The fascinating story of glutamate, the neurotransmitter that controls the structure and function of the brain in health and neurological disorders. 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 during 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 function 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 relatively 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, perhaps even more insidiously, in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, and Huntington's disease.
Sculptor and Destroyer concludes with a perspective on how knowledge of glutamate's roles in neuroplasticity might be applied to the optimization of brain health throughout our lives.
Written in
engaging, approachable prose
, Sculptor and Destroyer will be of interest to anyone in the fields of neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, and psychology, as well as to anyone with a curiosity about the human brain.
《雕塑者與毀滅者》講述了一個簡單且鮮為人知的分子——谷氨酸（glutamate），如何成為人類大腦的主宰和指揮官。人類大腦中超過90%的神經元使用谷氨酸作為其神經傳遞物質。其他神經傳遞物質只能透過微妙地改變谷氨酸能神經元的持續活動來影響大腦功能，但在大腦發展過程中，谷氨酸控制著樹突的生長和突觸的形成。在這本開眼界的書中，馬克·馬特森（Mark Mattson）解釋了神經傳遞物質谷氨酸如何控制大腦中神經網絡的結構和功能，從而調節大腦的能力，包括學習與記憶、創造力和想像力。
馬特森也深入探討了谷氨酸的黑暗面，他稱之為「毀滅者」的一面。他展示了相對微妙的谷氨酸神經元活動異常如何導致從自閉症和精神分裂症到慢性焦慮和抑鬱等行為障礙。更戲劇性的是，他描述了谷氨酸如何使神經元興奮至死亡，這一過程發生在癲癇和中風中，甚至在阿茲海默症、帕金森病、肌萎縮側索硬化症（ALS）和亨廷頓舞蹈症中更為隱秘地發生。《雕塑者與毀滅者》最後提供了一個觀點，探討對谷氨酸在神經可塑性中角色的了解如何應用於優化我們一生的腦部健康。
這本書以引人入勝且易於理解的文筆撰寫，將吸引神經科學、神經學、精神病學和心理學領域的專業人士，以及對人類大腦感到好奇的讀者。
Mark P. Mattson is currently Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University and was previously Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore. He is among the most highly cited neuroscientists in the world with more than 900 publications and 200,000 citations, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has received many awards including the Metropolitan Life Foundation Medical Research Award and the Alzheimer's Association Zenith Fellows Award. He is the author of The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance (MIT Press).
馬克·P·馬特森（Mark P. Mattson）目前是約翰霍普金斯大學的神經科學兼任教授，曾擔任巴爾的摩國家老化研究所神經科學實驗室主任。他是全球引用次數最高的神經科學家之一，擁有超過900篇出版物和20萬次引用，是美國科學促進會的會士，並獲得多項獎項，包括大都會人壽基金醫學研究獎和阿茲海默症協會的Zenith Fellows獎。他是《間歇性禁食革命：優化健康與提升表現的科學》（The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance，麻省理工學院出版社）的作者。
