What are the processes, from conception to adulthood, that enable a single cell to grow into a sentient adult? They are so complex that any attempt to understand development necessitates a multi-disciplinary approach, integrating data from cognitive studies, computational modeling, and neuroimagingan approach until now seldom taken when considering child development. Neuroconstructivism is a major two-volume work that seeks to redress this balance, presenting an integrative new framework for considering development. In Volume One, the authors review up-to-date findings from neurobiology, brain imaging, child development, as well computer and robotic modeling to consider why children's thinking develops the way it does, and propose a new synthesis of development that is based on five key principles found to operate at many different levels of description. Their Neuroconstructivist framework also shows how developmental disorders, such as dyslexia, can arise from typical developmental processes operating under atypical constraints. Of central importance to Neuroconstructivism is the idea that computer and robotic models are vital tools for investigating the processes and mechanisms involved in learning and development. Volume Two illustrates the principles of Neuroconstructivist development through contributions from nine different labs across the world. This volume complements Volume One by providing concrete examples of how the Neuroconstructivist principles can be grounded in a diverse range of domains, and thereby shape the research agenda in each.

In this "wonderful" (John Brandon, Forbes) book, neuroscientist Shane O'Mara invites us to marvel at the benefits walking confers on our bodies and brains, and to appreciate the advantages of this uniquely human skill. From walking's evolutionary origins, traced back millions of years to life forms on the ocean floor, to new findings from cutting-edge research, he reveals how the brain and nervous system give us the ability to balance, weave through a crowded city, and run our "inner GPS" system. Walking is good for our muscles and posture;?it helps to protect and repair organs, and can slow or turn back the aging of our brains. With our minds in motion we think more creatively, our mood improves, and stress levels fall. Walking together to achieve a shared purpose is also a social glue that has contributed to our survival as a species. As our lives become increasingly sedentary, O'Mara makes the case that we must start walking again-whether it's up a mountain, down to the park,?or simply to school and work. In Praise of Walking?illuminates the joys, health benefits, and mechanics of walking, and reminds us to get out of our chairs and discover a happier, healthier, more creative self.

This book is the outcome of a Nato Workshop, held in France in July 1989. The workshop was organized to examine current ideas about sensory-motor organizations during human infancy and their development through early childhood. The study of sensory-motor development is experiencing a profound shift in scope, focus, methodology and theoretical foundations. Many of these changes are quite new and not yet well covered in the literature. We thought it would be useful for some of the leading researchers in this field to convene together and to compare notes, and collectively to establish future directions for the field. The reasons for a new conceptualization of sensory-motor development are no doubt numerous, but three are especially significant: 1. One concerns a shift from studying either sensory or motor processing to investigation of the relations between the two. 2. The second is connected to the new emphasis on action, and its implications for goal-directed and intentional behaviour extending over time. 3. Lastly, new theories and methodologies provide access to new tools for studying and conceptualizing the developmental process. 1.-One of the most enduring legacies of the behaviorist perspective has been a focus on the stimulus and the response to the exclusion of the relation between them (Pick, 1989). Historically, this bias translated into a research agenda in which the investigator was concerned with either perceptual or motor competence, but rarely the relation between them.

In recent years there has been increased recognition of the global burden of mental disorders, which in turn has led to the expansion of preventive initiatives at the community and population levels. The application of such public health approaches to mental health raises a number of important ethical questions. The aim of this collection is to address these newly emerging issues, with special attention to the principle of prevention and the distinctive ethical challenges in mental health. The collection brings together an interdisciplinary group of experts in bioethics, mental health, public health, and global health.

The legal system depends upon memory function in a number of critical ways, including the memories of victims, the memories of individuals who witness crimes or other critical events, the memories of investigators, lawyers, and judges engaged in the legal process, and the memories of jurors. How well memory works, how accurate it is, how it is affected by various aspects of the criminal justice system -- these are all important questions. But there are others as well: Can we tell when someone is reporting an accurate memory? Can we distinguish a true memory from a false one? Can memories be selectively enhanced, or erased? Are memories altered by emotion, by stress, by drugs? These questions and more are addressed by Memory and Law, which aims to present the current state of knowledge among cognitive and neural scientists about memory as applied to the law.

