Molecules and Mental Health

This book is the verbatim report of two symposiums held under the auspices of the Brain Research Foundation, and it deals with two subjects not closely related. The first symposium dealt with amines in relation to brain function and behavior and was held under the chairmanship of Drs. L. J. Meduna and Hudson Hoagland. Much that is controversial was discussed. There is a consideration of current work on ceruloplasmin in mental illness, but a question is raised about the method used in testing for this enzyme and consequently about the part that it may play in mental disease. The interesting work by Dr. R. G. Heath on the action of so-called taraxein in schizophrenia is also discussed, but no definite conclusions are drawn. Somewhat less controversial are presentations of the use of hallucinogenic compounds in man, the excretion and metabolism of epinephrine and levarterenol in man, and the use of