Neuroscience for the Mental Health Clinician

In this welcome book, Steven Pliszka, associate professor and chief of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, provides a brief, cogent review of the neuroscientific basis of psychiatric practice. The book comprises two parts. The first eight chapters cover basic principles of neuroscience: neuroanatomy, neuronal physiology, neurotransmission, and normal brain functions, such as fear, reward, memory, and cognition. The remaining six chapters review the neuroscientific basis of particular clinical entities, signs, and symptoms: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggression, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, pervasive developmental disorders, and cognitive disorders. An introduction and epilogue nicely cover the historical roots, future possibilities, and ethical dimensions of clinical neuropsychiatry and psychopharmacology.

The material in this book is highly relevant. The information in the first set of chapters should be part of the basic neuroscience curriculum in medical school yet often goes untaught. The information about clinical syndromes is as up-to-date as it can be in a book published in 2003 and should be required reading for any physician diagnosing and treating these illnesses.

Despite its conversational tone, the technical level of this monograph makes it fully suitable for use as a medical- or graduate-school text. The author says he intends the book as an introduction to neuroscience for all mental health clinicians, assuming only "college-level" biology and knowledge of DSM-IV. I suspect that the book may be daunting to those who have not had college-level biochemistry and some previous exposure to neuroscience. I would like to see this book as required reading for all our medical students and psychiatric residents and would highly recommend it to biologically oriented psychologists, doctoral-level pharmacists, and other suitably prepared students and clinicians.