The Motoneurone and its Muscle Fibres presents a state-of-the-art summary of knowledge concerning the motoneurones, vital for innervating and commanding skeletal muscles. No muscle action would be possible without motoneurones. These cells are therefore absolutely essential for the execution of normal behaviour and for life support. It is their degeneration that leads to various kinds of motoneurone disease (e.g. ALS) that are often ultimately lethal. However, the study of motoneurones is also important for general insights as to how neurones work, because the motoneurone is probably the best understood kind of nerve cell so far in neuroscience. Motoneurones of the spinal cord were the first type of central nerve cell to be subjected to detailed physiological measurements, and much is known about how their activity is regulated by synapses from other central neurones. For most of the individual neurones within the central nervous system, the precise functional tasks are difficult to define. However, for motoneurones much is now known about their short- and long-term interactions with their main targets, the skeletal muscle fibres. Functions of neurones must be analyzed in relation to the response properties of their target cells. Therefore, this book deals with both, summarizing classical as well as recent knowledge concerning the motoneurone and its muscle fibres. This is the first time that so many aspects of this broad subject matter are treated in one comprehensive monograph.

This book systemically describes the mechanisms underlying the neural regulation of metabolism. Metabolic diseases, including obesity and its associated conditions, currently affect more than 500 million people worldwide. Recent research has shown that the neural regulation of metabolism is a central mechanism that controls metabolic status physiologically and pathophysiologically. The book first introduces the latest studies on the neural and cellular mechanisms of hypothalamic neurons, hypothalamic glial cells, neural circuitries, cellular signaling pathways, and synaptic plasticity in the control of appetite, body weight, feeding-related behaviors and metabolic disorders. It then summarizes the humoral mechanisms by which critical adipocyte-derived hormones and lipoprotein lipase regulate lipid and glucose metabolism, and examines the role of the hypothalamus-sympathetic nerve, a critical nerve pathway from CNS to peripheral nervous system (PNS), in the regulation of metabolism in multiple tissues/organs. Furthermore, the book discusses the functions of adipose tissue in energy metabolism. Lastly, it explores dietary interventions to treat neural diseases and some of the emerging technologies used to study the neural regulation of metabolism. Presenting cutting-edge developments in the neural regulation of metabolism, the book is a valuable reference resource for graduate students and researchers in the field of neuroscience and metabolism.

Volume I highlights the association of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) with copper and zinc, the potential roles of PrPC in Alzheimer's disease and cancers, insoluble PrPC, PMCA, molecular and cellular mechanisms of PrPSc formation and clearance, possible co-factors involved in the conversion of PrPC into PrPSc, infectious and pathogenic forms of PrP, cell biology of prions, prion strains and their interference, as well as yeast prions and their inheritable and structural traits. This unique volume will take you through the fascinating chronicle of prions in mammals, yeast, and fungi.

Swearing, it turns out, is an incredibly useful part of our linguistic repertoire. Not only has some form of swearing existed since the earliest humans began to communicate, but it has been shown to reduce physical pain, help stroke victims recover their language, and encourage people to work together as a team.

Swearing Is Good For You is a spirited and hilarious defence of our most cherished dirty words, backed by historical case studies and cutting-edge research. From chimpanzees creating their own curse words to a man who lost half his brain in a mining accident experiencing a new-found compulsion to swear, Dr Emma Byrne outlines the fascinating science behind swearing: how it affects us both physically and emotionally, and how it is more natural and beneficial than we are led to believe.

