You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The barrel area is a unique specialization of the cerebral cortex, shared by many species of rodents and some marsupials, in which the somatotopic map of the body surface receives direct morphological expression. Here, the homogeneous sheet of layer IV granule cells seen in most mammals is fractured into large archipelagos, each representing one of the larger subdivisions of the contra lateral half-body. Within these larger domains are smaller aggregates of granule cells that contain the concentrated terminations of thalamocortical fibers bear ing messages emanating from constellations of receptors located in finer subdi visions of a body part. These smaller aggregates are particularly well-...
Exploring new and past research in the understanding of how the brain deals with its own body image, this book provides a review of pertinent literature and offers comprehensive descriptions of technical approaches. The material includes new frameworks for the conceptualization of the system's representations, scientific and clinical applications that stem from these approaches based on the new concepts, and a discussion of tools used to study the interface of the brain and the body. The book provides computational strategies for sensorimotor integration of the mammalian brain and includes algorithms for the design and implementation of haptic interfaces and tactile displacement.
Volume 11 examines the many methodologies that researchers use to investigate the barrel cortex.
Nothing provided
Seemingly simple behaviours turn out, on reflection, to be discouragingly complex. For many years, cognitive operations such as sensation, perception, comparing percepts to stored models (short-term and long-term memory), decision-making and planning of actions were treated by most neuroscientists as separate areas of research. This was not because the neuroscience community believed these operations to act independently—it is intuitive that any common cognitive process seamlessly interweaves these operations—but because too little was known about the individual processes constituting the full behaviour, and experimental paradigms and data collection methods were not sufficiently well de...
Hebb's postulate provided a crucial framework to understand synaptic alterations underlying learning and memory. Hebb's theory proposed that neurons that fire together, also wire together, which provided the logical framework for the strengthening of synapses. Weakening of synapses was however addressed by "not being strengthened", and it was only later that the active decrease of synaptic strength was introduced through the discovery of long-term depression caused by low frequency stimulation of the presynaptic neuron. In 1994, it was found that the precise relative timing of pre and postynaptic spikes determined not only the magnitude, but also the direction of synaptic alterations when tw...
Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in Alagna, Italy, August 26-31, 1989
Bioeducational sciences are a broad field of study, uniting concepts from many disciplines (education, psychology, and neuroscience). At the heart of bioeducational sciences lie the fundamental questions of mind-brain and nature-nurture relationships linked to educational practical aspects. Bioeducational sciences may have three main lines of research: 1. epigenetic perspectives: studies on filogenetic evolution (evolutionary perspectives) and mind/brain ontogenesis (ontogenetic perspectives); 2. biodynamic perspectives: analysis of biological bases of learning process (biological perspectives) and individual rethinking as a whole (whole organismic perspectives); 3.synergic perspectives: min...
Understanding how populations of neurons encode information is the challenge faced by researchers in the field of neural coding. Focusing on the many mysteries and marvels of the mind has prompted a prominent team of experts in the field to put their heads together and fire up a book on the subject. Simply titled Principles of Neural Coding, this book covers the complexities of this discipline. It centers on some of the major developments in this area and presents a complete assessment of how neurons in the brain encode information. The book collaborators contribute various chapters that describe results in different systems (visual, auditory, somatosensory perception, etc.) and different sp...
Understanding and implementing the brain's computational paradigm is the one true grand challenge facing computer researchers. Not only are the brain's computational capabilities far beyond those of conventional computers, its energy efficiency is truly remarkable. This book, written from the perspective of a computer designer and targeted at computer researchers, is intended to give both background and lay out a course of action for studying the brain's computational paradigm. It contains a mix of concepts and ideas drawn from computational neuroscience, combined with those of the author. As background, relevant biological features are described in terms of their computational and communica...