Existential Psychoanalysis

in six parts: (i) intrinsic and extrinsic factors regulating neuronal activity, (ii) contributions to the physiology and pathology of movements, (iii) the physiological basis of consciousness, (iv) some aspects of autonomic physiology, (v) integrations, and (vi) applications. The first two sections could be better organized. His sentences are frequently cumbersome, as witness: "This survey has shown that the centrifugal transmission of motor discharges and the centripetal transport of afferent impulses are related in a simple manner to the excitatory processes set up in motor neurons and sense organs respectively." The outstanding chapters in these two sections are those on experimental convulsions and electromyography. The section on the physiological basis of consciousness provides much better reading than the preceding sections. Here Dr. Gellhorn is handling a subject in which there are many as yet unexplored areas. It is implicit that the author realizes that the arguments presented in support of the hypotheses are tenuous at best. The section on some aspects of the autonomic physiology of the central nervous system where Dr. Gellhorn discusses neurohumeral and neuropharmacological aspects of the central nervous system is excellently done. In the fifth section Dr. Gellhorn discusses various integrative mechanisms, including the principles of neuroendocrine action, the physiological basis of emotion, factors involved in conditioning, homeostasis, and the constancy of the external environment. The last section, on applications, represents the synthesis and application of the information presented in the preceding sections of the book. Dr. Gellhorn's discussion of schizophrenia, shock and carbon dioxide therapy is stimulating and thought-provoking. This section is weakened by his omission of a presentation of some hypothesis to account for the effects of psychotherapeutic techniques consistent with the physiological principles applied to the therapy of psychoneuroses and functional psychoses. The book is well indexed and contains an extensive bibliography of well over 1,200 references. It is not a text to be recommended to the average physician or medical student; rather it will be useful to physiologists, endocrinologists, internists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and psychiatrists.