Plants and the human brain / / David O. Kennedy

• Autore: Kennedy David O
• Pubblicazione: New York : , : Oxford, University Press, , 2014; ©2014
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (395 p.)
• Disciplina: 572/.2
• Soggetto topico: Phytochemicals; Brain chemistry
• Soggetto genere / forma: Electronic books.
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Cover; Contents; Part One Why Do Plant Secondary Metabolites AffectHuman Brain Function?; 1 From Shamans to Starbucks; A Brief History of Psychoactive Plants and Fungi; Antiquity; Middle Ages (5th to 15th Centuries); Renaissance and the Age of Discovery; The Modern Era; What Does It All Mean?; 2 Secondary Metabolites and the Life of Plants; The Evolution of Plants and Insects; The Evolution of the Synthesis of Secondary Metabolites; The Co-evolution of Secondary Metabolites and Insects; The Role of Secondary Metabolites in the Life of Plants; Defense Against Herbivory; Attraction ; Plant-Microbe Symbiotic Chemical InteractionsPlant-Plant Chemical Interactions; Defense Against Microbes and Other Stressors; A Word About Secondary Metabolite Synthetic Pathways; Summary; 3 More Alike Than We Are Unalike-Why Do Plant Chemicals Affect the Human Brain?; The Similarities Between Plants and Animals; Receptors and Signaling Cascades; Mammalian Neurotransmitters, Neurochemicals, and Receptors?; Plant Secondary Metabolites?; Immune and Stress Responses; Molecular Clocks; Similarities in the Insect and Human Central Nervous Systems; Neurochemicals and Receptors ; Insect Models of Human Systems and BehaviorWhy Do Plant Secondary Metabolites Affect Human Brain Function?; Part Two The Alkaloids; 4 Alkaloids and the Lives of Plants and Humans; Structures and Synthesis; Evolution of Alkaloid Synthesis; Ecological Roles of Alkaloids; Defense Against Herbivory; Antimicrobial Properties; Allelopathic Properties; Modes of Action; Modes of Action Related to Brain Function; Alkaloids Derived from L-phenylalanine/L-tyrosine; Alkaloids Derived from L-tryptophan; Alkaloids Derived from Purine; Alkaloids with Activity Unrelated to Common Precursors ; Alkaloids as Neuropharmacological ProbesAlkaloids and the Insect Nervous System; Some Conclusions; 5 The Rewarding or Addictive Drugs; Morphine; Ecological Roles of Opiates and Brain Function; The Psychostimulants (Cocaine, Ephedrine, Cathinone, Amphetamine, Methamphetamine); Cocaine; Ephedrine; Amphetamine/Methamphetamine; Cathinone; Ecological Roles of Psychostimulant Secondary Metabolites and Brain Function; Caffeine; Ecological Roles of Caffeine and Brain Function; The Paradox of Drug Reward; 6 The Hallucinogens; A Common Mechanism of Action? ; Ecological Roles of Hallucinogens-Some General ObservationsThe Phenethylamines; Mescaline (3,4,5-Trimethoxy-phenethylamine); Ergot Alkaloids: Lysergic Acid Derivatives; Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD); Lysergic Acid Amide; Ecological Roles of Ergot Alkaloids and Brain Function; Simple Tryptamines; Psilocybin/Psilocin; Dimethyltryptamine and Derivatives; Ibogaine; Ecological Roles of Simple Tryptamines and Brain Function; 7 The Deliriants-The Nightshade (Solanaceae) Family; Nicotine; Ecological Roles of Nicotine and Brain Function; Hyoscyamine, Scopolamine, and Atropine ; Ecological Roles of the Tropane Alkaloids and Brain Function
• Sommario/riassunto: We're all familiar with the idea that plant-derived chemicals can have an impact on the functioning of the human brain. Most of us reach for a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, many of us occasionally eat some chocolate, some smoke a cigarette or take an herbal supplement, and some people use illicit drugs. We know a great deal about the mechanisms by which the psychoactive components of these various products have their effects on human brain function, but the question of why they have these effects has been almost totally ignored. This book sets out to describe not only how, but more impo
• Titolo autorizzato: Plants and the human brain
• ISBN: 0-19-991402-8
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910464431403321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II