Research on natural and artificial brains is proceeding at a rapid pace. However, the understanding of the essence of consciousness has changed slightly over the millennia, and only the last decade has brought some progress to the area. Scientific ideas emerged that the soul could be a product of the material body and that calculating machines could imitate brain processes. However, the authors of this book reject the previously common dualism-the view that the material and spiritual-psychic processes are separate and require a completely different substance as their foundation. Reductive Model of the Conscious Mind is a forward-thinking book wherein the authors identify processes that are the essence of conscious thinking and place them in the imagined, simplified structure of cells able to memorize and transmit information in the form of impulses, which they call neurons. The purpose of the study is to explain the essence of consciousness to the degree of development of natural sciences, because only the latter can find a way to embed the concept of the conscious mind in material brains. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 works to convince readers that the emergence of consciousness does not require detailed knowledge of the structure and morphology of the brain, with the exception of some specific properties of the neural network structure that the authors attempt to point out. Part 2 proves that the biological structure of many natural brains fulfills the necessary conditions for consciousness and intelligent thinking. Similarly, Part 3 shows the ways in which artificial creatures imitating natural brains can meet these conditions, which gives great hopes for building artificially intelligent beings endowed with consciousness. Covering topics that include cognitive architecture, the embodied mind, and machine learning, this book is ideal for cognitive scientists, philosophers of mind, neuroscientists, psychologists, researchers, academicians, and advanced-level students. The book can also help to focus the research of linguists, neurologists, and biophysicists on the biophysical basis of postulated information processing into knowledge structures.

This book explores new developments in the dialogues between science and theatre and offers an introduction to a fast-expanding area of research and practice.The cognitive revolution in the humanities is creating new insights into the audience experience, performance processes and training. Scientists are collaborating with artists to investigate how our brains and bodies engage with performance to create new understanding of perception, emotion, imagination and empathy. Divided into four parts, each introduced by an expert editorial from leading researchers in the field, this edited volume offers readers an understanding of some of the main areas of collaboration and research: 1. Dances with Science 2. Touching Texts and Embodied Performance 3. The Multimodal Actor 4. Affecting Audiences Throughout its history theatre has provided exciting and accessible stagings of science, while contemporary practitioners are increasingly working with scientific and medical material. As Honour Bayes reported in the Guardian in 2011, the relationships between theatre, science and performance are 'exciting, explosive and unexpected'. Affective Performance and Cognitive Science charts new directions in the relations between disciplines, exploring how science and theatre can impact upon each other with reference to training, drama texts, performance and spectatorship. The book assesses the current state of play in this interdisciplinary field, facilitating cross disciplinary exchange and preparing the way for future studies.

The 4th World Congress on Genetics, Geriatrics, and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (GeNeDis 2020) focuses on the latest major challenges in scientific research, new drug targets, the development of novel biomarkers, new imaging techniques, novel protocols for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, and several other scientific advances, with the aim of better, safer, and healthier aging. The relation between genetics and its effect on several diseases are thoroughly examined in this volume. This volume focuses on the sessions from the conference on Genetics and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Neuroprosthetics is a fast-growing area that brings together the fields of biomedical engineering and neuroscience as a means to interface the neural system directly to prostheses. Advancing research and applications in this field can assist in successfully restoring motor, sensory, and cognitive functions. Emerging Theory and Practice in Neuroprosthetics brings together the most up-to-date research surrounding neuroprosthetics advances and applications. Presenting several new results, concepts, and further developments in the area of neuroprosthetics, this book is an essential publication for researchers, upper-level students, engineers, and medical practitioners.

This book discusses new candidates for rapid-acting antidepressants, such as (R)-ketamine, (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine, scopolamine, mGluR2/3 antagonists and AMPA receptor agonists. There are serious limitations to currently available antidepressants, such as delayed onset and low rates of efficacy. The discovery that a single dose of ketamine, an NMDAR antagonist, can produce rapid antidepressant effects that are sustained has led to new research in this area. In this volume, a variety of novel pharmaceutical treatments are examined. This volume would be useful to both researchers and clinicians who work in the field of pharmacology, specifically CNS drug treatments.

Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the mysterious heart of our existence.

What is reality? Who are “you”? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human?

