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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Life sciences: general issues > Neurosciences
The Neuropsychology of Vision describes a range of new approaches to neuropsychological investigation and provides a broad overview of visual neuropsychology. The book starts by presenting the results from new research employing single-unit recordings, on the neuronal basis of perception demonstrating that the visual system relies strongly on feedback from higher to lower levels of information processing, and that neuronal plasticity exists in the primary sensory cortices of adults, areas previously considered to be hard-wired. The book also describes other new and adapted techniques to measure brain activity, including multi-unit sum potential recording, functional magnetic resonance imaging and employing transcranial magnetic stimulation to induce temporary, circumscribed functional lesions in the cortices of normal subjects to mimic disorders. The coverage then moves on to review the experience of patients suffering from disturbances of visual perception. The disorders covered include agnosia, neglect, blindsight and achromatopsia. The final chapter is devoted to recovery and rehabilitation from cerebral visual disorder. Professors Fahle and Greenlee have brought together some of the leading international specialists in the field to provide this comprehensive and up-to-date review.
Aluminum, bound almost exclusively to oxygen in various combinations, is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust and, therefore, of great commercial potential. Once methods were developed (in the 1880's) to free useable quantities of the element from oxygen, applications for the element began developing rapidly. This growth has resulted in the ubiquity of the metal in today's world. Therefore it can be found intentionally introduced in many products in direct contact with human beings. It is commonly known that soluble forms of aluminum aretoxic to living organisms. However, aluminum is not known to be bioavailable under everyday conditions. In fact, the solubility product of common aluminum compounds, such as AI(OH)3 is so low as to make it essentially unavailable. This volume of Structure and Bonding seeks to provide in one source, a resource where the basic science related to aluminum toxicity may be obtained. It should be stressed that this volume is not intended to be a warning to avoid contact with aluminum. Living organisms have adequate defenses to prevent aluminum toxicity under normal conditions. Rather the volume was created to simply provide an understanding of the biological effects of aluminum. As such, the present volume should be considered in the context of the companion volumes in this three part series of Structure and Bonding. The first volume was devoted to fundamental developments in group 13 chemistry.
This volume describes a broad spectrum of experimental approaches for investigating structure, function, and transport of neuronal mitochondria in health and disease. Most of these approaches were only recently developed and range from electron tomography-based 3D reconstruction of mitochondrial cristae to patch clamp recording from mitochondria in intact neurons. The chapters in this book cover topics such as mitochondrial proteomics, fluorescence lifetime imaging, respirometry and mitophagy, as well as optical approaches based on the use of genetically engineered fluorescent sensors for monitoring synaptic ATP and axonal ROS generation, mitochondrial Ca2+ cycling and pH changes, and mitochondrial dynamics and axonal trafficking in live neurons. Each chapter also discusses difficulties, tips, tricks, and precautions to take. 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, Techniques to Investigate Mitochondrial Function in Neurons is a valuable and useful resource for a broad range of investigators interested in the function of neuronal mitochondria in health and disease states.
This volume offers an up-to-date overview of essential concepts and modern approaches to computational modelling, including the use of experimental techniques related to or directly inspired by them. The book introduces, at increasing levels of complexity and with the non-specialist in mind, state-of-the-art topics ranging from single-cell and molecular descriptions to circuits and networks. Four major themes are covered, including subcellular modelling of ion channels and signalling pathways at the molecular level, single-cell modelling at different levels of spatial complexity, network modelling from local microcircuits to large-scale simulations of entire brain areas and practical examples. Each chapter presents a systematic overview of a specific topic and provides the reader with the fundamental tools needed to understand the computational modelling of neural dynamics. This book is aimed at experimenters and graduate students with little or no prior knowledge of modelling who are interested in learning about computational models from the single molecule to the inter-areal communication of brain structures. The book will appeal to computational neuroscientists, engineers, physicists and mathematicians interested in contributing to the field of neuroscience. Chapters 6, 10 and 11 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Music offers a unique opportunity to better understand the organization of the human brain. Like language, music exists in all human societies. Like language, music is a complex, rule-governed activity that seems specific to humans, and associated with a specific brain architecture. Yet unlike most other high-level functions of the human brain--and unlike language--music is a skil at which only a minority of people become proficient. The study of music as a major brain function has for some time been relatively neglected. Just recently, however, we have witnessed an explosion in research activities on music perception and performance that correlates in the human brain. This volume brings together an outstanding collection of international authorities--from the fields of music, neuroscience, psychology, and neurology--to describe the amazing advances being made in understanding the complex relationship between music and the brain.
