This contributed volume explores the achievements gained and the remaining puzzling questions by applying dynamical systems theory to the linguistic inquiry. In particular, the book is divided into three parts, each one addressing one of the following topics: 1) Facing complexity in the right way: mathematics and complexity 2) Complexity and theory of language 3) From empirical observation to formal models: investigation of specific linguistic phenomena, like enunciation, deixis, or the meaning of the metaphorical phrases The application of complexity theory to describe cognitive phenomena is a recent and very promising trend in cognitive science. At the time when dynamical approaches triggered a paradigm shift in cognitive science some decade ago, the major topic of research were the challenges imposed by classical computational approaches dealing with the explanation of cognitive phenomena like consciousness, decision making and language. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and experts in the field but the book may also be beneficial for graduate and post-graduate students who want to enter the field.

ATP acts as main energy source and is pivotal for numerous signaling cascades both inside the cells (by fuelling various transport systems and donating phosphate groups) and between the cells (by chemical transmission). Similarly glutamate acts as an important molecule for both intercellular signaling though glutamatergic transmission and cell energetics by contributing to ATP production. In this collection of chapters, written by the leading experts in the field of cell metabolism and energetics, intracellular signaling and neurotransmission we covered various aspects of the interfacing between these two fundamental molecules. This book will be particularly useful for researchers, students, physicians and psychotherapists working in the field of neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry.

This ground breaking title presents the many different neurologic syndromes and vastly expanding data in the brain sciences from an evolutionary, or neuro-archeological, perspective, as well as a clinical one. The neuro-archeological perspective offers a more thorough picture of the field - providing hindsight that leads to great insight and foresight. It thus provides the reader with the core foundational aspects of many perplexing neurologic syndromes. Authored by a noted authority in cognitive neurology and including ample tables, diagrams and images, the book covers the full range of behavioral neurological, psychological and neuropsychiatric syndromes, as well as their underlying disease states, relevant neuropsychological tests and contemporary neuroimaging, both structural and functional. The evolutionary approach offers a comprehensive, novel, and completely updated overview of each topic. An invaluable title unlike any other in the field, Cognitive, Conative and Behavioral Neurology: An Evolutionary Perspective is a landmark resource and will be of great interest to neurologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and trainees in all fields.

This volume of"International Review of Neurobiology" concentrates on modern concepts of focal epileptic networks. The volume addresses specific topics such as seizures (including transition and termination), limbic networks, alteration of metabolism, and neocortical focus and malformation of cortical development, among others.

Published since 1959, "International Review of Neurobiology" is a well-known series appealing to neuroscientists, clinicians, psychologists, physiologists, and pharmacologists. Led by an internationally renowned editorial board, this important serial publishes both eclectic volumes made up of timely reviews, and thematic volumes that focus on recent progress in a specific area of neurobiology research.

Our knowledge about the mechanisms involved in pathophysiology of epilepsy has rapidly expanded during last decade
This special volume brings overview about modern concepts of epileptic focus organization and about the altered neural network dynamics which results in propensity of the brain tissue to generate spontaneous and repeated seizures
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This book is a comprehensive overview of the clinical and scientific aspects of Autism from the leading experts in the field. The clinical section covers everything from epidemiological features to epigenetic regulation to behavioral therapies and much in between. The basic science section presents the latest knowledge on the underlying causes of the disorder including the role of various neurotransmitters, neurexins and neuroligins, reelin, and other proteins. Chapters also explore the cognition and motor control in autism and the connection between oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction and autism. The thorough description of these underlying causes may help researchers and clinicians find more effective treatments and therapies for the 1 in 68 American children who have been diagnosed with Autism.

How do we become aware of things and events in the outside world, and how does the brain control the muscular system and behavior? This book examines the history of Western attempts to explain how messages might be sent from the sense organs to the brain and from the brain to the muscles. It focuses on a construct called animal spirit, which would permeate philosophy and guide physiology and medicine for over two millennia.
The authors' story opens along the Eastern Mediterranean, where they examine how Pre-Socratic philosophers related the soul to air-wind or pneuma. They then trace what Hippocrates, Plato and Aristotle wrote about this pneuma, and how Stoic and Epicurean philosophers approached it. They also visit Alexandria, where Hellenistic anatomists provided new thoughts about the nerves and the ventricles. Thereafter, the authors return to the Greek mainland, where they show how Galen's pneuma psychikon or spiritus animae would provide an explanation for sensations and movements.
Galen's writings would guide science and medicine for well over a thousand years, albeit with some modifications. One change, found in early Christian writers Nemesius and Augustine, involved assigning perception, cognition, and memory to different spirit-filled ventricles. After examining how pious Scholastics later dealt with the nerve spirit, the authors turn to how questions began to be raised about it in the 1500s and 1600s. Here they examine the rise of modern science with its revealing experiments, microscopic observations, and attempts to break with the past. Descartes, Swammerdam, Borelli, Glisson, Willis, Newton, Hartley, Boerhaave and Haller are among the featured players in this part of the story.
Nevertheless, the animal spirit doctrine continued to survive (although modified), because no adequate replacement for it was immediately forthcoming. The replacement theory stemmed from experiments on electric fishes started in the 1750s. Additional research on these fishes and then on frogs eventually led scientists to abandon their time-honored ideas. The authors trace some of the developments leading to modern electrophysiology and end with an epilogue centered on what this history teaches us about paradigmatic changes in the life sciences.