In the course of his investigations, Eagleman guides us through the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, facial expressions, genocide, brain surgery, gut feelings, robotics, and the search for immortality. Strap in for a whistle-stop tour into the inner cosmos. In the infinitely dense tangle of billions of brain cells and their trillions of connections, something emerges that you might not have expected to see in there: you.

This is the story of how your life shapes your brain, and how your brain shapes your life.

The most comprehensive and practical guide available for caregivers of children who have seizures and epilepsy, now completely updated. For more than 30 years, parents, caregivers, and health care providers have trusted Seizures and Epilepsy in Children to provide comprehensive, science-based information and practical answers to the most common questions about these conditions. In this new edition, completely revised and updated, a team of experts from Johns Hopkins Medicine offers guidance on: * diagnostic testing and the latest treatments * recommendations for the best devices, apps, and websites * driving, health insurance, and playing sports * navigating school and other environments * mental health issues and counseling * coping with disability * side effects from medications This new edition also features dedicated chapters on diet, complementary and alternative medicine, and rescue medicines. Seizures and Epilepsy in Children is the go-to resource for caregivers and families with children who have epilepsy and seizures.

Preclinical Research in Down Syndrome: From Bench to Bedside, Volume 251, the latest release in the Progress in Brain Research series, highlights new advances in the field. Chapters in this updated release include Exploring genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits in Dow syndrome, The trisomy paradox: gene expression dysregulation domains, the Influence of allelic differences in mouse models of Down syndrome, Modelling Down syndrome in cells: From stem cells to organoids, Modelling Down syndrome in animals from the early stage to the new generation of models, Mapping behavioral landscapes in Down syndrome animal models, and more.

The book highlights important new research approaches of clinical relevance, written by prominent researchers in the field of OCD and related disorders. A broad range of topics is covered, beginning with a description of the phenotypic features of the OCD followed by chapters on developmental aspects, animal models, genetic and biological models including neuro-inflammation, functional neuroimaging correlates and information-processing accounts. Finally, existing and novel treatment approaches are covered including clinical and pharmacogenetic treatment models. In this way the volume brings together the key disciplines involved in the neurobiological understanding of OCD to provide an update of the field and outlook to the future. Together, the volume chapters provide focused and critical reviews that span a broad range of topics suitable for both students and established investigators and clinicians interested in the present state of OCD research.

This book describes methods for statistical brain imaging data analysis from both the perspective of methodology and from the standpoint of application for software implementation in neuroscience research. These include those both commonly used (traditional established) and state of the art methods. The former is easier to do due to the availability of appropriate software. To understand the methods it is necessary to have some mathematical knowledge which is explained in the book with the help of figures and descriptions of the theory behind the software. In addition, the book includes numerical examples to guide readers on the working of existing popular software. The use of mathematics is reduced and simplified for non-experts using established methods, which also helps in avoiding mistakes in application and interpretation. Finally, the book enables the reader to understand and conceptualize the overall flow of brain imaging data analysis, particularly for statisticians and data-scientists unfamiliar with this area. The state of the art method described in the book has a multivariate approach developed by the authors' team. Since brain imaging data, generally, has a highly correlated and complex structure with large amounts of data, categorized into big data, the multivariate approach can be used as dimension reduction by following the application of statistical methods. The R package for most of the methods described is provided in the book. Understanding the background theory is helpful in implementing the software for original and creative applications and for an unbiased interpretation of the output. The book also explains new methods in a conceptual manner. These methodologies and packages are commonly applied in life science data analysis. Advanced methods to obtain novel insights are introduced, thereby encouraging the development of new methods and applications for research into medicine as a neuroscience.

Brain network function and dysfunction is the dominant model for understanding how the brain gives rise to normal and abnormal behavior. Moreover, neuropsychiatric illnesses continue to resist attempts to reveal an understanding of their bases. Thus, this timely volume provides a synthesis of the uses of multiple analytic methods as they are applied to neuroimaging data, to seek understanding of the neurobiological bases of psychiatric illnesses, understanding that can subsequently aid in their management and treatment. A principle focus is on the analyses and application of methods to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. fMRI remains the most widely used neuroimaging technique for estimating brain network function, and several of the methods covered can estimate brain network dysfunction in resting and task-active states. Additional chapters provide details on how these methods are (and can be) applied in the understanding of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, mood disorders, autism, borderline personality disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A final complement of chapters provides a collective overview of how this framework continues to provoke theoretical advances in our conception of the brain in psychiatry. This unique volume is designed to be a comprehensive resource for imaging researchers interested in psychiatry, and for psychiatrists interested in advanced imaging applications.

