In Context

www.thelancet.com/neurology Published online April 30, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(14)70025-0 1

It goes without saying that the brain is a complicated organ. There is much about it that is sufficiently understood, and any student is likely to struggle with the complex diagrams and explanations found in many a neuroscience textbook. Sometimes, understanding of a subject can be improved if relevant information is presented in an original way, and that is why Neurocomic—a beautiful comic book by Matteo Farinella and Hana Roš, who aim to “unravel the mysteries of the human brain”—should be recommended to school and university students of neuroscience and physiology.

The comic starts with a short prologue, in which a man is shown to be pulled into the reader’s brain. He fi nds himself in what he thinks is a dense forest, but he’s surrounded by neurons. He sets off to explore, determined to discover a way out. He travels through the brain, learning all about the diff erent cells, synapses, action potentials, memory, and brainwaves. Some pages are completely dedicated to facts, providing a break from the story. Important information is presented alongside stunning drawings that help the reader to visualise various cells, molecules, and processes. For example, a stunning diagram of a neuron is annotated to give brief descriptions of what happens where. Additionally, several pages are given over to an explanation of the role of electricity in the brain, a topic that can cause much confusion.

Perhaps the strongest pages of the book are those dedicated to neurotransmitters and drugs that affect them. Farinella and Roš create characters and images to represent these compounds, which could help students to diff erentiate between each one. The man is introduced to several fi gures wearing parachutes who have been launched into a synaptic cleft. They represent dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, glutamate, and GABA. He is told that each of them carries a “special type of key” to open “a matching trapdoor called a receptor”. When compared with the level of detail given in other sections, this simplifi cation does seem a little odd, but nevertheless communicates the overall idea. After the brief explanations about what each neurotransmitter does, he is shown creatures that represent three classes of drugs—antagonists, agonists, and modulators—that aff ect their activity.

Importantly, the story and the basic facts are intertwined with the history of neuroscience. The man encounters many notable fi gures on his travels through the brain. He fi rst meets Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who explains about

his work on neurons, and the journey ends with Hans Berger, who invented electroencephalography. Not only are characters from the past introduced, but alternative theories and disagreements are also briefly covered. Camillo Golgi interrupts Cajal’s explanation to explain his role in the understanding of neurons, and the confl icting positions they held are outlined. Cajal and Golgi were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1906 for their contributions to the understanding of the nervous system, so it is fi tting that these men and their ideas are presented together. History is all too frequently a minor part of the study of science, so the way in which it is weaved into the book is a fantastic device to ensure readers learn about previous discoveries that have contributed to knowledge today.

Overall, many tricky topics are covered with ease in Neurocomic. The comic passes through morphology, pharmacology, electrophysiology, plasticity, and synchronicity, providing an overview of neuroscience, as well as some brief introductions to disorders aff ecting the brain. Inevitably, a book such as this one cannot present all the technical information; students would have to look elsewhere for further details. However, as a brief overview, this book would be sure to help many students in their quest to understand the mysteries of the brain.

Abi Cantor

BookLearning about the brain with comics

Lancet Neurol 2014

Published OnlineApril 30, 2014http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(14)70025-0

NeurocomicMatteo Farinella and Hana RošNobrow Press, 2014.Pp 144. £14·99.ISBN 978-1-907704-70-3

For the book see http://www.neurocomic.org/