Sculptor and Destroyer: Tales of Glutamatethe Brain’s Most Important Neurotransmitter

Sculptor and Destroyer tells the story of a simple, little-known molecule that became a master architect and commander of the human brain: glutamate. Upward of 90 percent of the neurons in the human brain deploy glutamate as their neurotransmitter. Other neurotransmitters can only exert their effects on brain function by subtly modifying the ongoing activity of glutamatergic neurons, but all over brain development glutamate controls the growth of dendrites and the formation of synapses. In this eye-opening book, Mark Mattson explains how the neurotransmitter glutamate controls the structure and serve as of neuronal networks in the brain, thereby mediating the brain’s capabilities, including learning and memory, creativity, and imagination.

Mattson also delves deeply into the dark side of glutamate, which he calls the “destroyer” side. He shows how quite subtle aberrancies in the activity of neurons that deploy glutamate may result in behavioral disorders ranging from autism and schizophrenia to chronic anxiety and depression. More dramatically, he describes how glutamate can excite neurons to death, a process that occurs in epilepsy and stroke and, possibly even more insidiously, in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and Huntington’s disease. Sculptor and Destroyer concludes with a viewpoint on how knowledge of glutamate’s roles in neuroplasticity may well be applied to the optimization of brain health right through our lives.

Written inengaging, approachable prose, Sculptor and Destroyer might be of interest to any individual in the fields of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, and psychology, in addition to to any individual with a curiosity about the human brain.