This book focuses on the role of the endocannabinoid system in local and systemic inflammation, with individual chapters written by experts in the field of cannabinoid research and medicine. The topics explore the actions of the endocannabinoid system on the immune system, including neuroinflammation in autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, and in neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's and Alzheimer's, as well as local and systemic inflammatory conditions affecting organs including the eye (uveitis and corneal inflammation), the bladder (interstitial cystitis), pancreas (diabetes), cardiovascular system (stroke), joints (arthritis), and sepsis. The objective of this book is to provide knowledge transfer on the use of cannabinoids in inflammatory disease by critically examining preclinical and clinical research on the immunomodulatory actions of the endocannabinoid system, with specific emphasis on the actions of cannabinoids in diseases where inflammation is a prominent component. By drawing these results together, we seek to provide further understanding of the complexities of endocannabinoid system modulation of immune function and identify potential uses and limitations for cannabinoid-based therapeutics.

The brains of males and females, men and women, are different, that is a fact. What is debated is how different and how important are those differences. Sex differences in the brain are determined by genetics, hormones, and experience, which in humans includes culture, society, and parental and peer expectations. The importance of nonbiological variables to sex differences in humans is paramount, making it difficult if not impossible to parse out those contributions that are truly biological. The study of animals provides us the opportunity to understand the magnitude and scope of biologically based sex differences in the brain, and understanding the cellular mechanisms provides us insight into novel sources of brain plasticity. Many sex differences are established during a developmental sensitive window by differences in the hormonal milieu of males versus females. The neonatal testis produces large amounts of testosterone which gains access to the brain and is further metabolized into active androgens and estrogens which modify brain development. Major parameters that are influenced by hormones include neurogenesis, cell death, neurochemical phenotype, axonal and dendritic growth, and synaptogenesis. Variance in these parameters results in sex differences in the size of particular brain regions, the projections between brain regions, and the number and type of synapses within particular brain regions. The cellular mechanisms are both region and endpoint specific and invoke many surprising systems such as prostaglandins, endocannabinoids, and cell death proteins. Epigenetic modifications to the genome both establish and maintain sex differences in the brain and behavior. By understanding when, why, and how sex differences in the brain are established, we may also learn the source of strong gender biases in the relative risk and severity of numerous neurological diseases and disorders of mental health. Boys are much more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum or attention and hyperactivity disorders, as well as speech and language deficits, compared to girls. By contrast, women are more likely to suffer from affective disorders, such as depression, anxiety, compulsion, and eating disorders and more likely to experience autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders. Schizophrenia with an early onset is more common in males but a late-onset version is markedly more frequent in females. Male biased disorders have origins in development while female biased disorders are almost exclusively post-puberty. This remarkable shift in disease risk demands our attention. Novel insights into the biological origins of disease are also gained by comparing and contrasting the same processes in different sexes.

The field of Binaural Hearing involves studies of auditory perception, physiology, and modeling, including normal and abnormal aspects of the system. Binaural processes involved in both sound localization and speech unmasking have gained a broader interest and have received growing attention in the published literature. The field has undergone some significant changes. There is now a much richer understanding of the many aspects that comprising binaural processing, its role in development, and in success and limitations of hearing-aid and cochlear-implant users. The goal of this volume is to provide an up-to-date reference on the developments and novel ideas in the field of binaural hearing. The primary readership for the volume is expected to be academic specialists in the diverse fields that connect with psychoacoustics, neuroscience, engineering, psychology, audiology, and cochlear implants. This volume will serve as an important resource by way of introduction to the field, in particular for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, the faculty who train them and clinicians.

Food and water are necessary for survival, but can only be obtained via ingestive behavior (feeding, drinking, and moving). Survival thus depends on the ability of the brain to coordinate the need for water and energy with appropriate behaviors to modify their intake as necessary for homeostasis. However, the balance of these behaviors also inherently determines body weight, and imbalances contribute to the development of weight disorders, such as obesity and anorexia nervosa. The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) of the brain is anatomically positioned to coordinate the sensation of osmotic and energy status with goal-directed ingestive behaviors necessary to maintain homeostasis and body weight, and, hence, may hold insight into the potential treatment for energy balance disorders. This volume reviews the essential role of the LHA for the control of body weight, from its historical description as a ""feeding center"" to the current view of this LHA as a cellularly heterogeneous hub that regulates multiple aspects of physiology to influence body weight. Furthermore, we evaluate how specific LHA populations coordinate certain metabolic cues and behaviors, which may guide the development of pathway-specific interventions to improve the treatment of energy balance disorders.

