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Author: National Academy of Sciences Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309045290 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 195
Book Description
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."
Author: National Academy of Sciences Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309045290 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 195
Book Description
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."
Author: H. Autrum Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 3642653529 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 788
Book Description
The present volume covers the physiology of the visual system beyond the optic nerve. It is a continuation of the two preceding parts on the photochemistry and the physiology of the eye, and forms a bridge from them to the fourth part on visual psychophysics. These fields have all developed as independent speciali ties and need integrating with each other. The processing of visual information in the brain cannot be understood without some knowledge of the preceding mechanisms in the photoreceptor organs. There are two fundamental reasons, ontogenetic and functional, why this is so: 1) the retina of the vertebrate eye has developed from a specialized part of the brain; 2) in processing their data the eyes follow physiological principles similar to the visual brain centres. Peripheral and central functions should also be discussed in context with their final synthesis in subjective experience, i. e. visual perception. Microphysiology and ultramicroscopy have brought new insights into the neuronal basis of vision. These investigations began in the periphery: HARTLINE'S pioneering experiments on single visual elements of Limulus in 1932 started a successful period of neuronal recordings which ascended from the retina to the highest centres in the visual brain. In the last two decades modern electron microscopic techniques and photochemical investigations of single photoreceptors further contributed to vision research.
Author: Georg F. Striedter Publisher: Academic Press ISBN: 0128040963 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 2064
Book Description
Evolution of Nervous Systems, Second Edition, Four Volume Set is a unique, major reference which offers the gold standard for those interested both in evolution and nervous systems. All biology only makes sense when seen in the light of evolution, and this is especially true for the nervous system. All animals have nervous systems that mediate their behaviors, many of them species specific, yet these nervous systems all evolved from the simple nervous system of a common ancestor. To understand these nervous systems, we need to know how they vary and how this variation emerged in evolution. In the first edition of this important reference work, over 100 distinguished neuroscientists assembled the current state-of-the-art knowledge on how nervous systems have evolved throughout the animal kingdom. This second edition remains rich in detail and broad in scope, outlining the changes in brain and nervous system organization that occurred from the first invertebrates and vertebrates, to present day fishes, reptiles, birds, mammals, and especially primates, including humans. The book also includes wholly new content, fully updating the chapters in the previous edition and offering brand new content on current developments in the field. Each of the volumes has been carefully restructured to offer expanded coverage of non-mammalian taxa, mammals, primates, and the human nervous system. The basic principles of brain evolution are discussed, as are mechanisms of change. The reader can select from chapters on highly specific topics or those that provide an overview of current thinking and approaches, making this an indispensable work for students and researchers alike. Presents a broad range of topics, ranging from genetic control of development in invertebrates, to human cognition, offering a one-stop resource for the evolution of nervous systems throughout the animal kingdom Incorporates the expertise of over 100 outstanding investigators who provide their conclusions in the context of the latest experimental results Presents areas of disagreement and consensus views that provide a holistic view of the subjects under discussion
Author: David H. Hubel M.D. Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0198039166 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 739
Book Description
This is the story of a hugely successful and enjoyable 25-year collaboration between two scientists who set out to learn how the brain deals with the signals it receives from the two eyes. Their work opened up a new area of brain research that led to their receiving the Nobel Prize in 1981. The book contains their major papers from 1959 to 1981, each preceded and followed by comments telling how and why the authors went about the study, how the work was received, and what has happened since. It begins with short autobiographies of both men, and describes the state of the field when they started. It is intended not only for neurobiologists, but for anyone interested in how the brain works-biologists, psychologists, philosophers, physicists, historians of science, and students at all levels from high school to graduate level.