Brain Structure and Its Origins: In Development and in Evolution of Behavior and the Mind
by Gerald E. Schneider
The MIT Press | March 2014 | ISBN-10: 0262026732 | PDF | 728 pages | 33.2 mb
http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Structure-Its-Origins-Development/dp/0262026732
This introduction to the structure of the central nervous system demonstrates that the best way to learn how the brain is put together is to understand something about why. It explains why the brain is put together as it is by describing basic functions and key aspects of its evolution and development. This approach makes the structure of the brain and spinal cord more comprehensible as well as more interesting and memorable. The book offers a detailed outline of the neuroanatomy of vertebrates, especially mammals, that equips students for further explorations of the field. Gaining familiarity with neuroanatomy requires multiple exposures to the material with many incremental additions and reviews. Thus the early chapters of this book tell the story of the brain's origins in a first run-through of the entire system; this is followed by other such surveys in succeeding chapters, each from a different angle. The book proceeds from basic aspects of nerve cells and their physiology to the evolutionary beginnings of the nervous system to differentiation and development, motor and sensory systems, and the structure and function of the main parts of the brain. Along the way, it makes enlightening connections to evolutionary history and individual development. Brain Structure and Its Origins can be used for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate classes in neuroscience, biology, psychology, and related fields, or as a reference for researchers and others who want to know more about the brain.
About the Author
Gerald E. Schneider is Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.
CONTENTS
Detailed contents xi
Preface xxiii
PART I: INTRODUCTORY ORIENTATION 1
PART II: THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, FROM INITIAL STEPS TO ADVANCED CHORDATES 53
PART III: INTRODUCTION TO CONNECTION PATTERNS AND SPECIALIZATIONS IN THE EVOLVING CNS 87
PART IV: DEVELOPMENT AND DIFFERENTIATION: SPINAL LEVEL 137
PART V: DIFFERENTIATION OF THE BRAIN VESICLES 179
PART VI: A BRIEF STUDY OF MOTOR SYSTEMS 263
PART VII: BRAIN STATES 309
PART VIII: SENSORY SYSTEMS 323
PART IX: THE FOREBRAIN AND ITS ADAPTIVE PRIZES: A SNAPSHOT 447
PART X: THE HYPOTHALAMUS AND LIMBIC SYSTEM 465
PART XI: CORPUS STRIATUM 559
PART XII: THE CROWN OF THE MAMMALIAN CNS: THE NEOCORTEX 593
Figure Credits 669
Index 679