This is the first volume to provide a detailed introduction to some of the main areas of research and practice in the interdisciplinary field of art and neuroscience. With contributions from neuroscientists, theatre scholars and artists from seven countries, it offers a rich and rigorous array of perspectives as a springboard to further exploration. Divided into four parts, each prefaced by an expert editorial introduction, it examines: * Theatre as a space of relationships: a neurocognitive perspective * The spectator's performative experience and 'embodied theatrology' * The complexity of theatre and human cognition * Interdisciplinary perspectives on applied performance Each part includes contributions from international pioneers of interdisciplinarity in theatre scholarship, and from neuroscientists of world-renown researching the physiology of action, the mirror neuron mechanism, action perception, space perception, empathy and intersubjectivity. While illustrating the remarkable growth of interest in the performing arts for cognitive neuroscience, this volume also reveals the extraordinary richness of exchange and debate born out of different approaches to the topics.

Why a text on neuroscience and Christian formation? Simply put, we need one that represents the range of possible intersections for today and into the future. In recent years, neuroscience's various fields of study have influenced our understanding of theperson, memory, learning, development, communal interaction, and the practice of education. The book serves as an introductory textbook for Christian education/formation professors to use in Christian education or Christian formation courses at the College or Seminary level. The book is designed to provide an overview of how current research in neuroscience is impacting how we view Christian education and formation with particular attention given to faith formation, teaching, development, and worship The first four chapters discuss how neuroscience broadly influences Christian education and formation. Chapters five through eight explore how neuroscience informs specific formational practices, from personal meditation, to intercultural encounter, to congregational formation and worship. The last four chapters explore various aspects of neuroscience along developmental lines, The book also moves from conceptual overviews to more empirical studies late in the text. Each chapter of this book canalso be read and discussed individually. Each author has provided both discussion topics, suggestions for future reading within neuroscience, and discussion questions at the end of the chapter.

This book aims at providing insights into the collagen superfamily and the remarkable diversity of collagen function within the extracellular matrix. Additionally, the mechanisms underlying collagen-related diseases such as dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, osteogenesis imperfecta, as well as collagen-related myopathies and neurological disorders are discussed. Collagens are the most abundant extracellular matrix proteins in organisms. Their primary function is to provide structural support and strength to cells and to maintain biomechanical integrity of tissues. However, collagens can no longer be considered just as structural proteins. They can act as extracellular modulators of signaling events and serve critical regulatory roles in various cell functions during embryonic development and adult homeostasis. Furthermore, collagens are associated with a broad spectrum of heritability-related diseases known as "collagenopathies" that affect a multitude of organs and tissues including sensorial organs. The book is a useful introduction to the field for junior scientists, interested in extracellular matrix research. It is also an interesting read for advanced scientists and clinicians working on collagens and collagenopathies, giving them a broader view of the field beyond their area of specialization.

Information molecules, such as Cortico-Releasing Factor (CRF), are ancient and widely distributed across diverse organs, playing various regulatory roles. CRF has been associated with a range of human conditions, including fear and anxiety, social contact, and most recently, addiction - in particular the euphoric feelings associated with alcohol consumption. Since its original discovery, research has unearthed that the role of this molecule is much broader than first thought. The scientific community now knows that CRF is a dynamic and diversely widespread peptide hormone that plays many roles and has many functions, in addition to its role as a releasing factor in the brain. This book explores the role of CRF, examining the relationship between location and function. It considers recurrent features that are linked to CRF - movement and change. CRF expression in regions of the brain is tied to paying attention to novel events and invoking movement in response to those events. Indeed, CRF provokes simple organized rhythmic behavior and can be mobilized under diverse conditions, including adversity. Examining the evolutionary origins of CRH, its neural functions, and its role in a variety of human characteristics and social behaviors, this book provides unique insights into CRF, and will be of interest to students and researchers in Neuroscience, Psychology, and Biology.