In recent years, most areas of neuroscience research have moved beyond the scope of theories that can be described by text alone. Full understanding of the dynamics of neural circuits requires computational modeling to address the complex interaction of populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in guiding behavior. Yet the number of experimental researchers far exceeds the number of active modelers, and the time necessary to read the full experimental literature would easily consume the

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... ifespan of the active modelers. Hippocampal microcircuits: a computational modelers resource book serves to ease the process of mastering the literature within one of the most productive and active fields of neuroscience. This book facilitates the development of hippocampal models by distilling the essential features of research into an accessible and up-to-date format. The data summarized in this book covers the full scope of research on the hippocampus, starting with the anatomical connectivity, morphology, and intrinsic properties of hippocampal neurons, progressing through different neurotransmitter and neuromodulatory systems, and then focusing in detail on the computational modeling of hippocampal physiology. No single researcher can be an expert in all areas, so the modeler must draw upon the expertise of individual researchers. However, review articles by experts commonly focus on the forefront of research without providing a full summary of the current state of knowledge. In contrast, the editors of this volume, Cutsuridis, Graham, Cobb, and Vida, have done an excellent job of ensuring that the chapters in this book are written in a clear, pedagogical manner that concisely summarizes the existing knowledge with clear subheadings. As an overview of data for computational modeling, the book contains accessible and comprehensive reviews of experimental data on the hippocampus. The renowned hippocampal anatomist, Menno Witter, provides an overview of the anatomy of hippocampus and associated structures. In addition, the book contains excellent, well-structured review chapters on the morphology (Vida) and intrinsic physiology (Martina) of hippocampal neurons, as well as glutamatergic (Toth) and GABAergic transmission (Bartos et al.) and synaptic plasticity (Mellor). These chapters provide an outstanding resource to enhance the knowledge base of even highly experienced computational neuroscientists.