Explaining the Brain by W. Ritchie Russell with A. J. Dewar (review)

psychic creation is, after all, but a special case of the emergence of novel forms in all of nature. And not only a special case, but one readily accessible for study, and one important to science and human concerns in general. Frank Barron Psychology Board University of California, Santa Cruz Explaining the Brain. By W. Ritchie Russell with A. J. Dewar. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1975. Pp. 157. $11.50 (cloth); $4.00 (paper). W. Ritchie Russell is one of the grand old men of British neurology. In the 1930s he interviewed many individuals suffering memory deficits after head trauma. During World War II he analyzed soldiers with head injuries so rigorously that other neurologists jokingly acused him of starting the war to further his memory research. The present volume summarizes Russell's ideas about brain function. The first chapters are readable overviews of macroscopic neuroanatomy and general neurophysiology. Interspersed throughout are clinical correlations and conceptualizations . When discussing the concept of inhibition, for example, Russell proposes that cataplexy and sleep paralysis might result from hyperactive inhibitory systems. The book contains separate chapters on seizures and on convulsions . Russell's brief clinical vignettes are always interesting: "A Polish airman was questioned three weeks after he crashed in 1941. He was still confused and said it was 1936 and when asked about war with Germany replied, 'We are not ready yet.' " The sections on brain metabolism and on psychoactive drugs were written with A. J. Dewar. The final chapter gives Russell's ideas on education, concluding with the advice to "look after your brain." This book is for two audiences. The avowed audience is the college student or layman who wants a popular, brief, readable overview of brain function. Though not free from minor errors, the book will serve well these readers. The second audience consists of those mature neuroscientists who can appreciate the important principles underlying Russell's attempts to translate his extensive clinical experience into a popular scientific treatise. The author clearly states the standard scientific answer to the so-called brain-mind problem. The brain generates all mental function and the mind stops when the brain dies. "I have written with the assumption that man has neither a soul nor a spirit" is Russell's pessimistic axiom. Regarding evolution, he suggests that early man's use of his hands for weapons and tools selected for more complex brains, brains complex enough to develop language and subsequently reason. An interesting section entitled "enemies of the neuron" tabulates environmental events which might damage or kill brain cells. In addition to standard items such as trauma and poor nutrition, Russell lists a few surprises. Not all will agree that all-night parties or sleeping in a sitting posture can kill neurons. While this brief monograph is aimed at the beginning student of brain function , neuroscientists of all levels of training can benefit from the mature Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Autumn 1976 I 159 thoughts of a clinician who has spent a lifetime observing human brain dysfunction . Frank R. Freemon Department of Neurology Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Immunologic Aspects of Anesthetic and Surgical Practice. Edited by Alix Mathieu and Barry D. Kahan. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1975. Pp. 400. $29.00. Drs. Mathieu and Kahan have edited the first book which relates the disciplines of immunology and anesthesiology, a relationship which has been developing rapidly during the past decade. It is a timely and valuable volume. It will help the anesthesiologist to become increasingly aware of the immunologic responses of patients to infection, allergy, drugs, blood transfusion, and organ transplantation. The book is written by 24 authors, mainly from Boston and Chicago. It has 17 chapters, divided into two parts. Part 1 is an introduction to immunology and covers cell-mediated immunity, phytohemagglutinin stimulation of human lymphocytes , the cellular basis of antibody production, immunoglobulin structure, immediate hypersensitivity, the complement and kinin-forming systems of human plasma, host defense and the altered host, effects of anesthesia and surgery on immunity, and anesthesia, surgery, and infection. Each chapter is a review in the style of the author and is directed to an audience that understands basic immunologic terms. The chapters...