The Psychopharmacology of Herbal Medicine: Plant Drugs That Alter Mind, Brain, and Behavior

by Marcello Spinella

Overview

A compilation of current scientific knowledge about psychoactive herbal drugs.

Virtually all cultures consume drugs from psychoactive plants. Caffeine, for example, is probably the most common stimulant in the world, and many modern medicines, such as morphine and codeine, are derived from plant sources. In these cases, scientific research has revealed the composition of the plants and how they interact with the nervous system. There are also many herbal medications with reputed therapeutic value that have not yet gained acceptance into mainstream medicine, partly because there has not been enough research to support their usefulness. Instead they are regarded as "alternative medicines." This is an active research area, however, and many current studies are focusing on identifying the active components, pharmacological properties, physiological effects, and clinical efficacy of herbal medicines. This book compiles and integrates the most up-to-date information on the major psychoactive herbal medicines—that is, herbal medicines that alter mind, brain, and behavior. It focuses particularly on the effects on various areas of cognition, including attention, learning, and memory. The book covers all major classes of psychoactive drugs, including stimulants, cognitive enhancers, sedatives and anxiolytics, psychotherapeutic herbs, analgesics and anesthetic plants, hallucinogens, and cannabis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262692656
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	06/08/2001
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	590
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.11(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marcello Spinella is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

What People are Saying About This

George F. Koob

This book is well-organized and rigorous in its approach. It will be a great resource for medical doctors, academics, and researchers.

Endorsement

This book is well-organized and rigorous in its approach. It will be a great resource for medical doctors, academics, and researchers.

—George F. Koob, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute

From the Publisher

The writing in this book is clear and eminently readable.

—Jack R. Cooper, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Yale University

This book is well-organized and rigorous in its approach. It will be a great resource for medical doctors, academics, and researchers.

—George F. Koob, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute

Jack R. Cooper

The writing in this book is clear and eminently readable.

Editorial Reviews

When seeking complementary or alternative mind- and behavior-altering medicine, people tend to prefer herbs over other methods. With the amount of research on herbal remedies increasing, this single, comprehensive source covering stimulants, cognitive enhancers, herbal sedatives, and analgesic and anesthetic plants is useful and timely. Spinella (psychology, Richard Stockton Coll.) provides extensive information on basic neuroscience and pharmacology and covers hallucinogens and cannabis. Extensive references are provided. Unfortunately, this work is more like a textbook than a compendium; the writing is solid but dry, and readers seeking an introduction to this subject will probably not want this level of detail. Lay readers will find Jonathan R.T. Davidson and Kathryn M. Connor's Herbs for the Mind (LJ 7/00) more accessible, while practitioners who need a quick introduction to herbs should see PDRO for Herbal Medicines (LJ 3/1/99) or Expanded Commission E Monographs (American Botanical Council, 2000). Recommended for medical libraries. Natalie Kupferberg, Ohio State Univ., Columbus Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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