obvious to me, and to everyone else, that Marshall`s work was monumental; and within a few years it was honored with a Nobel prize. The experience was an extraordinarily exciting introduction to the laboratory, and supported Gordon`s belief that, if you study things at the molecular level, anything is possible. I was hooked.
After a year in Gordon`s laboratory in which I began to use molecular techniques to study the mechanism for storing memories in the brain, I went on to psychiatric training and have worked in both psychiatry and basic biological sciences ever since. Although the integration of these fields has progressed more slowly than I would have liked, the pace is picking up. This book is designed to provide enough essential information about biology and psychiatry for readers unfamiliar with both fields to appreciate how they are coming together.
In writing this book I have been greatly aided by the advice of many colleagues and friends and have enjoyed the benefit of working with an extraordinary group of professionals at Scientific American Library. Two people I wish to single out for special thanks are my editor, Sonia Deviatory, and my assistant Anne Poirier, who each made invaluable contributions. My daughters Elizabeth and Jessica, both more comfortable with words than with molecules, were often my target audience. "Recapitulation (in Verse)" is especially for them. I hope you like it too.
Summary of Molecules and Mental Illness
Mental illness overwhelms its millions of victims with a variety of disabling symptoms, including extreme fearfulness, depression, and inability to distinguish the imagined from the real. In the late 19th century many psychiatrists, including the young Sigmund Freud, were convinced these disorders were biological in origin. But when Freud concluded that the knowledge and methods of that time were too limited to attack the complex problems of mental illness, he turned his attention to exploring its psychological aspects, setting a course that psychiatry would follow for many decades. Today, supported by the huge growth of molecular, genetic, and cellular research, the biological approach to psychiatry is making tremendous strides. As a result, we are poised to achieve significant new levels of success in alleviating the suffering of the mentally ill. In this volume the author describes the crucial role biological research is playing in modern psychiatry. The book explains the essential principles of human genetics, molecular biology, neuroscience and psychopharmacology that are helping scientists and practitioners understand the biological roots of mental illness.Molecular Biology Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Molecular Biology Books
The Eye's Aqueous Humor, Volume 45: From Secretion to Glaucoma (Current Topics in Membranes) (Vol 45)Academic Press; Published: 1998-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $97.33
Principles of Molecular Virology (Standard Edition), Third Editionby Alan J. Cann
Academic Press; Published: 2001-03-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.34
Price in other shops:
Amiloride-Sensitive Sodium Channels: Physiology and Functional Diversity, Volume 47 (Current Topics in Membranes)Academic Press; Published: 1999-05-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $48.98
Price in other shops:
Chloride Channels, Volume 42 (Current Topics in Membranes)Academic Press; Published: 1994-08-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $188.82
Price in other shops:
Guide to Human Genome Computing, Second EditionAcademic Press; Published: 1998-04-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $45.00
Price in other shops:
Foundations of Comparative Genomicsby Arcady R. Mushegian
Academic Press; Published: 2007-04-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $78.10
Price in other shops:
Microarrays (The Experimenter Series)by Hans-Joachim Müller, Thomas Roeder
Academic Press; Published: 2005-12-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Biological Thermodynamicsby Donald T. Haynie
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2001-03-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.99
Price in other shops:
Biological Thermodynamicsby Donald T. Haynie
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2008-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.97
Price in other shops:
Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons (Computational Neuroscience)by Christof Koch
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2004-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $53.19
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Blaming the Brain: The Truth About Drugs and Mental Healthby Elliot Valenstein
Free Press; Published: 2002-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Mood Genes: Hunting for Origins of Mania and Depression (Oxford Paperbacks)by Samuel H. Barondes
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1999-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Better than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugsby Samuel H. Barondes
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2005-02-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.07
Price in other shops:
Making Sense of People: Decoding the Mysteries of Personality (FT Press Science)by Samuel Barondes
FT Press; Published: 2011-07-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops: