Book review

This two-volume set, which can also be purchased as individual volumes, is a compendium of methods from Current Protocols in Neuroscience. The Cellular and Molecular Methods volume covers neuroanatomical methods, imaging, cellular and developmental neuroscience, gene cloning, expression, and mutagenesis, and molecular neuroscience, while the Systems and Behavioral Methods volume covers neurophysiology, neurochemistry and neuropharmacology, behavioral neuroscience, and preclinical models of neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Each volume contains detailed descriptions of methods for conducting the most common neuroscience experiments, ranging from performing plasmid transfections of cells to isolation of synaptosomes to gene transfer into brain using adenoviral vectors to electrophysiological analysis of synaptic connectivity to animal behavior tasks. Each volume also has 3 appendices consisting of reagents and solutions, molecular biology or animal techniques, respectively, and suppliers for reagents and equipment. Beginning as well as senior scientists with a firm grounding in theory looking to access step-by-step instructions for carrying out a particular experiment will find these books useful. Overall these two books are clearly written and will be a practical and valuable reference that all neuroscience laboratories should own.