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Excitatory Amino Acid Receptors in the Central Nervous System

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Amino Acid Neurotransmitters

Part of the book series: Handbook of Psychopharmacology ((SIBN,volume 4))

Abstract

Speculation on the possible role played by the physiologically occurring dicarboxylic amino acids L-aspartate and L-glutamate has continued from the time that Hayashi (1954) first described the marked excitatory action of the latter compound on the general electrical activity of the cerebral cortex. Thereafter, the potent effect of these substances on single neurons of the spinal cord was demonstrated (Curtis et al., 1960), and similar studies have now been made of cells in many other parts of the central nervous system (for references, see Johnson, 1972). Although an occasional apparently anomalous result has been reported (McLennan, 1971), it appears that all or almost all neurons of the central nervous system can be depolarized and excited by glutamate or aspartate introduced into their immediate extracellular environments.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    H. McLennan

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  1. H. McLennan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, UK

    Leslie L. Iversen

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK

    Susan D. Iversen

  3. Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medical, USA

    Solomon H. Snyder

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© 1975 Plenum Press, New York

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McLennan, H. (1975). Excitatory Amino Acid Receptors in the Central Nervous System. In: Iversen, L.L., Iversen, S.D., Snyder, S.H. (eds) Amino Acid Neurotransmitters. Handbook of Psychopharmacology, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3174-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3174-2_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-3176-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-3174-2

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