For modern scientists, history often starts with last week's journals and is regarded as largely a quaint interest compared with the advances of today. However, this book makes the case that, measured by major advances, the greatest decade in the history of brain studies was mid-twentieth century, especially the 1950s. The first to focus on worldwide contributions in this period, the book ranges through dozens of astonishing discoveries at all levels of the brain, from DNA (Watson and Crick), through growth factors (Hamburger and Levi-Montalcini), excitability (Hodgkin and Huxley), synapses (Katz and Eccles), dopamine and Parkinson's (Carlsson), visual processing (Hartline and Kuffler), the cortical column (Mountcastle), reticular activating system (Morruzzi and Magoun) and REM sleep (Aserinsky), to stress (Selye), learning (Hebb) and memory (HM and Milner). The clinical fields are also covered, from Cushing and Penfield, psychosurgery and brain energy metabolism (Kety), to most of the major psychoactive drugs in use today (beginning with Delay and Deniker), and much more.
The material has been the basis for a highly successful advanced undergraduate and graduate course at Yale, with the classic papers organized and accessible on the web. There is interest for a wide range of readers, academic, and lay because there is a focus on the creative process itself, on understanding how the combination of unique personalities, innovative hypotheses, and new methods led to the advances. Insight is given into this process through describing the struggles between male and female, student and mentor, academic and private sector, and the roles of chance and persistence. The book thus provides a new multidisciplinary understanding of the revolution that created the modern field of neuroscience and set the bar for judging current and future advances.

Modern brain imaging is revolutionizing the study of brain function in health and disease. Few realize that its origins began with a pioneering study in the nineteenth century by an Italian scientist, Angelo Mosso, of several subjects brought to him with head injuries that exposed their brains to direct observation. He took advantage of this opportunity to observe for the first time changes in cerebral blood flow in relation to different behaviors, the same changes that are the basis for the measurements underlying modern methods. Although Mosso was widely recognized for this highly original study by his contemporaries, through a German translation in 1881, there has never been a translation through which his magnificent achievement could be recognized in English. His rightful role as the pioneer in brain imaging has thus not been recognized. This unique volume corrects that deficiency. Through it, the modern reader, whether an expert in the field or an interested scientist or member of the public, can gain a new perspective on the remarkable insights Mosso gained into how behaviors as subtle as thinking about a subject or feeling an emotion can produce the changes in pulsations of the brain that he observed. The special features of this volume begin with a brief summary of Mosso's life. Two pioneers of modern brain imaging, Marcus Raichle and Gordon M. Shepherd, then provide an extensive commentary that succinctly summarizes Mosso's work and explains its relevance to modern methods. The authors not only emphasize Mosso's role as a pioneer in brain imaging, but also through this study as a pioneer in the eventual rise of cognitive neuroscience. The English translation then follows, together with all of the plates and illustrations of the original volume. The result is a classic of neuroscience now available for wide appreciation by neuroscientists, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, historians of science and medicine, and the general public.

Updated and revised, the second edition of Handbook of Brain Microcircuits covers the functional organization of 50 brain regions. This now-classic text uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the integration of structure, function, electrophysiology, pharmacology, brain imaging, and behavior. Through uniquely concise and authoritative chapters by leaders in their fields, the Handbook of Brain Microcircuits synthesizes many of the new principles of microcircuit organization that are defining a new era in understanding the brain connectome, integrating the major neuronal pathways and essential microcircuits with brain function. New to the Second Edition: * Insights into new regions of the brain through canonical microcircuit diagrams for each region * Latest methodology in optogenetics, neurotransmitter uncaging, computational models of neurons and microcircuits, serial ultrastructure reconstructions, cellular and regional imaging * Extrapolated data from new genetic tools and understandings applied to microcircuits in the mouse and Drosophila * Common principles across vertebrate and invertebrate microcircuit systems, one of the key goals of modern neuroscience

The neuron doctrine, first formulated in 1891, states that the brain is constructed of individual neurons, organized into functioning circuits that mediate behavior. Above all else, this is the main concept that underlies all of modern neuroscience. This 25th Aniversary Edition of The Foundations of the Neuron Doctrine explains how this theory was the product of an explosion of histological studies and vigorous debates near the end of the nineteenth century by an extraordinary group of scientists, most importantly the leading figure of the time, Santiago Ramon y Cajal of Spain, and includes the foremost nervous system investigators of many countries, such as Albrecht Kolliker, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm His, August Forel, Fritdjof Nansen and Gustav Retzius. The neuron doctrine explains how these eminent scientists used a selective nerve cell stain invented by Camillo Golgi of Italy and followed him in describing the fabulous branching patterns of nerve cells, providing strong evidence that the cells interact as individual units to form circuits. This work also describes how this view was opposed by Golgi, who maintained that the nerve cells form syncytial networks. Studies in the 1950s appeared resoundingly to confirm the nerve cell as an individual unit, as embodied in the neuron doctrine, which became the basis for the rise of concepts of normal and disordered neural function in the remaining 20th century. This 25th Anniversary Edition concludes by discussing how recent studies are showing a much greater degree of complexity in neuronal organization, so that the debate of neuron versus network is again coming to the fore of neuroscience research. Unique to this anniversary edition is the inclusion of commentaries by distinguished leaders in the neurosciences on the continuing relevance of the neuron doctrine for modern studies of the brain at all levels, from genes and molecules to microcircuits, neural networks, and behavior.