E. Neher and B. Sakman were the first to monitor the opening and closing of single ion channels and membranes by conductance measurements. In 1976, they used firepolished micropipets with a tip diameter of 3-5 pm to record currents from a small patch of the membranbe of sk- etal muscles, thereby decreasing background membrane noise. In order to reduce the dominant source of background noise-the leakage shunt under the pipet rim between m- the muscle membrane had to be treated brane and gla- enzymatically. Despite these early limitations, a new te- nique was born -the patch-clamp technique. The final bre- through came in 1981 when the same authors, in collaboration with 0. P. Hamill, A. Marty, and F. J. Sigworth, developed the gigaohm seal. Not only did this improve the quality of recordings, it was now possible to gently pull the membrane patch with the attached pipet off the cell and study its trapped ion channels in isolation. Another offshoot of the gigaohm seal technique was the whole-cell patch-clamp technique, in which the patch is ruptured without breaking the seal. This technique is really a sophisticated voltage-clamp technique and also allows for the altering of cytoplasmic constituents if the experimenter so wishes. The first part of Patch-Clamp Applications and Protocols presents modern developments associated with the techn- ogy of patch-clamp electrodes, of cell-free ion channel reco- ing, and of the whole-cell patch-clamp technique.

Neurological Modulation of Sleep provides readers with updated scientific reviews regarding the interaction between sleep and contributing factors, with special attention paid to the potential for neurological modulation of sleep via diet. This book expands the notion of diet and adds an element of physical activity and exercise as well as a chapter on caffeine and its effects on sleep. With 30+ international contributors, this book aims to provide readers with a unique global perspective on the role these factors plays in sleep architecture and its regulation by circadian biology and neurology. Sleep disorders have become an increasing problem plaguing more than 70 million Americans according to the American Sleep Association. There is a clear association between sleep disorder and a wide range of other human disorders -performance deficiencies, psychiatric illnesses, heart disease, obesity and more - but in spite of this there is not yet a convenient overview on the market detailing the impact of obesity, age, diabetes and diet on sleep duration and attendant health outcomes.

'Motor Cognition' describes the field of motor cognition - one to which the author's contribution has been seminal. The book examines how the motor actions we perform and watch others perform play a pivotal role in the construction of the 'self' - our ability to acknowledge and recognise our own identity.

Neuroscience, Selflessness, and Spiritual Transcendence conveys the manner by which selflessness serves as a neuropsychological and religious foundation for spiritually transcendent experiences. The book combines neurological case studies and neuroscience research with religious accounts of transcendence experiences from the perspective of both the neurosciences and the history of religions. Chapters cover the subjective experience of transcendence, an historical summary of different philosophical and religious perspectives, a review of the neuroscience research that describes the manner by which the brain processes and creates a self, and more. The book presents a model that bridges the divide between neuroscience and religion, presenting a resource that will be critical reading for advanced students and researchers in both fields.

This book offers a state-of-the-art report on recent discoveries concerning the basic and clinical, neuroscientific and psychiatric findings in depression research. Depressive disorder is a severe and recurrent brain disorder that can manifest in depressive mood, somatic symptoms and cognitive impairment. The underlying mechanisms of depressive disorder and its clinical practice are subjects of long-standing interests. This book is a biologically plausible and multilevel theory which describes neural, physiological, molecular and genomic mechanisms that drive depression pathogenesis, as well as navigates the clinical practice and management for depressive disorder. It mainly describes advances made over the past 20 years on the neural, molecular, neuroimaging, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology and internet-based measurement and management of depressive disorder. It will help postgraduate students and academic researchers to get either basic or clinical picture of depressive disorder. Also, it may benefit pharmaceutical companies for developing novel drugs to treat this disease.

