This compendium provides a wide view covering everything from molecular mechanisms and risk factors for neurological disorders to the effects of bariatric surgery on brain function and functional neuroimaging applied to obesity research. The impact of obesity on brain function and the development of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders has been understudied, despite the recent proliferation of obesity research. Among the topics covered are adipose biology, the adipose tissue - gut - brain axis, brain energy metabolism, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and multiple sclerosis.

Could a single human being ever have multiple conscious minds? Some human beings do. The corpus callosum is a large pathway connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. In the second half of the twentieth century a number of people had this pathway cut through as a treatment for epilepsy. They became colloquially known as split-brain subjects. After the two hemispheres of the brain are cortically separated in this way, they begin to operate unusually independently of each other in the realm of thought, action, and conscious experience, almost as if each hemisphere now had a mind of its own. Philosophical discussion of the split-brain cases has overwhelmingly focused on questions of psychological identity in split-brain subjects, questions like: how many subjects of experience is a split-brain subject? How many intentional agents? How many persons? On the one hand, under experimental conditions, split-brain subjects often act in ways difficult to understand except in terms of each of them having two distinct streams or centers of consciousness. Split-brain subjects thus evoke the duality intuition: that a single split-brain human being is somehow composed of two thinking, experiencing, and acting things. On the other hand, a split-brain subject nonetheless seems like one of us, at the end of the day, rather than like two people sharing one body. In other words, split-brain subjects also evoke the unity intuition: that a split-brain subject is one person. Elizabeth Schechter argues that there are in fact two minds, subjects of experience, and intentional agents inside each split-brain human being: right and left. On the other hand, each split-brain subject is nonetheless one of us. The key to reconciling these two claims is to understand the ways in which each of us is transformed by self-consciousness.

With an ever-increasing elderly population and the resultant rising levels of dementia-related disorders, preclinical research based on animal models is pivotal to our knowledge of underlying molecular mechanisms and drug discovery aiming at the development of therapeutic strategies alleviating or preventing the neurological devastation. In Animal Models of Dementia, expert researchers provide contributions that stress the importance of extensively validated animal models in drug discovery and development in order to predict clinical activity. Beginning with general aspects of animal modeling, related ethical issues, and essential methodological considerations, the highly detailed volume then continues with various levels of model validation, including pathological, behavioral, neurochemical, pharmacological, and imaging aspects, followed by sections focused on specific disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy and adrenoleukodystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia as well as vascular dementia and more. As a volume in the renowned Neuromethods series, this book offers a detailed, yet accessible, overview of currently available animal models in the field of dementia research, and touches, as well, upon more general areas linked to the development and use of animal models. Comprehensive and efficient, Animal Models of Dementia will significantly aid both experienced animal researchers as well as investigators on the verge of beginning animal model-based dementia research.

Adenosine A2A receptor antagonists have shown great promise in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease and alleviation of symptoms. This book addresses various aspects of this class of drugs from their chemical development to their clinical use. Among the many insightful chapters contained in this book, there are three unique reviews that have not previously been published in any format: (1) a history of istradefylline, the first A2A antagonist approved for treatment of Parkinson's Disease, (2) an overview of neuroimaging studies in human death and disease and (3) a study of urate as a possible biomarker and neuroprotectant.

We have known for over a thousand years that the brain underlies behavioral expression, but effective scientific study of the brain is only very recent. Two things converge in this book: a great respect for neuroscience and its many variations, and a sense of investigation and inquiry demythologized. Think of it as foraging for coherence.

