2 INTRODUCTION 



book which contains an examination of relevant data, obtained 

 both in vivo and in vitro. Such a study has, as its ultimate object, 

 the description in biochemical terms of the linkages existing 

 between a metabolic event, such as a change in the levels of 

 phosphocreatine, and a physical event, such as the change in the 

 electrical activity of the cortex. In this book an account is given 

 first of the substances which have been studied, second of their 

 change in the brain in vivo as affected by a variety of stimuli, and 

 third of detailed examinations in vitro of the nature of the bio- 

 chemical mechanisms likely to be involved in the changed meta- 

 bolism. This latter study has made much use of techniques 

 devised for electrically exciting cerebral tissues in vitro and these 

 are described in the necessary detail. Understanding of the 

 connections between metabolic and functional events in nervous 

 tissue is still incomplete and requires much further examination. 

 It is hoped that the following presentation of the subject will 

 stimulate an increasing amount of investigation to this end. 



References 



McIlwain, H. (1959) Biochemistry and The Central Nervous System, 



2nd ed,, Churchill, London. 

 Tower, D. B. (1955) Neurology 5, 113. 