It is widely recognized that the neural basis of brain function can be fully understood only by integrating many disciplines at many levels. Studies os synaptic organization are bringing about a quiet revolution in achieving this goal, as documented by this unique book over the past 30 years. In this fifth edition, the results of the mouse and human genome projects are incorporated for the first time. Molecular biologists interested in functional genomics and proteomics of the brain will find answers here to the critical questions: what are the cell and circuit functions of gene products? Also for the first time, the reader is oriented to supporting neuroscience databases. Among the new advances covered are 2-photon confocal laser microscopy of dendrites and dendritic spines, biochemical analyses, and dual patch and multielectrode recordings, applied together with an increasing range of behavioral and gene-targeting methods. Leading experts in the best understood brain regions bring together the molecular, anatomical, functional, and behavioral data in authoritative integrated accounts. The chapters are organized in the same format, covering the neural elements, synaptic connections, basic circuits, physiology, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, membrane properties, dendritic properties, and with a final section on how the circuits mediate specific behaviors. The uniform framework for each chapter enables the authors to higlight the principles that are common to all regions, as well as the adaptations unique to each, thus serving as a model for understanding the neural basis of behavior.

This thoroughly updated text will continue to serve the needs of students in introductory neuroscience courses as well as many other readers. Among topics highlighted in the third edition are the superfamily of molecules responsible for membrane signalling, the molecular basis of sensory perception and the pasticity of both sensory and motor circuits. The twin themes of organizational levels and comparative systems provide a unifying conceptual framework.

For a century, the neuron doctrine has been the basis for our concepts of nervous organization and brain function. Formulated in 1891 by Wilhelm Waldeyer, it stated that the cell theory applies to the nervous system. Santiago Ramon y Cajal, Spain's greatest scientist, was its main architect; his main tool was a capricious nerve cell stain discovered by Camillo Golgi. This book reviews the original papers on which the neuron doctrine was based, showing that the evidence came from a much wider base of contributions than is generally realized, including such diverse and brilliant personalities as Albrecht Kolliker, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm His, August Forel, Fritdjof Nansen and Gustav Retzius. Furthermore, many questions about terminology of the parts of the neuron and about the organization of neurons into reflex pathways and networks were raised and debated, questions that remain relevant to this day. Electron microscopical studies in the 1950s appeared to confirm the classical doctrine, but subsequent studies have revealed complexities that were not anticipated. This book reviews these new studies against the background of the classical work, and suggests some new directions for revising our concept of the neuron as a basis for the functional organization of the nervous system.

Leading neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd embarks on a paradigm-shifting trip through the "human brain flavor system," laying the foundations for a new scientific field: neurogastronomy. Challenging the belief that the sense of smell diminished during human evolution, Shepherd argues that this sense, which constitutes the main component of flavor, is far more powerful and essential than previously believed. Shepherd begins Neurogastronomy with the mechanics of smell, particularly the way it stimulates the nose from the back of the mouth. As we eat, the brain conceptualizes smells as spatial patterns, and from these and the other senses it constructs the perception of flavor. Shepherd then considers the impact of the flavor system on contemporary social, behavioral, and medical issues. He analyzes flavor's engagement with the brain regions that control emotion, food preferences, and cravings, and he even devotes a section to food's role in drug addiction and, building on Marcel Proust's iconic tale of the madeleine, its ability to evoke deep memories. Shepherd connects his research to trends in nutrition, dieting, and obesity, especially the challenges that many face in eating healthily. He concludes with human perceptions of smell and flavor and their relationship to the neural basis of consciousness. Everyone from casual diners and ardent foodies to wine critics, chefs, scholars, and researchers will delight in Shepherd's fascinating, scientific-gastronomic adventures.

Leading neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd embarks on a paradigm-shifting trip through the "human brain flavor system," laying the foundations for a new scientific field: neurogastronomy. Challenging the belief that the sense of smell diminished during human evolution, Shepherd argues that this sense, which constitutes the main component of flavor, is far more powerful and essential than previously believed.

Shepherd begins "Neurogastronomy" with the mechanics of smell, particularly the way it stimulates the nose from the back of the mouth. As we eat, the brain conceptualizes smells as spatial patterns, and from these and the other senses it constructs the perception of flavor. Shepherd then considers the impact of the flavor system on contemporary social, behavioral, and medical issues. He analyzes flavor's engagement with the brain regions that control emotion, food preferences, and cravings, and he even devotes a section to food's role in drug addiction and, building on Marcel Proust's iconic tale of the madeleine, its ability to evoke deep memories.

Shepherd connects his research to trends in nutrition, dieting, and obesity, especially the challenges that many face in eating healthily. He concludes with human perceptions of smell and flavor and their relationship to the neural basis of consciousness. Everyone from casual diners and ardent foodies to wine critics, chefs, scholars, and researchers will delight in Shepherd's fascinating, scientific-gastronomic adventures.