This comprehensive handbook synthesizes the often-fractured relationship between the study of biology and the study of society. Bringing together a compelling array of interdisciplinary contributions, the authors demonstrate how nuanced attention to both the biological and social sciences opens up novel perspectives upon some of the most significant sociological, anthropological, philosophical and biological questions of our era. The six sections cover topics ranging from genomics and epigenetics, to neuroscience and psychology to social epidemiology and medicine. The authors collaboratively present state-of-the-art research and perspectives in some of the most intriguing areas of what can be called biosocial and biocultural approaches, demonstrating how quickly we are moving beyond the acrimonious debates that characterized the border between biology and society for most of the twentieth century. This landmark volume will be an extremely valuable resource for scholars and practitioners in all areas of the social and biological sciences. The chapter 'Ten Theses on the Subject of Biology and Politics: Conceptual, Methodological, and Biopolitical Considerations' is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com. Versions of the chapters 'The Transcendence of the Social', 'Scrutinizing the Epigenetics Revolution', 'Species of Biocapital, 2008, and Speciating Biocapital, 2017' and 'Experimental Entanglements: Social Science and Neuroscience Beyond Interdisciplinarity' are available open access via third parties. For further information please see license information in the chapters or on link.springer.com.
This book revitalizes the relevance of the ideas of Henri Bergson (1859-1941) for current developments in exact sciences. It explores the relevance of Bergson's thought for contemporary philosophical reflections on three of the most important scientific research areas of today, namely physics, the life sciences and the neurosciences. It does so on the basis of the three interrelated topics of time, life and memory. Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was one of the most widely read philosophers of his era. The European public was seeking for answers to questions of the soul and the nature of life and fitting within a historical niche between intellectual rationalism and intuitive spiritualism, his writings drew much attention. This work focuses on the relevance of his philosophy for developments in exact sciences today. The discussion of physics in relation to the abstract and the concrete, the life sciences in relation to concepts of life in relation to new and emerging biotechnology, and the neurosciences in relation to the dual nature of human identity, focuses on one main topic: time. Time, isolated from experience, as the measure of the events in the universe in modern physics; time as the measure of emergent systems in evolution as the backdrop of the theory of evolution in biology; time in relation to memory and imagination in neuropsychological accounts of memory. The author thus discusses the ideas of Henri Bergson as a basis to unveil time as a living process, rather than as an instrument for the measure of events. This view forms the basis of a novel approach to the philosophy of technology. An exciting book for academics interested in the interplay between hard sciences and philosophy.
This volume contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) "Multisensory Control of Movement" held at SISSA, Trieste (Italy), July 3-12, 1994. The ASI took the format of a Summer School that we organized with the collaboration of a scientific committee formed by A. Berthoz (Paris), H. Collewijn (Rotterdam), H. Heuer (Dortmund), M. Jeannerod (Lyon), and J. F. Stein (Oxford). The School was attended by sixty students selected from twice as many applicants from fourtheen countries. Their contribution to the discussions, and the presentation of their own ongoing research organized in informal sessions proved very stimulating. The main focus of the School was on brain mechanisms involved in multisensory control of movement. This broad topic was addressed with a multidisciplinary approach, integrating contributions from neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, psychophysics, neurology, and cognitive science. This choice is reflected in the content of the present volume. Lacquaniti reviews recent advances in the field of motor control, with a special emphasis on the role of reference frames and coordinate transformations. Visuomotor channels are discussed by Jeannerod within the context of the control of object oriented actions. Johnson, Ferraina and Caminiti describe the functional architecture of cortical networks involved in reaching under visual guidance. Fogassi, Gallese, Fadiga and Rizzolatti present new data on space coding in inferior premotor cortex (area F4). The import of neurological findings for understanding human motor control is illustrated by Freund."
