The biochemical evaluation of neurotoxic damage

The specific problems related to the study of chemicals that damage the nervous system are discussed. Such damage may be direct or may occur by a series of sequential events. Such a series of events may involve other organs and biochemical targets not confined to nerve tissue. The complexity of investigation of the mode of action of rather nonspecific toxic agents requires that a circumscribed objective be defined and examples of such goals are given. One of these is to attempt to determine which neuronal circuits are damaged by a given toxic agent and how this might cause alterations of behavior. Acrylamide and triethyl lead are used to exemplify the application of neurotransmitter receptor analysis to correlation of deranged nerve activity patterns with modulation of behavior. Such evaluation can set the stage for more detailed biochemical studies of neurotoxic mechanisms.