It has become evident over the last years that abnormalities in RNA processing play a fundamental part in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Cellular viability depends on proper regulation of RNA metabolism and subsequent protein synthesis, which requires the interplay of many processes including transcription, pre---mRNA splicing, mRNA editing as well as mRNA stability, transport and translation. Dysfunction in any of these processes, often caused by mutations in the coding and non--- coding RNAs, can be very destructive to the cellular environment and consequently impair neural viability. The result of this RNA toxicity can lead to a toxic gain of function or a loss of function, depending on the nature of the mutation. For example, in repeat expansion disorders, such as the newly discovered hexanucleotide repeat expansion in theC9orf72 gene found in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a toxic gain of function leads to the formation of RNA foci and the sequestration of RNA binding proteins (RBPs). This in return leads to a loss of function of those RBPs, which is hypothesized to play a significant part in the disease progression of ALS and FTD. Other toxicities arising from repeat expansions are the formation of RNA foci, bi---directional transcription and production of repeat associated non---ATG (RAN) translation products. This book will touch upon most of these disease mechanisms triggered by aberrant RNA metabolism and will therefore provide a broad perspective of the role of RNA processing and its dysfunction in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, including ALS, FTD, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, myotonic dystrophy and ataxias. The proposed authors are leading scientists in the field and are expected to not only discuss their own work, but to be inclusive of historic as well as late breaking discoveries. The compiled chapters will therefore provide a unique collection of novel studies and hypotheses aimed to describe the consequences of altered RNA processing events and its newest molecular players and pathways.

Sex matters! Are there differences between the sexes when it comes to brain function and the behaviours that result? This volume attempts to answer this fundamental question. If the answer is 'yes' then this should impact upon our approach to treating mental illness in humans, and to modelling it in animals, as we look for aetiological and pharmacological solutions.

This book summarizes early pioneering achievements in the field of human neural stem cell (hNSC) research and combines them with the latest advances in stem cell technology, including reprogramming and gene editing. The powerful potential of hNSC to generate and repair the developing and adult CNS has been confirmed by numerous experimental in vitro and in vivo studies. The book presents methods for hNSC derivation and discusses the mechanisms underlying NSC in vitro fate decisions and their in vivo therapeutic mode of action. The long-standing dogma that the human central nervous system (CNS) lacks the ability to regenerate was refuted at the end of the 20th century, when evidence of the presence of neurogenic zones in the adult human brain was found. These neurogenic zones are home to human neural stem cells (hNSCs), which are capable of self-renewing and differentiating into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. NSCs isolated from human CNS have a number of clinical advantages, especially the innate potential to differentiate into functional neural cells. Nevertheless, their full clinical exploitation has been hindered by limited access to the tissue and low expansion potential. The search for an alternative to CNS sources of autologous, therapeutically competent hNSCs was the driving force for the many studies proving the in vitro plasticity of different somatic stem cells to generate NSCs and their functional progeny. Now the era of induced pluripotent stem cells has opened entirely new opportunities to achieve research and therapeutic goals with the aid of hNSCs.

This volume discusses the latest experimental and clinical approaches to study seizures and epilepsy. Chapters in this book cover detailed protocols for ex vivo and in vitro experimental models and widely-used in vivo (acute and chronic seizure) models in epilepsy research. Chapters also cover techniques to screen the effective leads for the treatment of refractory seizures of pharmacoresistant epilepsy and invertebrate, non-mammalian models. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Cutting-edge and practical, Experimental and Translational Methods to Screen Drugs Effective Against Seizures and Epilepsy is a valuable resource for researchers, in both industry and academia, interested in learning about this important and developing field.

This book presents interdisciplinary research that pursues the mutual enrichment of neuroscience and robotics. Building on experimental work, and on the wealth of literature regarding the two cortical pathways of visual processing - the dorsal and ventral streams - we define and implement, computationally and on a real robot, a functional model of the brain areas involved in vision-based grasping actions. Grasping in robotics is largely an unsolved problem, and we show how the bio-inspired approach is successful in dealing with some fundamental issues of the task. Our robotic system can safely perform grasping actions on different unmodeled objects, denoting especially reliable visual and visuomotor skills. The computational model and the robotic experiments help in validating theories on the mechanisms employed by the brain areas more directly involved in grasping actions. This book offers new insights and research hypotheses regarding such mechanisms, especially for what concerns the interaction between the dorsal and ventral streams. Moreover, it helps in establishing a common research framework for neuroscientists and roboticists regarding research on brain functions.