Stroke is a major cause of death and the major cause of adult neurological disability in most of the world. Despite its importance on a population basis, research into the genetics of stroke has lagged behind that of many other disorders. However, the situation is now changing. An increasing number of single gene disorders causing stroke are being described, and there is growing evidence that polygenic factors are important in the risk of apparently "sporadic" stroke. Stroke Genetics provides an up-to-date review of the area, suitable for clinicians treating stroke patients, and both clinical and non-clinical researchers in the field of cerebrovascular disease. The full range of monogenic stroke disorders causing cerebrovascular disease, including ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations, are covered. For each, clinical features, diagnosis, and genetics are described. Increasing evidence suggest that genetic factors are also important for the much more common multifactorial stroke; this evidence is reviewed along with the results of genetic studies in this area. Optimal and novel strategies for investigating multifactorial stroke, including the use of intermediate phenotypes such as intima-media thickness and MRI detected small vessel disease are reviewed. The book concludes by describing a practical approach to investigating patients with stroke for underlying genetic disorders. Also included is a list of useful websites.
We all know what a voluntary action is - we all think we know when an action is voluntary, and when it is not. First, there has to be some wish or goal, then an action designed to fulfil that wish or attain that goal. This standard view of voluntary action is prominent in both folk psychology and the professional sphere (e.g. the juridical) and guides a great deal of psychological and philosophical reasoning. But is it that simple though? For example, research from the neurosciences has shown us that the brain activation required to perform the action can actually precede the brain activation representing our conscious desire to perform that action. Only in retrospect do we come to attribute the action we performed to some desire or wish to perform the action. This presents us with a problem - if our conscious awareness of an action follows its execution, then is it really a voluntary action? The question guiding this book: What is the explanatory role of voluntary action, and are there ways that we can reconcile our common-sense intuitions about voluntary actions with the findings from the sciences? This is a debate that crosses the boundaries of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and social science. This book brings together some of the leading thinkers from these disciplines to consider this deep and often puzzling topic. The result is a fascinating and stimulating debate that will challenge our fundamental assumptions about our sense of free-will.
We all know what a voluntary action is - we all think we know when an action is voluntary, and when it is not. First, there has to be some wish or goal, then an action designed to fulfil that wish or attain that goal. This standard view of voluntary action is prominent in both folk psychology and the professional sphere (e.g. the juridical) and guides a great deal of psychological and philosophical reasoning. But is it that simple though? For example, research from the neurosciences has shown us that the brain activation required to perform the action can actually precede the brain activation representing our conscious desire to perform that action. Only in retrospect do we come to attribute the action we performed to some desire or wish to perform the action. This presents us with a problem - if our conscious awareness of an action follows its execution, then is it really a voluntary action? The question guiding this book is: What is the explanatory role of voluntary action, and are there ways that we can reconcile our common-sense intuitions about voluntary actions with the findings from the sciences? This is a debate that crosses the boundaries of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and social science. This book brings together some of the leading thinkers from these disciplines to consider this deep and often puzzling topic. The result is a fascinating and stimulating debate that will challenge our fundamental assumptions about our sense of free-will.
This monograph translates neuroscientific research to illuminate ongoing and future practices for the rehabilitation of patients with neurologic diseases. The author dissects fundamental concepts, current practices, and clinical trials to define what clinicians and researchers need to consider as they pursue best practices and areas ripe for exploration. Remarkable studies from functional anatomy, neural repair, physiologic imaging of the brain, and brain-machine interfaces reveal how the structure and function of the nervous system may respond to therapeutic manipulations for walking, grasping, and cognition. These concepts are brought forward into treating the medical complications and the impairments and disabilities of patients across neurologic diseases.
