Up-to-date third edition which presents a coherant description of the nervous system from the perspective of modern work on molecular biology, cellular and developmental biology, biophysics, neurophysiology, neurochemistry and neuroanatomy. The scope of the book has been broadened with entirely new chapters on the biophysics and molecular biology of membrane channels, indirect mechanisms of synaptic transmission, the cellular and molecular biology of synaptic transmission, nervous system development, sensory receptors and systems, and motor systems. To accommodate this new information other subjects have been abbreviated or ammalgamated. Permeating the book are new concepts derived from experiments at the molecular level. Techniques such as patch clamping, gene cloning and expression, the use of monoclonal antibodies, and site-directed mutagenesis not only deepen but often simplify the presentation of topics related to signaling, synapse transmission, plasticity and development.