Abstract

Serotonin and Behavior contains the proceedings of the 1972 symposium on the behavioral effects of changes in brain serotonin, held at Stanford University in California. The papers explore the role of serotonin in behavior as well as the key biochemical and pharmacological issues involved in behavioral studies of severe psychiatric disorders in both humans and animals.
The book is organized into eight sections comprised of 65 chapters, with topics ranging from the fundamental biochemistry and pharmacology of the enzymes synthesizing serotonin, particularly, tryptophan hydroxylase and its inhibitors, to the physiology and pharmacology of serotonin. Some papers discuss the link between the telencephalic content of serotonin and pain sensitivity. Other papers focus on the effects of altering serotonin on neurons in the central nervous system. There are chapters that explain the effects of altering serotonin on animal behavior, the relationship between serotonin and sleep, the use of high doses of probenecid to estimate central serotonin turnover in affective disorders and addicts, the behavioral and metabolic effects of L-tryptophan in unipolar depressed patients taking methadone, and amygdala unit activity as a reflection of functional changes in brain serotonergic neurons.
Biochemists, pharmacologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and anyone interested in psychopharmacology will find this book extremely useful.