Connectomics: Applications to Neuroimaging is unique in presenting the frontier of neuro-applications using brain connectomics techniques. The book describes state-of-the-art research that applies brain connectivity analysis techniques to a broad range of neurological and psychiatric disorders (Alzheimer's, epilepsy, stroke, autism, Parkinson's, drug or alcohol addiction, depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia), brain fingerprint applications, speech-language assessments, and cognitive assessment. With this book the reader will learn: Basic mathematical principles underlying connectomics How connectomics is applied to a wide range of neuro-applications What is the future direction of connectomics techniques. This book is an ideal reference for researchers and graduate students in computer science, data science, computational neuroscience, computational physics, or mathematics who need to understand how computational models derived from brain connectivity data are being used in clinical applications, as well as neuroscientists and medical researchers wanting an overview of the technical methods. Features: Combines connectomics methods with relevant and interesting neuro-applications Covers most of the hot topics in neuroscience and clinical areas Appeals to researchers in a wide range of disciplines: computer science, engineering, data science, mathematics, computational physics, computational neuroscience, as well as neuroscience, and medical researchers interested in the technical methods of connectomics
This volume provides a guide on nanoformulations and other drug delivery approaches for both academic and industry scientists. The chapters in this book cover diverse topics and techniques in nanoparticle drug delivery, gene therapy, neurosurgical brain implant, exosomes, MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), and advanced preclinical glioblastoma multiforme animal models. Some chapters discuss state-of-the-art and innovative nanomedicines for glioblastoma, surface-modified nanoparticle drug carriers for brain cancer treatment, focused ultrasound (FUS)-mediated blood-brain barrier disruption for enhanced drug delivery to brain tumors; gene therapy delivery approaches to treat brain cancer, and a liposome-template hydrogel nanoparticles (LHNPs) as a powerful CRISPR/Cas9 delivery vehicle. 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 thorough, Nanotherapy for Brain Tumor Drug Delivery is a valuable resource for the scientific community working on this important therapeutic field, and will help fast-track the clinical translation of revolutionary nanotechnologies for treating brain tumors.
Spatial neglect is a disorder of space-related behaviour. It is characterized by failure to explore the side of space contralateral to a brain lesion, or to react or respond to stimuli or subjects located on this side. Research on spatial neglect and related disorders has developed rapidly in recent years. These advances have been made as a result of neuropsychological studies of patients with brain damage, behavioural studies of animal models, as well as through functional neurophysiological experiments and functional neuroimaging. The Cognitive and Neural Bases of Spatial Neglect provides an overview of this wide-ranging field of scientific endeavour, providing a cohesive synthesis of the most recent observations and results. As well as being a fascinating clinical phenomenon, the study of spatial neglect helps us to understand normal mechanisms of directing and maintaining spatial attention and is relevant to the contemporary search for the cerebral correlates of conscious experience, voluntary action and the nature of personal identity itself. The book is divided into seven sections covering the anatomical and neurophysiological bases of the disorder, frameworks of neglect, perceptual and motor factors, the relation to attention, the cognitive processes involved, and strategies for rehabilitation. Chapters have been written by a team of the leading international experts in this field. This will be essential reading for neuropsychologists, neurologists, neurophysiologists, cognitive neuroscientists and psychologists.
Implicit memory refers to a change in task performance due to an earlier experience that is not consciously remembered. The topic of implicit memory has been studied from two quite different perspectives for the past 20 years. On the one hand, researchers interested in memory have set out to characterize the memory system (or systems) underlying implicit memory, and see how they relate to those underlying other forms of memory. The alternative framework has considered implicit memory as a by-product of perceptual, conceptual, or motor systems that learn. That is, on this view the systems that support implicit memory are heavily constrained by pressures other than memory per se. Both approaches have yielded results that have been valuable in helping us to understand the nature of implicit memory, but studied somewhat in isolation and with little collaboration. This volume is unique in explicitly contrasting these approaches, bringing together world class scientists from both camps in an attempt to forge a new approach to understanding one of the most exciting and important issues in psychology and neuroscience. Written for postgraduate students and researchers in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, this is a book that will have an important influence on the direction that future research in this field takes.