The book is organized around 4 sections. The first deals with the creativity and its neural basis (responsible editor Emmanuelle Volle). The second section concerns the neurophysiology of aesthetics (responsible editor Zoi Kapoula). It covers a large spectrum of different experimental approaches going from architecture, to process of architectural creation and issues of architectural impact on the gesture of the observer. Neurophysiological aspects such as space navigation, gesture, body posture control are involved in the experiments described as well as questions about terminology and valid methodology. The next chapter contains studies on music, mathematics and brain (responsible editor Moreno Andreatta). The final section deals with evolutionary aesthetics (responsible editor Julien Renoult). Chapter "Composing Music from Neuronal Activity: The Spikiss Project" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Our brain is the source of everything that makes us human: language, creativity, rationality, emotion, communication, culture, politics. The neuroscienceshave given us, in recent decades, fundamental new insights into how the brain works and what that means for how we see ourselves as individuals and ascommunities. Now - with the help of new advances in nanotechnology - brain science proposes to go further: to study its molecular foundations, to repair brainfunctions, to create mind-machine interfaces, and to enhance human mental capacities in radical ways. This book explores the convergence of these tworevolutionary scientific fields and the implications of this convergence for the future of human societies. In the process, the book offers a significant new approachto technology assessment, one which operates in real-time, alongside the innovation process, to inform the ways in which new fields of science and technologyemerge in, get shaped by, and help shape human societies."

This book explores cybersecurity research and development efforts, including ideas that deal with the growing challenge of how computing engineering can merge with neuroscience. The contributing authors, who are renowned leaders in this field, thoroughly examine new technologies that will automate security procedures and perform autonomous functions with decision making capabilities. To maximize reader insight into the range of professions dealing with increased cybersecurity issues, this book presents work performed by government, industry, and academic research institutions working at the frontier of cybersecurity and network sciences. Cybersecurity Systems for Human Cognition Augmentation is designed as a reference for practitioners or government employees working in cybersecurity. Advanced-level students or researchers focused on computer engineering or neuroscience will also find this book a useful resource.

Neurons share more similarities with insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells than with any other cell type. The root of this similarity may lie in the islet's evolution from an ancestral insulin-producing neuron. The islet-neuron connection becomes less surprising as we learn more about insulin's involvement in functions far from its traditional role in mediating glucose uptake in muscle. The importance of insulin in the regulation of corporal aging has been established by the dramatic increases in longevity experienced by animals in which the adipose insulin receptor has been genetically eliminated, or in which the insulin-related daf genes have been mutated. New research suggests that, analogous to its influence on corporal aging, insulin also makes important contributions to brain aging and the expression of late-life neurodegenerative disease. Insulin plays a key role in cognition and other aspects of normal brain function. Insulin resistance induces chronic peripheral insulin elevations and is associated with reduced insulin activity both in periphery and brain. The insulin resistance syndrome underlies conditions such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension, which are associated with age-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. This book discusses the mechanisms through which insulin dysregulation contributes to the development of cognitive impairment and late-life neurodegenerative disease. Given the recent pandemic of conditions associated with insulin resistance, it is imperative that we achieve a comprehensive knowledge of the mechanisms through which insulin resistance affects brain function in order to develop therapeutic strategies to address these effects.

Within our knowledge, the series of the International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics (ICCN) is the only conference series dedicating to cognitive neurodynamics. This volume is the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cognitive Neurodynamics held in 2009, which reviews the progress in this field since the 1st ICCN -2007. The topics include: Neural coding and realistic neural network dynamics, Neural population dynamics, Firing Oscillations and Patterns in Neuronal Networks, Brain imaging, EEG, MEG, Sensory and Motor Dynamics, Global cognitive function, Multi-scalar Neurodynamics - from Physiology to Systems Theory, Neural computing, Emerging Technologies for Brain Computer Interfaces, Neural dynamics of brain disorders.

Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors

A timely overview covering the three major types of glial cells in the central nervous system - astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes. New findings on glia biology are overturning a century of conventional thinking about how the brain operates and are expanding our knowledge about information processing in the brain. The book will present recent research findings on the role of glial cells in both healthy function and disease. It will comprehensively cover a broad spectrum of topics while remaining compact in size.

