INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, VOL. 7: 920 (1992)

BOOK REVIEWS

Dementia-A Clinical Approach, 2nd edn. JEFFREY a wealth of new information concerning AIDS, genetics CUMMINGS and FRANK BENSON. Butterworth Heinemann, and neuroimaging. The reassuringly thorough tables Boston, 1992. No. of pages: 548. Price: $95 which guide the interested reader through difficult areas

and present them in an understandable fashion are still This is the long-awaited second edition of an excellent there. The style is easy to follow and yet surprisingly textbook which can be recommended for everyone deal- informative,

overview of dementia from basic definitions to treatment there is a problem in retaining up-to-date references,

but could be read with benefit by anyone in the field. around, It has an unashamedly clinical approach which is refresh- ingly unique for books on dementia.

The format of the book is unchanged, but there is

ing with dementia. It presents a comprehensive As with any textbook which relies on referenced work,

and problems with caring. It is not a book for the expert Page for page, this represents the best book on dementia

ALISTAIR BURNS University of Manchester

Neurobiology and Psychialry, Vol. 1. Edited by R. KER- WIN, D. DAWBARN, J. MCCULLOCH and C TAMMINGA. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991. No. of pages: 118. Price: E35. Neurohiology and Psychiatry, Vol. 1 is to be the first in a series of five volumes within the Cambridge Medical Review series. This volume deals primarily with neuro- chemistry, neuropsychology and neuropathology, which we are informed will be continued in Volume 2 with the inclusion of molecular genetics and developmental biology. Topics for subsequent volumes are to depend on areas of future progress. The book consists of review articles of areas of interest by active researchers in that field; of the nine reviews, eight are from UK authors.

The four chapters on schizophrenia cover postmortem neurochemistry, the neuropathology of the temporal lobes, the neuropsychology of the frontal lobes and neuroimaging. Taken together these provide an overview of the exciting developments that have occurred in the neurobiology of schizophrenia. As might be expected from chapters on interrelated subjects by different auth- ors there is some duplication, but this is not excessive and serves rather to emphasize the growing coherence of theories of schizophrenia incorporating structural and functional abnormalities. It is noteworthy that the old ‘graveyard’ of neuropathology in schizophrenia has made significant strides while the once (and potentially) exciting area of neurochemistry has progressed our understanding rather little. There are some gripes, of course. The chapter on neurochemistry could have been more comprehensive and was clearly written before the

recent rapid developments in the molecular biology of dopamine and amino acid receptors (eg five different dopamine receptors have now been cloned although they do conform to D,-like and DJike groups). The impli- cation of these advances for receptor binding studies in schizophrenia is not yet clear. The chapter on frontal lobe function gives insufficient explanation of the differ- ent neuropsychological tests for readers without con- siderable experience in the field.

Turning to the four chapters on the dementias, these range from an extensive review of neurotransmitter sys- tems in Alzheimer’s disease (with 186 references) to an assessment of the neuropsychological evidence for sub- cortical dementia. The chapter on the molecular neuro- pathology of Alzheimer’s disease is the most technical chapter in the book and of interest to scientists working in that field but less so to clinicians. A single chapter on epilepsy combines discussion of genetic, neuropatho- logical and neurochemical elements in considering poss- ible explanations for various forms of epilepsy.

Overall the editors have been successful in producing a consistent style throughout the book. There is some- thing for those at both ends of the intended readership spectrum, which ranges from psychiatric trainees through to specialist research workers. It may, however, fall between two stools to some degree, being too techni- cal for the former and too much of an overview for the latter. It will be a useful book to have in the library.

IAN ANDERSON University of Manchester

0 1992 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.