Development of the Nervous System

Development of the Nervous System
Author: Dan H. Sanes
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2005-11-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080472494

Development of the Nervous System, Second Edition has been thoroughly revised and updated since the publication of the First Edition. It presents a broad outline of neural development principles as exemplified by key experiments and observations from past and recent times. The text is organized along a development pathway from the induction of the neural primordium to the emergence of behavior. It covers all the major topics including the patterning and growth of the nervous system, neuronal determination, axonal navigation and targeting, synapse formation and plasticity, and neuronal survival and death. This new text reflects the complete modernization of the field achieved through the use of model organisms and the intensive application of molecular and genetic approaches. The original, artist-rendered drawings from the First Edition have all been redone and colorized to so that the entire text is in full color. This new edition is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate level students in courses such as Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, and Developmental Biology. - Updates information including all the new developments made in the field since the first edition - Now in full color throughout, with the original, artist-rendered drawings from the first edition completely redone, revised, colorized, and updated

Organizing Principles of Neural Development

Organizing Principles of Neural Development
Author: S. C. Sharma
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2013-03-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1468448021

This volume contains summaries of most of the invited presentations at the NATO Advanced Study Institute "Organizing Principles of Neural Development", held in Povoa de Varzim, Portugal, from June 1-12, 1982. The meeting was intended to bring together a select group of investigators to present their views on problems in the field and to foster extensive discussions in smaller groups. It was hoped that such communications would pique curiousity and creativity among the students and thus help in formulating additional hypotheses regarding the type of interactions which might underlie neural development. Despite the wide range of material covered at this institute, a common theme seemed to emerge: at all stages of their develop mental history, the cells of the nervous system interact with previously generated cells (both neurons and non-neurons) as well as with other constituents of the developmental milieu. The pre sentations at this meeting helped in comprehending how a relatively "simple" series of sequential events might provide the necessary information needed to generate the diversity, characteristic of the adult nervous system, without hypothesizing on the existence of specific genes acting to control each step.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods

From Neurons to Neighborhoods
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2000-11-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309069882

How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Principles of Neural Design

Principles of Neural Design
Author: Peter Sterling
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 567
Release: 2015-05-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0262028700

Neuroscience research has exploded, with more than fifty thousand neuroscientists applying increasingly advanced methods. A mountain of new facts and mechanisms has emerged. And yet a principled framework to organize this knowledge has been missing. In this book, Peter Sterling and Simon Laughlin, two leading neuroscientists, strive to fill this gap, outlining a set of organizing principles to explain the whys of neural design that allow the brain to compute so efficiently. Setting out to "reverse engineer" the brain -- disassembling it to understand it -- Sterling and Laughlin first consider why an animal should need a brain, tracing computational abilities from bacterium to protozoan to worm. They examine bigger brains and the advantages of "anticipatory regulation"; identify constraints on neural design and the need to "nanofy"; and demonstrate the routes to efficiency in an integrated molecular system, phototransduction. They show that the principles of neural design at finer scales and lower levels apply at larger scales and higher levels; describe neural wiring efficiency; and discuss learning as a principle of biological design that includes "save only what is needed." Sterling and Laughlin avoid speculation about how the brain might work and endeavor to make sense of what is already known. Their distinctive contribution is to gather a coherent set of basic rules and exemplify them across spatial and functional scales.

Discovering the Brain

Discovering the Brain
Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 195
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309045290

The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."

Neural Organization

Neural Organization
Author: Michael A. Arbib
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 442
Release: 1998
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780262011594

In Neural Organization, Arbib, Erdi, and Szentagothai integrate structural, functional, and dynamical approaches to the interaction of brain models and neurobiologcal experiments. Both structure-based "bottom-up" and function- based "top-down" models offer coherent concepts by which to evaluate the experimental data. The goal of this book is to point out the advantages of a multidisciplinary, multistrategied approach to the brain.Part I of Neural Organization provides a detailed introduction to each of the three areas of structure, function, and dynamics. Structure refers to the anatomical aspects of the brain and the relations between different brain regions. Function refers to skills and behaviors, which are explained by means of functional schemas and biologically based neural networks. Dynamics refers to the use of a mathematical framework to analyze the temporal change of neural activities and synaptic connectivities that underlie brain development and plasticity--in terms of both detailed single-cell models and large-scale network models.In part II, the authors show how their systematic approach can be used to analyze specific parts of the nervous system--the olfactory system, hippocampus, thalamus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia--as well as to integrate data from the study of brain regions, functional models, and the dynamics of neural networks. In conclusion, they offer a plan for the use of their methods in the development of cognitive neuroscience."

Behavioral Neuroscience

Behavioral Neuroscience
Author: Carl W. Cotman
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 857
Release: 2014-04-24
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1483217566

Behavioral Neuroscience: An Introduction provides a basic understanding of what is known about the means by which neurons communicate and about the nervous system which interprets, integrates, and transmits signals into meaningful and appropriate behaviors. The book starts with an overview of the nervous system. The text then describes the general operation and organization of the nervous system; and some of the major types of neurons in the context of their systems. The basic characteristics of neurons and how they communicate; the processes and the basic integrative properties of defined groups of neurons; and complex learning and memory are also considered. The book further tackles the auditory, somesthetic, olfactory, gustatory, visual, and motor systems; the functions of the autonomic nervous system and the neuroendocrine system; and the neural basis of two types of motivated behavior, drinking and feeding. The text also encompasses sleep and activity rhythms; the development of the neural circuitry and its plasticity throughout life; and the development of behavior. Behavioral disorders and the aspects of the human nervous system which make man unique among all living creatures are also looked into. Behavioral psychologists, behavioral neuroscientists, and psychobiologists will find the book invaluable.