This stimulating analysis reviews the broad potential of animal models to foster a deeper understanding of human pathology, strengthen connections between genetic and behavioral studies, and develop more effective treatments for mental disorders. Widely-studied and lesser-used species are examined in models that capture features along the continuum of normative and pathological behavior. The models highlight genetic causes of core features, or endophenotypes, of developmental, internalizing, and externalizing disorders, as well as dementia. Expert contributors address questions ranging from how suitable species are chosen for study to the costs and benefits of using inbred versus outbred strains, and the effects of housing environment on subject animals. Larger issues addressed include how to evaluate the applicability of animal behavioral models to the human condition and how these models can harness emerging molecular technologies to further our understanding of the genetic basis of mental illness. Included in the coverage: Mating and fighting in Drosophila. Attachment and social bonding. Impulsivity in rodents and humans. Animal models of cognitive decline. Animal models of social cognition. Future directions for animal models in behavioral genetics. A detailed map of where this evolving field is headed, Animal Models of Behavior Genetics shows geneticists, molecular biologists, and cognitive neuroscientists paths beyond established concepts toward a more knowledgeable and collaborative future.

The science of cannabinoids is 50 years old. These past years provided a remarkable and constant number of breakthroughs, showing that the signaling mediated by endocannabinoids and lipid mediators impacts almost every function of the body. Indeed, this represents a special field of research, which allows tackling the complexity of biological functions, and provides potential therapeutic frameworks for a plethora of diseases. The number of exciting discoveries brought up to the scientific community almost on a daily basis highlights the importance of an updated volume on this topic. Particularly, given that potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids are currently under heavy analysis in many Countries worldwide. Hence, the main objective of this book is to explore not only some of the many functions of endocannabinoids (and lipid mediators) in physiological control of networks at a cellular and molecular level, but also to extend this knowledge for potential use of cannabinoids and/or drugs regulating endocannabinoid levels in vivo as therapeutic target(s) in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. In this book new findings and ideas about the endocannabinoid system and its roles as neuronal circuit modulator related to human brain pathologies characterized by alterations in neuroplasticity will be highlighted. Endocannabinoid roles in key systems controlling appetite, pain, learning and memory, as well as sleep and stress responses will be presented. In addition, pathological processes associated with changes in endocannabinoid signaling will be discussed in the context of anxiety, autism, depression and addiction. This book will provide an excellent background to researchers looking for extending their areas of interest, and to newcomers in the field.

This ambitious compendium provides an extensive overview on the "supporting cells" of the vertebrate central nervous system, these being glial cells which far outnumber neurons but are much less understood. Covering multiple aspects of this family of transporters-- from structural properties, to their involvement in signaling and gene expression regulation, this volume presents the most recent research on the roles of glial amino acid transporters as key molecules of brain metabolism and signaling.

This special volume of "Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science" provides a current overview of how memory is processed in the brain.A broad range of topics are presented by leaders in the field, ranging from brain circuitry to synaptic plasticity to the molecular machinery that contributes to the brain's ability to maintain information across time. Memory systems in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala are considered as well. In addition, the volume covers recent contributions to our understanding of memory from in vivo imaging, optogenetic, electrophysiological, biochemical and molecular biological studies.
Articles from world renowned experts in memoryCovering topics from signaling, epigenetic, RNA translation to plasticityMethodological approaches includemolecular and cellular, behavioral, electrophysiological, optogenetic and functional imaging"

