These were used to provide some of the most specialised facts and figures (and diagrams) which I used in order to illustrate the structure-function relations & characteristic properties of the different sorts of ion channels. You may feel that the general texts are sufficient, but should you feel that you need to think some more about ion channels, then these would be good place to start. They assume some familiarity with biological terms and the sort of physics that lies somewhere between 'O' & 'A'-level. That said, if you have a problem with bioelectricity etc. these would be worth a look.

Hille. Ionic channels of excitable membranes. 2^nd Ed. (1992).

I used bits of Chapter 6 'Ligand-gated channels of fast chemical synapses' but I would recommend Chapter 7 'Modulation, slow synaptic action, and second messengers', also. Chapter 7 deals very well with the way in which the G protein coupled receptors (7 membrane spanning -remember?) influence ion channel function and affect changes in excitability e.g. long term potential - in relation to learning and memory.

Aidley. The physiology of excitable cells 3^rd Ed (1989).

Chapters 8 'The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor', 12 'The contractile mechanism of muscle', 13 'The activation of muscular contraction' & 14 'The comparative physiology of muscle' This is a very detailed book with lots of illustrations from the original research papers included. I find it helps me to understand and retain information about a system if I am able to see what experiments have been done - if you find this sort of mechanistic detail counterproductive, then Aidley is probably only useful for the pretty pictures.