This book reports on the latest technological and clinical advances in the field of neurorehabilitation. It is, however, much more than a conventional survey of the state-of-the-art in neurorehabilitation technologies and therapies. It was written on the basis of a week of lively discussions between PhD students and leading research experts during the Summer School on Neurorehabilitation (SSNR2014), held September 15-19 in Baiona, Spain. Its unconventional format makes it a perfect guide for all PhD students, researchers and professionals interested in gaining a multidisciplinary perspective on current and future neurorehabilitation scenarios. The book addresses various aspects of neurorehabilitation research and practice, including a selection of common impairments affecting CNS function, such as stroke and spinal cord injury, as well as cutting-edge rehabilitation and diagnostics technologies, including robotics, neuroprosthetics, brain-machine interfaces and neuromodulation.
This book describes various aspects of current scientific interest in clinical developments and management of pulmonary pathologies. Non-communicable and communicable disorders are tackled. Chronic disorders of an inflammatory background, such as COPD and asthma, often overlapping, diagnostically and therapeutically misguided and always difficult to manage, are in focus due to an increasing prevalence across the age range. The authors dwell on the disease management, exacerbations, care and therapy, taking into account all too often overlooked psychosomatic determinants. Novel markers of pulmonary sarcoidosis, also an inflammatory disease, albeit of unknown etiology, are described. The outstanding lung images of cystic fibrosis are presented in another chapter. Finally, there are reports on the extent of the influenza scourge in Poland during the past 2016/2017 epidemic season. The book is addressed to clinicians, family physicians, medical scholars, and all professionals engaged in the preservation of respiratory health.
This is the paperback edition of a title that has sold 1481 copies in hardback since 2000. This unique book draws its a inspiration from the belief that the role of cognition in emotion is an important yet relatively neglected aspect of cognitive neuroscience. By carefully examining underlying assumptions and the nature of the phenomena under same time investigation, editors and contributors reach the surprising conclusion that emotion - in all of its mystery andabout ineffability - can be studied without compromise within the field of cognitive neuroscience. Its superb selection of contributors identify what is currently known and the ways future research can extend knowledge of emotion and the brain. In doing so, they skillfully illuminate four major areas of research: the process of emotion generation, the functions of the amygdala, the conscious experience of emotion and emotion regulation and dysregulation. This book also reviews the latest findings from neuroanatomical studies in rats and non-human primates; neuropsychological, neurological and psychiatric investigations; studies in psychopathology and experimental psychology; and functional brain imaging research.
The study of brain lesions and their impact on cognition and behavior has been the dominant tool used to examine the complex function of the brain for the last three centuries. By testing neuropsychological deficits that correlate with a lesion in a particular part of the brain, it is possible to hypothesise about the role and cognitive function of that individual brain area. Over the past several decades, the rapid development and implementation of many new technologies to visualize brain activity has greatly augmented our understanding of brain function. However, even now there are many experimental questions that are difficult, if not impossible to answer in any way other than lesion techniques. Such studies though are not without their own challenges to overcome such as lesion-induced neuroplasticity, widespread degenerative changes, and the permanent nature of a lesion. Recent developments in different fields of neuroscience have provided tools to overcome many of the problems related to conventional lesion techniques and have succeeded to synthesizing these new approaches with a variety of new techniques to visualize brain activity on the level of individual neurons as well as on the level of cognitive performance. These 'virtual lesions' involve the temporary deactivation of a part of the brain, by means of a range of techniques that have been recently developed. Because these deactivations are reversible, and leave the neuronal substrate unaffected, they provide a much more controllable, and rigorous way of testing subjects. These 'virtual lesion' approaches provide an essential bridge across the gap between basic research and computational approaches and provide mechanisms to test the applicability of models and their annexant hypotheses. 'Virtual Lesions' provides a state of the art guide to the full range of reversible deactivation techniques available. With each chapter written by experts in their respective field, and providing evidence of the practical applications of their methods, along with potential pitfalls, the book will serve as a valuable and practical guide for future experimentation within cognitive neuroscience.