Rewire the brain processes that cause obsessions and compulsions-and take back your life! If you've ever wondered why you seem to get trapped in an endless cycle of obsessive, compulsive thoughts, you don't have to wonder anymore. Grounded in cutting-edge neuroscience and evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Rewire Your OCD Brain will show you how and why your brain gets stuck in a loop of obsessive thinking, uncertainty, and worry; and offers the tools you need to short-circuit this response and get your symptoms under control-for good. Written by clinical psychologist Catherine Pittman and clinical neuropsychologist William Youngs, this groundbreaking book will show how neurological functions in your brain lead to obsessions, compulsions, and anxiety. You'll also find tons of proven-effective coping strategies to help you manage your worst symptoms-including relaxation, exercise, healthy sleep habits, cognitive restructuring, cognitive defusion, distraction, and mindfulness. The brain is powerful, and the more you work to change the way you respond to obsessive thoughts, the more resilient you'll become. If you're ready to rewire the brain processes that lie at the root of your obsessive thoughts, this book has everything you need to get started today.

Published since 1959, "International Review of Neurobiology" is a well-known series appealing to neuroscientists, clinicians, psychologists, physiologists, and pharmacologists. Led by an internationally renowned editorial board, this important serial publishes both eclectic volumes made up of timely reviews and thematic volumes that focus on recent progress in a specific area of neurobiology research.

This volume, concentrates on the brain transcriptome.

Brings together cutting-edge research on the brain transcriptome

This volume of "International Review of Neurobiology" is on Cerebellar Conditioning and Learning. It reviews current knowledge and understanding, provides a starting point for researchers and practitioners entering the field.
Cerebellar Conditioning and Learning

This book presents the current concepts of semaphorin biology. In the early 1990s, semaphorins were originally identified as axon guidance cues that function during neuronal development. However, cumulative findings have clarified that they have diverse functions in many physiological processes, including cardiogenesis, angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, retinal homeostasis, and immune regulation. Additionally, they have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various human diseases, including tumorigenesis/tumor metastasis, neuroregenerative diseases, retinal degeneration, irregular pulse/sudden death, and immune disorders. Based on this current research background, the book covers the essential state-of-the-art findings for basic scientists in biochemistry, molecular biology, neuroscience, developmental biology, and structural biology, as well as for physicians in neurology, cardiology, oncology, orthopedic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, allergology, and rheumatology.

This broad and thought-provoking volume provides an overview of recent intellectual and scientific advances that bridge the gap between psychiatry and neuroscience, offering a wide range of penetrating insights in both disciplines. The third volume on the topic in the last several years from a varying panel of international experts, this title identifies the borders, trends and implications in both fields today and goes beyond that into related disciplines to seek out connections and influences. Similar to its two Update book predecessors, Psychiatry and Neuroscience - Volume III presents the current state-of-the-art in the main disciplines - psychiatry and neuroscience - and attempts to provide deeper comprehension or explication of the normal and diseased human mind, its biological correlates and its biographical and existential implications. This engaging volume continues the previous style of exploring different disciplines and trying to integrate disciplinary evidence from varying points of view in an organic manner. Developed for clinicians and researchers in the fields of medicine, psychiatry, psychology and biology, this third volume also will be of great interest to students and university professors of diverse disciplines.

This book reviews some of the most important scientific and philosophical theories concerning the nature of mind and consciousness. Current theories on the mind-body problem and the neural correlates of consciousness are presented through a series of biographical sketches of the most influential thinkers across the fields of philosophy of mind, psychology and neuroscience. The book is divided into two parts: the first is dedicated to philosophers of mind and the second, to neuroscientists/experimental psychologists. Each part comprises twenty short chapters, with each chapter being dedicated to one author. A brief introduction is given on his or her life and most important works and influences. The most influential theory/ies developed by each author are then carefully explained and examined with the aim of scrutinizing the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches to the nature of consciousness.

Neuronal dendritic trees are complex structures that endow the cell with powerful computing capabilities and allow for high neural interconnectivity. Studying the function of dendritic structures has a long tradition in theoretical neuroscience, starting with the pioneering work by Wilfrid Rall in the 1950s. Recent advances in experimental techniques allow us to study dendrites with a new perspective and in greater detail. The goal of this volume is to provide a resume of the state-of-the-art in experimental, computational, and mathematical investigations into the functions of dendrites in a variety of neural systems. The book first looks at morphological properties of dendrites and summarizes the approaches to measure dendrite morphology quantitatively and to actually generate synthetic dendrite morphologies in computer models. This morphological characterization ranges from the study of fractal principles to describe dendrite topologies, to the consequences of optimization principles for dendrite shape. Individual approaches are collected to study the aspects of dendrite shape that relate directly to underlying circuit constraints and computation. The second main theme focuses on how dendrites contribute to the computations that neurons perform. What role do dendritic morphology and the distributions of synapses and membrane properties over the dendritic tree have in determining the output of a neuron in response to its input? A wide range of studies is brought together, with topics ranging from general to system-specific phenomena-some having a strong experimental component, and others being fully theoretical. The studies come from many different neural systems and animal species ranging from invertebrates to mammals. With this broad focus, an overview is given of the diversity of mechanisms that dendrites can employ to shape neural computations.