This comprehensive volume provides teachers, researchers and education professionals with cutting edge knowledge developed in the last decades by the educational, behavioural and neurosciences, integrating cognitive, developmental and socioeconomic approaches to deal with the problems children face in learning mathematics. The neurocognitive mechanisms and the cognitive processes underlying acquisition of arithmetic abilities and their significance for education have been the subject of intense research in the last few decades, but the most part of this research has been conducted in non-applied settings and there's still a deep discrepancy between the level of scientific knowledge and its implementation into actual educational settings. Now it's time to bring the results from the laboratory to the classroom. Apart from bringing the theoretical discussions to educational settings, the volume presents a wide range of methods for early detection of children with risks in mathematics learning and strategies to develop effective interventions based on innovative cognitive test instruments. It also provides insights to translate research knowledge into public policies in order to address socioeconomic issues. And it does so from an international perspective, dedicating a whole section to the cultural diversity of mathematics learning difficulties in different parts of the world. All of this makes the International Handbook of Mathematical Learning Difficulties an essential tool for those involved in the daily struggle to prepare the future generations to succeed in the global knowledge society.

This book follows a successful symposium organized in June 2009 at the Human Brain Mapping conference. The topic is at the crossroads of two domains of increasing importance and appeal in the neuroimaging/neuroscience community: multi-modal integration, and social neuroscience. Most of our social interactions involve combining information from both the face and voice of other persons: speech information, but also crucial nonverbal information on the person's identity and affective state. The cerebral bases of the multimodal integration of speech have been intensively investigated; by contrast only few studies have focused on nonverbal aspects of face-voice integration. This work highlights recent advances in investigations of the behavioral and cerebral bases of face-voice multimodal integration in the context of person perception, focusing on the integration of affective and identity information. Several research domains are brought together. Behavioral and neuroimaging work in normal adult humans included are presented alongside evidence from other domains to provide complementary perspectives: studies in human children for a developmental perspective, studies in non-human primates for an evolutionary perspective, and studies in human clinical populations for a clinical perspective. Several research domains are brought together. Behavioral and neuroimaging work in normal adult humans included are presented alongside evidence from other domains to provide complementary perspectives: studies in human children for a developmental perspective, studies in non-human primates for an evolutionary perspective, and studies in human clinical populations for a clinical perspective. Several research domains are brought together. Behavioral and neuroimaging work in normal adult humans included are presented alongside evidence from other domains to provide complementary perspectives: studies in human children for a developmental perspective, studies in non-human primates for an evolutionary perspective, and studies in human clinical populations for a clinical perspective. Several research domains are brought together. Behavioral and neuroimaging work in normal adult humans included are presented alongside evidence from other domains to provide complementary perspectives: studies in human children for a developmental perspective, studies in non-human primates for an evolutionary perspective, and studies in human clinical populations for a clinical perspective.

The development of the brain and nervous system is shaped not just by a genetic program, but also by the effects of multiple environmental stimuli. There are currently no book-length treatments of perinatal neurodevelopment. The proposed book seeks to fill this gap by presenting a collection of chapters from leading experts in the field. It is intended to be comprehensive and will cover all aspects of neurodevelopmental programming in lab animals and in human subjects. The third section of the book will look at ways of translating insights we have garnered from animal studies to human and clinical studies. The primary audience for this work is basic researchers interested in the effects of perinatal imprinting on the development of the nervous system and associated diseases.

Damage to the central nervous system resulting from pathological mechanical loading can occur as a result of trauma or disease. Such injuries lead to significant disability and mortality. The peripheral nervous system, while also subject to injury from trauma and disease, also transduces physiological loading to give rise to sensation, and mechanotransduction is also thought to play a role in neural development and growth. This book gives a complete and quantitative description of the fundamental mechanical properties of neural tissues, and their responses to both physiological and pathological loading. This book reviews the methods used to characterize the nonlinear viscoelastic properties of central and peripheral neural tissues, and the mathematical and sophisticated computational models used to describe this behaviour. Mechanisms and models of neural injury from both trauma and disease are reviewed from the molecular to macroscopic scale. The book provides a comprehensive picture of the mechanical and biological response of neural tissues to the full spectrum of mechanical loading to which they are exposed. This book provides a comprehensive reference for professionals involved in pre prevention of injury to the nervous system, whether this arises from trauma or disease.