The book reports on the latest theories on artificial neural networks, with a special emphasis on bio-neuroinformatics methods. It includes twenty-three papers selected from among the best contributions on bio-neuroinformatics-related issues, which were presented at the International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on September 10-13, 2013 (ICANN 2013). The book covers a broad range of topics concerning the theory and applications of artificial neural networks, including recurrent neural networks, super-Turing computation and reservoir computing, double-layer vector perceptrons, nonnegative matrix factorization, bio-inspired models of cell communities, Gestalt laws, embodied theory of language understanding, saccadic gaze shifts and memory formation, and new training algorithms for Deep Boltzmann Machines, as well as dynamic neural networks and kernel machines. It also reports on new approaches to reinforcement learning, optimal control of discrete time-delay systems, new algorithms for prototype selection, and group structure discovering. Moreover, the book discusses one-class support vector machines for pattern recognition, handwritten digit recognition, time series forecasting and classification, and anomaly identification in data analytics and automated data analysis. By presenting the state-of-the-art and discussing the current challenges in the fields of artificial neural networks, bioinformatics and neuroinformatics, the book is intended to promote the implementation of new methods and improvement of existing ones, and to support advanced students, researchers and professionals in their daily efforts to identify, understand and solve a number of open questions in these fields.
Asymmetry of the brain and behaviour (lateralization) has traditionally been considered unique to humans. However, research has shown that this phenomenon is widespread throughout the vertebrate kingdom and found even in some invertebrate species. A similar basic plan of organisation exists across vertebrates. Summarising the evidence and highlighting research from the last twenty years, the authors discuss lateralization from four perspectives - function, evolution, development and causation - covering a wide range of animals, including humans. The evolution of lateralization is traced from our earliest ancestors, through fish and reptiles to birds and mammals. The benefits of having a divided brain are discussed, as well as the influence of experience on its development. A final chapter discusses outstanding problems and areas for further investigation. Experts in this field, the authors present the latest scientific knowledge clearly and engagingly, making this a valuable tool for anyone interested in the biology and behaviour of brain asymmetries.
The symposium on Acoustical Signal Processing in the Central Auditory System which was held in Prague on September 4--7, 1996 was the third in a series organized in Prague, after the Neuronal Mechanisms of Hearing symposium in 1980 and Auditory Pathway - Structure and Function symposium in 1987. Approximately 100 scientists regis tered for the symposium and presented 82 separate papers and posters. The present vol ume contains 53 of these contributions, mostly presented at the symposium as invited review papers. Several essential changes occurred since the previous meeting in 1987. In auditory neuroscience, recently developed methods opened new horizons in the investigation of the structure and function of the central auditory pathway. Methods like c-fos tracing tech niques and monoclonal antibodies for neurotransmitters and their receptors, like the intro duction of electrophysiological recording from brain slices have made possible new insights into the function of individual neurons and their interconnections, particularly in the cochlear nuclei and in the superior olivary complex. Integrative approaches towards understanding the central auditory function started to dominate in the field. It is not easy at the present time to differentiate between purely morphological and neurochemical ap proaches; similarly electrophysiological approaches are accompanied inevitably by behav ioral and psychophysical studies. The understanding of human brain function advanced significantly during the last several years. mainly due to the contribution of magneto encephalography. positron emission tomography and functional nuclear magnetic reso nance imaging.
Subcortical Stroke is a new and fully revised edition of Lacunar and Other Subcortical Infarctions (OUP, 1995). Stroke is one of the most common causes of death and subcortical stroke accounts for 20-30% of all cerebrovascular infarctions. Our understanding of stroke processes in general, and subcortical stroke in particular, has advanced considerably in recent years. Research findings from the fields of neurochemistry, imaging and genetics have provided insight and input to our understanding of this condition, and this new edition provides an opportunity to describe these advances, and to relate the findings to the clinical expression, neural mechanism, prognosis and treatment of subcortical stroke. In addition, new subcortical syndromes such as CADASIL are covered, as is subcortical haemorrhage. This book presents a comprehensive and authoritative review of the field with contributions from the leading international experts. Subcortical Stroke is for stroke physicians, neurologists and those researching cerebrovascular diseases. |
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