Humors Hormones And Neurosecretions

The concept of humoral control—the direction of bodily processes by complex organic fluids—has gained ascendancy in recent decades, and enlisted the interest of more than humoral specialists. The present summary of current humoral research accordingly pays particular attention to its bearing on physiological theory, and its contribution to our general knowledge of the integrative forces which maintain the unity of the individual. The ancient theory of the four hundred, which dominated medicine from the time of Hippocrates to the beginning of the seventeenth century, contained in rudimentary form the notion that chemical agents transported in the blood controlled biological and emotional states. This notion was apparently discredited forever in the eighteenth century when it was supplanted by the galvanic theory that control was exercised through electrically transmitted neural impulses. Near the beginning of the present century, however, experimental evidence in turn discredited the electrical theory, and laid the groundwork for the modern humoral concepts discussed in these pages. Specifically covered are the development of endocrinology, the discovery of digestive hormones, hormonal regulation of metabolism, the action of trophic hormones, interactions within the endocrine system, chemical transmission of neuronal impulses in the central and peripheral nervous systems, and the control exercised by the central nervous system, particularly the hypothalamus, over endocrine and other secretory processes.

Neuroendocrinology, Volume I, is the first in a two-volume treatise designed to provide a survey of all aspects of the rapidly expanding science of neuroendocrinology. Only in recent years have the relations between the nervous system and the endocrine system come under intensive scrutiny, but their interactions have already been shown to be multiple and diverse. This diversity is reflected in the range of subjects covered. There are chapters on neural control of endocrine function; the effects of hormones on the brain; brain-endocrine interrelations during various phases of development; and the comparative aspects of neuroendocrine integration. The relation of brain chemistry to endocrine function, the effect of drugs on neuroendocrine mechanisms, and the new discipline of clinical neuroendocrinology have also been considered. Not only neurophysiologists and endocrinologists, but pharmacologists, zoologists, biochemists, psychologists, and those in clinical medicine will find the treatise of interest. Parts of neuroendocrinology have been discussed in other works, but this is the first treatise in which an attempt has been made to cover all ramifications of neuroendocrinology. This book can be used both as a text for advanced students and as a reference source.

This is a comprehensive reference work which surveys all aspects of the history of medicine, both clinical and social, and reflects the complementary approaches to the discipline. The editors have assembled an international team of scholars to provide detailed and informative factual surveys with contemporary interpretations and historiographical debate. Special Features * Comprehensive: 72 substantial and original essays from internationally respected scholars * Unique: no other publication provides so much information in two volumes * Broad-ranging: includes coverage of non-Western as well as Western medicine * Up-to-date: incorporates the very latest in historical research and interpretation * User-friendly: clearly laid out and readable, with a full index of Topics and People * Indispensable: essential information for study and research, including bibliographic notes and cross-referencing between articles.

In the middle and late 1960s, when it was clear that neuroendocrinology was established as a discipline in its own right, it occurred to us that auto biographical accounts of the pioneer work in this field by the major par ticipants would provide a highly interesting and informative account of his tory in the making. With the death of G. W. Harris in late 1971, and the loss thereby of an outstanding pioneer and personality in neuroendocri nology, it appeared to us to be even more urgent to undertake such a ven ture and collect as many stories as possible. The three of us agreed that initially we would limit our invitations to the senior investigators whose re search careers lay mostly behind them, with the hope that if this venture proved successful, we could ask younger and still very active researchers in neuroendocrinology to contribute to a subsequent volume. Most of those invited to write for this book agreed to do so, but regrettably there remain some notable absentees. The authors were requested to write a personal, and even idiosyncratic, account of the steps taken, and the motivation and drive that led them to develop their interest in the relationship between the brain and the endocrine system.