The Neuroscience of Depression: Features, Diagnosis and Treatment, is a comprehensive reference to the diagnosis and treatment of depression. This book provides readers with the mechanisms of depression reflecting on the interplay between depression and the biological and psychosocial processes. A detailed introduction to various episodes of depression, from PTSD to post-partum depression is provided, followed by a thorough discussion on biomarkers in depression and how to diagnose depression including the Hamilton Depression Rating scale. This book also includes three full sections on treatment options for depression, including pharmacological, behavioral and other novel regimes. The Neuroscience of Depression: Features, Diagnosis and Treatment is the only resource for researchers and practitioners studying, diagnosis and treating of depression.

Neuroprotection in Autism, Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease provides an up-to-date overview on recent clinical studies and the similarities discovered in the most prevalent brain disorders. The book's content will help shed light on basic mechanisms and provide new avenues for early diagnosis toward disease prevention and disease modification. It is written for researchers, clinicians and medical physicians in neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry. Sections discuss the shared pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie autism, schizophrenia/mood disorders and Alzheimer's disease, i.e. neurodevelopmental disorders, neuropsychiatric diseases and neurodegenerative disorders.

This book, written by members of the European network PROTEOSTASIS, provides an up-to-date review of the research regarding protein homeostasis in health and disease. With new discoveries contributing to the increasing complexity of this topic, the book offers a detailed overview of the pathways regulating protein homeostasis, including autophagy and the ubiquitin protein family. Following a basic introduction, it explains how defects in protein homeostasis contribute to numerous pathologies, including cancer, neurodegeneration, inflammation and a number of rare diseases. In addition, it discusses, the role of protein homeostasis in cellular development and physiology. Highlighting the latest research in the field of protein homeostasis and its implications for various clinically relevant diseases, the book appeals to researchers and clinicians, while also offering a reference guide for scholars who are new to the field.

Mathematical Modelling in Motor Neuroscience: State of the Art and Translation to the Clinic, Gaze Orienting Mechanisms and Disease, Volume 249, the latest release in the Progress in Brain Research series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on a variety of topics, including Sequential Bayesian updating, Maps and Sensorimotor Transformations for Eye-Head Gaze Shifts: Role of the Midbrain Superior Colliculus, Modeling Gaze Position-Dependent Opsoclonus, Eye Position-Dependent Opsoclonus in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Saccades in Parkinson's disease -- hypometric, slow, and maladaptive, Brainstem Neural Circuits for Fixation and Generation of Saccadic Eye Movements, and much more.

This volume presents a wide array of animal models that are used in the study of the individual and environmental factors involved in the development of addiction, the consequences of chronic drug exposure, and recently developed behavioral and biological procedures for the treatment of addictive disorders. The chapters in this book are organized into three sections that cover the aforementioned aspects in relation to different drugs of abuse and pathological gambling. The first section of the book focuses on the individual variables that affect vulnerability to addiction to nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, psychostimulants, and gambling. Section Two looks at the environmental variables that contribute to the vulnerability to addiction. Section Three explores the consequences of chronic drug consumption and new approaches to the treatment of addiction. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Methods for Preclinical Research in Addiction is a valuable resource that helps researchers and scientists understand the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the influence of individual and environmental variables on the risk for addiction, and assists them in developing new behavioral and pharmacological strategies to prevent and treat addictive disorders.

This volume connects current ideas and concepts about sleep functions and circadian rhythms with the search for novel target-selective sleep-wake therapeutics. To do so, it provides a timely, state-of-the-art overview of sleep-wake mechanisms in health and disease, ongoing developments in drug discovery, and their prospects for the clinical treatment of sleep-disordered patients. It particularly focuses on the concept that sleep and wakefulness mutually affect each other, and the future therapeutic interventions with either sleep- or wake-promoting agents that are expected to not only improve the quality of sleep but also the waking behavior, cognition, mood and other sleep-associated physiological functions. The chapter 'Sleep Physiology, Circadian Rhythms, Waking Performance and the Development of Sleep-Wake Therapeutics' available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com