Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Neurons: Second Edition is a comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to essential concepts of cellular neuroscience. Emphasizing experimental approaches and recent discoveries, it provides an in-depth look at the structure and function of nerve cells, from protein receptors and synapses to the biochemical processes that drive the mammalian nervous system. Starting with the basics of electrical current flow across cell membranes, Gordon Fain covers voltage gating and receptor activation in the context of channel diversity, excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, neuromodulation, and sensory transduction. Emphasizing long-term processes of synaptic potentiation and depression involved in memory, consciousness, and attention, he demonstrates how cells produce neural signals and regulate signal flow to enhance or impede cell-to-cell communication. Fain also addresses the relation of molecular and cellular mechanisms to evolving theories of neurological disease and addiction. Enhanced by more than two hundred illustrations, Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Neurons: Second Edition is intended for anyone who seeks to understand the fundamentals of nerve cell function, including undergraduate and graduate students in neuroscience, students of bioengineering and cognitive science, and practicing neuroscientists who want to deepen their knowledge of recent discoveries in molecular and cellular neurophysiology.

Thanks to tremendous technical advances in molecular biology and cellular imaging after those in electrophysiology, there is now a deep understanding of the physiology of nerve cells and their synaptic interconnections. The complexity of the brain emerges from the communication and interaction between billions of these elements. This book explores systematically and didactically the details of neuronal physiology, covering membrane biophysics, receptor physiology, sensory transduction and synaptic transmission with its selective pharmacology. Readers of the book will be fully equipped to understand the functions and possibilities of the key units of the brain’s parallel computations.

Thanks to tremendous technical advances in molecular biology and cellular imaging after those in electrophysiology, there is now a deep understanding of the physiology of nerve cells and their synaptic interconnections. The complexity of the brain emerges from the communication and interaction between billions of these elements. This book explores systematically and didactically the details of neuronal physiology, covering membrane biophysics, receptor physiology, sensory transduction and synaptic transmission with its selective pharmacology. Readers of the book will be fully equipped to understand the functions and possibilities of the key units of the brain’s parallel computations.

Easily understood, up-to-date and clinically relevant, this book provides junior anaesthetists with an essential physiology resource.

A version of the OpenStax text

Cellular and Molecular Neurophysiology, Fifth Edition is the only up-to-date textbook on the market that focuses on the molecular and cellular physiology of neurons and synapses. Hypothesis-driven rather than a dry presentation of the facts, the book promotes a real understanding of the function of nerve cells that is useful for practicing neurophysiologists and students in graduate-level courses on the topic alike. This new edition explains the molecular properties and functions of excitable cells in detail and teaches students how to construct and conduct intelligent research experiments. The content is firmly based on numerous experiments performed by top experts in the field. The new edition contains new chapters on recording neuronal activity, iconotrophic and metabotropic receptors for sensory transduction, and a section containing exercises for further learning. This book will be a useful resource for neurophysiologists, neurobiologists, neurologists, and students taking graduate-level courses on neurophysiology. Authoritative foundational coverage of basic cellular and molecular neurophysiology Includes new chapters on recording neuronal activity, iconotrophic and metabotropic receptors for sensory transduction Provides fifteen appendices that describe how neurobiological techniques are interspersed in the text Presents enhanced coverage of new methodologies and experimental techniques