Drugs in Central Nervous System Disorders

This book is the second in a series entitled "Clinical Pharmacology," edited by Murray Weiner. The volume contains six chapters, of varying quality, by authors who have been researchers in the area of neuropharmacology. The first chapter, "Centrally Acting Analgesics," is a well-documented (517 references), timely, and complete review of the newest research in the pharmacology and physiology of central analgesia. The authors outline the issues essential to the discussion of analgesia, including endogenous opioids, opiate receptors, current theories of central mechanisms of analgesic action, research paradigms for assaying analgesia, and, finally, a complete list (and brief discussion of) the wide range of newer and experimental analgesics. The most useful portions of this chapter discuss the search for "non-addicting" analgesics. Chapter One is highly recommended for clinicians and researchers and offers information not readily available from other sources. The second chapter, "Antidepressants" (209 references), is another very good review of the current status, both "basic" and clinical, in the area of somatic treatment of depression. The introductory sections mention the major biological models which underlie much recent clinical research. The chapter's true value lies in the extensive cataloguing of the newer and atypical antidepressant medications which are in pre-clinical and clinical trials. The biases of the authors' research in this area are not apparent, and this comprehensive and generally neutral (within the biological perspective) chapter has few overstatements of fact or editorial comments which typify unrefereed reviews of this sort. It can be recommended as an excellent reference for clinicians and researchers in biological psychiatry. "Benzodiazepines and Barbiturates," the third chapter, is the shortest and least informative chapter in this book. It contains little information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. The authors do not provide much information about the new and exciting areas of research in this field (much of which they are responsible for). The positive side is that it is concise and well researched and contains few overstatements. For clinicians unfamiliar with the pharmacology of benzodiazepines, this chapter may be useful as a safe starting point. Experienced clinicians and researchers will find it pedestrian. The fourth chapter, "Neuroleptics," is the longest and most disorganized (39 tables and 15 graphs). A major focus of it is the research of the authors and the use (misuse) of radioligand binding studies, primarily in animal models, which attempt to determine the mechanisms of action of neuroleptics. Rather than synthesizing and distilling current …