Neuromechanics is a new, quickly growing field of neuroscience research that merges neurophysiology, biomechanics and motor control and aims at understanding living systems and their elements through interactions between their neural and mechanical dynamic properties. Although research in Neuromechanics is not limited by computational approaches, neuromechanical modeling is a powerful tool that allows for integration of massive knowledge gained in the past several decades in organization of motion related brain and spinal cord activity, various body sensors and reflex pathways, muscle mechanical and physiological properties and detailed quantitative morphology of musculoskeletal systems. Recent work in neuromechanical modeling has demonstrated advantages of such an integrative approach and led to discoveries of new emergent properties of neuromechanical systems. Neuromechanical Modeling of Posture and Locomotion will cover a wide range of topics from theoretical studies linking the organization of reflex pathways and central pattern generating circuits with morphology and mechanics of the musculoskeletal system (Burkholder; Nichols; Shevtsova et al.) to detailed neuromechanical models of postural and locomotor control (Bunderson; Edwards, Marking et al., Ting). Furthermore, uniquely diverse modeling approaches will be presented in the book including a theoretical dynamic analysis of locomotor phase transitions (Spardy and Rubin), a hybrid computational modeling that allows for in vivo interactions between parts of a living organism and a computer model (Edwards et al.), a physical neuromechanical model of the human locomotor system (Lewis), and others.

This volume aims to connect current ideas and concepts about GI disorders with the search for novel therapeutics. Towards this goal, authors provide a timely state-of-the-art overview of the GI tract in health and disease, current treatment approaches and ongoing developments in drug discovery, and their potential for the better treatment of patients with GI disorders.

Vision is our primary sensory modality, and we are naturally curious as to how the visual system assembles. The visual system is in many ways remarkably simple, a repeating assemblage of neurons and support cells that parse the visual field through precision and redundancy. Through this simplicity the eye has often led the way in our exploration of how an organ is assembled. Eye development has therefore long been a favorite for exploring mechanisms of cell fate choice, patterning and cell signaling.

This volume, which is part of the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, highlights the exceptional advances over the past 20 years. Chapters emphasize our knowledge of transcription factors and how these generate networks to direct the eye field and associated structures. Topics such as cell fate specification are also explored, along with the potential of Drosophila as a model for lens formation and the progress made in using the Drosophila eye to examine planar cell polarity.
Contributions from researchers who are active in identifying new paradigms to explore

Review of our current state of knowledge

Chapters written by authors with a new generation approach that takes a more systems approach to identifying factors and better defines cell subtypes

This new edition covers the latest knowledge on opiate receptors and related receptor subtypes. It discusses many topics pertaining to the unique integrated approach of correlating the biochemical, physiological and pharmacological aspects of opiate reaction.

social neuroscience, social psychology, developmental, psychology, social cognition, vision research and clinical psychology. social neuroscience, social psychology, developmental, psychology, sThis comprehensive volume reviews current developments in our evolving knowledge of social attention and its processes. In doing so, it examines the brain-behavioral bases of social attention from diverse complementary fields, including disordered and healthy adult findings, infant and developmental studies and social neuroscience. The studies explored in this volume reflect the ongoing shift toward naturalistic, context-based experiments and integrative scientific approaches, and away from relying solely on standardized tasks in laboratory settings. In keeping with this proactive perspective, the authors pose critical questions throughout the book to point readers toward the potential next wave of research developments and interventions.Included in the coverage: The development of social attention in human infants. Neural bases for social attention in healthy humans. Social attention, social presence, and the dual function of gaze. Early departures from normative processes of social engagement in infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Aberrant social attention and its underlying neural correlates in adults with ASD. The future of social attention research. The Many Faces of Social Attention will interest researchers in social neuroscience, social psychology, developmental psychology, social cognition, visual attention and cognition, and clinical psychology, and inspire new advances in this increasingly important area of study. ocial cognition, vision research and clinical psychology.