This well-established international series examines major areas of basic and clinical research within neuroscience, as well as emerging and promising subfields. This volume concentrates on adenosine receptor science, providing insights useful for actual drug discovery/development in neurology and psychiatry areas.

This well-established international series examines major areas of basic and clinical research within neuroscience, as well as emerging and promising subfields. This volume concentrates on Neuroimmune Signaling in Drug Actions and Addictions.

Animal models and tests have become increasingly important for biomedical research, enabling a better understanding of pathogenic pathways involved in various human disorders. Over the last decades, zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become a very popular model organism in biomedical research. Recently, this fish has entered the waters of neuroscience and biological psychiatry, quickly becoming an indispensable model species in this field. With a high genetic homology to humans (~75% based on coding regions), it is not surprising that humans and fish are very similar physiologically (and behaviorally). Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that zebrafish can be an excellent model of human neuropsychiatric disorders. While some classical psychiatrists may not too easily be persuaded by this generalization, the current book "The rights and wrongs of zebrafish: principles of behavioral phenotyping and CNS disease modeling" explains, in a domain-by-domain manner, how exactly zebrafish models can be used to target a wide range of human brain disorders and aberrant phenotypes. The contributors to this book are leading international scholars whose work spearheads innovative zebrafish neuroscience research around the world. Written by top experts in the field, this book makes for a useful, balanced and up-to-date reading that outlines the use of zebrafish to study the pathological mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders.

Collectively, neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by chronic and progressive loss of neurons in discrete areas of the brain, producing debilitating symptoms such as dementia, loss of memory, loss of sensory or motor capability, decreased overall quality of life eventually leading to premature death. Two types of cell death are known to occur during neurodegeneration: (a) apoptosis and (b) necrosis. The necrosis is characterized by the passive cell swelling, intense mitochondrial damage with rapid loss of ATP, alterations in neural membrane permeability, high calcium influx, and disruption of ion homeostasis. This type of cell death leads to membrane lysis and release of intracellular components that induce inflammatory reactions. Necrotic cell death normally occurs at the core of injury site. In contrast, apoptosis is an active process in which caspases (a group of endoproteases with specificity for aspartate residues in protein) are stimulated. Apoptotic cell death is accompanied by cell shrinkage, dynamic membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation, DNA laddering, loss of phospholipids asymmetry, low ATP levels, and mild calcium overload. This type of cell death normally occurs in penumbral region at the ischemic injury site and in different regions in various neurodegenerative diseases.

This is the 11th volume in the New Directions in Cognitive Science Series (formerly Vancover Studies in Cognitive Science). It addresses common sense, reasoning, and rationality, currently areas of considerable interdisciplinary interest and importance. While common sense and rationality have often been viewed as two distinct features in a unified cognitive map, this interdisciplinary volume - including essays from an outstanding group of established scholars - engages with this notion and comes up with novel and often paradoxical views of this relationship. It should appeal to philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and computer scientists interested in considering what constitutes human rationality, behaviour, and intelligence. This groundbreaking collection is at the forefront of Cognitive Science research, and promises to be of unprecedented influence across disciplines.

This volume collects protocols and procedures utilizing cellular, tissue, and whole animal models that can be applied to the investigation of neurotrophic factors and other agents impacting on these systems. It begins with chapters on the culture of neurons and glia from the central and peripheral nervous systems, neuron-glia and glia-glia co-culture models, oligodendrocytes, and cell-based assays for the evaluation of cell vitality. This revised second edition expands to cover methodology encompassing site-specific direct labeling of neurotrophins and their receptors, angiogenesis assays, stem cells, pancreatic beta-cells, axonal transport, synapse biology, dendritic spine analysis, and brain endothelial cells. Subsequent chapters are dedicated to in vivo lesion models of relevance to nervous system pathology, which can be applied to the investigation of neurotrophic factors and peptides, as well as protocols describing nanofiber- and nanoparticle-based methods for brain delivery of neurotrophic agents. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Neurotrophic Factors: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition is a valuable resource for a wide audience of readers as they explore nervous system function and pathology.