From the preface: "Neural Metabolism In Vivo aims to provide a comprehensive overview of neurobiology by presenting the basic principles of up-to-date and cutting-edge technology, as well as their application in assessing the functional, morphological and metabolic aspects of the brain. Investigation of neural activity of the living brain via neurovascular coupling using multimodal imaging techniques extended our understanding of fundamental neurophysiological mechanisms, regulation of cerebral blood flow in connection to neural activity and the interplay between neurons, astrocytes and blood vessels. Constant delivery of glucose and oxygen for energy metabolism is vital for brain function, and the physiological basis of neural activity can be assessed through measurements of cerebral blood flow and consumption of glucose and oxygen.... This book presents the complex physiological and neurochemical processes of neural metabolism and function in response to various physiological conditions and pharmacological stimulations. Neurochemical detection technologies and quantitative aspects of monitoring cerebral energy substrates and other metabolites in the living brain are described under the "Cerebral metabolism of antioxidants, osmolytes and others in vivo" section. Altogether, the advent of new in vivo tools has transformed neuroscience and neurobiology research, and demands interdisciplinary approaches as each technology could only approximate a very small fraction of the true complexity of the underlying biological processes. However, translational values of the emerging in vivo methods to the application of preclinical to clinical studies cannot be emphasized enough. Thus, it is our hope that advances in our understanding of biochemical, molecular, functional and physiological processes of the brain could eventually help people with neurological problems, which are still dominated by the unknowns." -- In-Young Choi and Rolf Gruetter

Foundations of Art Therapy: Theory and Applications is an essential and comprehensive introduction to the field of art therapy that blends relevant psychological and neuroscience research, theories, and concepts and infuses cultural diversity throughout each chapter. The text includes full color photos, informative charts, and case examples and is divided into four parts beginning with the basics of art therapy knowledge and concluding with professional practices in art therapy. The fundamentals of art therapy section includes coverage of art therapy founders, art materials, multicultural perspectives, intersections with neuroscience, and research methods. An overview and in-depth explorations of different theoretical approaches to the practice of art therapy are covered in the second part of the book. A bio-psycho-social approach integrates current research on art therapy with specific populations (children, mental health, older adults, and trauma). The book concludes with art therapy professional practices in group concepts, community-based art therapy, and developing a career in the field. Each chapter contains chapter objectives, practical applications, ethical considerations, reflection questions, experiential exercises, and a list of terms. The unique, practical, and interdisciplinary approach of this text provides a solid base for understanding the field of art therapy and is well suited for use in undergraduate art therapy courses. This book will appeal to those who want an introduction to the field's theories, research, and practice and those seeking a comprehensive understanding on the foundations of art therapy.

Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels and is a key process which occurs during pathological disease progression. Excessive and damaging angiogenesis occurs in diseases such as cancer, diabetic retinopathies, age-related macular degeneration and atherosclerosis. In other diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction, insufficient or improper angiogenesis results in tissue loss and ultimately higher morbidity and mortality. In this book we will begin by providing the reader with an overview of the process of angiogenesis including normal embryological development of blood vessels. The following chapters will each focus on a key angiogenic disease incorporating current scientific knowledge concerning the causes of activation of the "angiogenic switch," pathological consequences, current treatment options and future perspectives. Where appropriate, results from pre-clinical trials, novel imaging modalities and nanotechnological approaches will be incorporated into these sections. Finally, since it is now believed that the process of angiogenesis operated via different signalling mechanisms in different vascular beds, we will discuss our current understanding of this phenomenon. The target audience for this book would include researchers in all the basic sciences; post-graduate students at Universities and Institutes; pharmaceutical industries; clinicians working in vascular biology or tissue imaging; pathologists; neurologists; tumour biologists; ophthalmologists and cardiologists.