Foundations of Neurobiology /Fred Delcomyn.

Includes Index.

PART 5: INTEGRATING SYSTEMS: THE NEURAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR : Mechanisms of Escape Behavior -- Bats and Insects -- Relating Neural Integration to Behavior -- The Flexibility of Escape Behavior -- A Case Study of Escape -- Analysis of Simple Behavior -- Biological Servomechanisms -- Open Loop Systems -- Positive Feedback Circuits -- Computational Neural Circuits -- Computational Neural Circuits -- The Problem of Understanding Behavior -- Neural Basis of Complex Behavior -- Neural Decision Making -- Neural Activity and Complex Behavior -- Malfunctions of the Brain.

PART 1: ELEMENTS OF NEUROBIOLOGY -- Introduction to the Nervous System -- The Brain and Behavior -- What Does the Nervous System Do? -- The Field of Neurobiology -- Studying the Nervous System -- The Future of Neurobiology -- Cellular and Molecular Building Blocks -- The Neuron Doctrine -- Neurons and Their Connections -- Nonneural Cells -- The Cell Membrane -- Transport Proteins == Signaling Proteins -- Binding Proteins -- Subcellular Elements -- Axonal Transport -- The Structure of Nervous Systems -- The Parts of the Nervous System -- Invertebrate Nervous Systems -- The Vertebrate Central Nervous System -- Brain Development -- The Lower Brain -- The Diencephalon -- The Telencephalon -- The Autonomic Nervous System.

PART 2: CELLULAR COMMUNICATION -- The Electrical Potential of a Resting Neuron -- Membranes and Ion Movement -- Ionic Basis of the Resting Potential -- The Equilibrium Potential -- Calculating the Membrane Potential -- Experimental Verification -- The Nerve Impulse -- The Nerve Impulse: An Overview -- Ionic Basis of the Action Potential -- Measuring the Flow of Ions -- The Properties of Voltage-Gated Channels -- Propagation of the Action Potentials -- Synaptic Transmission -- An Overview of Synaptic Transmission -- Postsynaptic Channels and the Binding of Neurotransmitter -- Excitatory Transmission -- Inhibitory Transmission -- Neuromodulatory Transmission -- Mechanisms of Neuromodulation -- The Postsynaptic Effects of Neuromodulators -- Inactivation of neurotransmitter -- Neurotransmitters and The Release -- Synaptic Vesicles and the Role of Calcium -- The Molecular Basis of Release -- Release from Nonspiking Neurons -- Filling Vesicles -- Chemistry of Neurotransmitters -- Neurotransmitters in the Central Nervous System -- Neurotransmitters in the Autonomic Nervous System -- Integration of Synaptic Action -- Integration and Electrical Properties -- Electrical Constants of Neuron -- Summation -- Integration of Excitatory and Inhibitory potentials -- Activity-Dependent mechanisms -- Integration and Single Cells.

PART 3: SENSORY SYSTEMS -- Properties of Sensory Systems -- Sensory Performance -- Sensory Specificity -- The Organization of Sensory Systems -- Sense Organs as Filters -- Transduction -- Temporal Variation of Responses -- Common Features of Sensory Systems -- The Organization of Brain Sensory Regions -- The Coding and Control of Sensory Information -- Coding of Stimulus Strength -- Coding of Stimulus Quality -- Efferent Control of Sense Organs -- Sensory Processing and the Organization of Sensory Systems -- The Visual System -- The Performance of Vertebrate Eyes -- The Vertebrate Visual System -- The Photoreceptors -- The Retina -- The Processing of Visual Stimuli -- Visual Processing in the Thalamus -- Cortical Processing of Visual Input -- Molluscan and Other Invertebrate Eyes -- The Eyes of Insects -- Hearing -- Sound and its Reception -- The Vertebrate Auditory System -- Transduction -- Frequency Discrimination -- Auditory Neurons -- Interpreting Sound Stimuli -- Hearing in Insects -- The Chemical Senses -- Do Animals have More than One Chemosensory System? -- Vertebrate Chemosensory Systems -- Transduction of Chemical Substances -- Chemoreception in Invertebrates -- Somatic and Other Senses -- The Somatosensory System -- Vertebrate Somatosensory Pathways -- Vertebrate Somatosensory Receptors -- Central Processing of Somatosensory Information -- The Somatic Senses of Invertebrates -- The Sense of Balances -- The Vertebrate Vestibular System -- The Electric Sense -- Magnetic and Other Senses.

PART 4: MOTOR SYSTEMS -- Muscle and Its Control -- Muscle Tissue -- The Contraction of Muscle -- Cardiac Muscle -- Smooth Muscle -- Skeletal Muscle -- Functional Control of Skeletal Muscle -- Motor Neurons -- Reflexes and Pattern Generation -- Reflexes -- Generation of Simple Repetitive Behavior -- Mechanisms for Pattern Generation -- Mechanisms of Cross-Segmental Coordination -- Neuromodulatory Effects on Pattern Generators -- Sensory Influence on Motor Output -- Sensory Effects on Behavior -- The Coordinating Effects of Sensory Feedback -- Other Sensory-Motor Interactions -- The Brain and Motor Output -- The Role of the Brain -- Motor Control in Invertebrates -- Motor Control in Vertebrates -- The Brain Stem -- The Motor Cortex -- Controlling Complex Movement -- Malfunctions of the Motor System.

PART 6: THE MALLEABILITY OF NEURAL SYSTEMS -- Development -- Development of the Nervous System -- Forming Connections -- Finding the Target -- Extrinsic Factors Affecting Neuronal Growth -- Cell Death -- Developmental Plasticity -- The Role of Experience i the Development of the Visual System -- Activity Dependence of Development in the Thalamus -- Binocular Vision and Ocular Dominance -- Activity Dependence in the Cortex -- Molecular Mechanisms of Developmental Plasticity -- Plasticity in Other Systems -- Developmental Plasticity in Adult Animals -- Behavioral Plasticity: Learning -- Simple Learning Conditioning -- Memory -- Hormones and the Nervous System -- The Neuroendocrine System -- Insect Metamorphosis -- Mechanisms of Hormonal Action on the Insect Nervous System -- Steroid Hormones and the Vertebrate Brain -- Vertebrate Peptide Hormones -- Molecular Mechanisms of Vertebrate Hormone Action -- Hormones and the Nervous System: A Paradigm for Neurobiology.

Foundations of Neurobiology allows students with only a background in general biology the chance to explore this vibrant science. Broad and comparative in approach, this text reaches across the field, from molecules to mind, and presents the fundamentals of both vertebrate and invertebrate neural function. Foundations of Neurobiology focuses on the principles of neurobiology, amplifying the connections between concepts and experimental observation. Well-developed instructional tools support the coverage in the text. A short introduction at the beginning of each of the six parts of the book summarizes the information to follow and places it in context. Each chapter opens with a brief paragraph that sets out its central theme and closes with a list of books, reviews, and research articles students can use to expand their knowledge of a particular subject. Summaries within chapters function as a self-check for students and help them review. Back book flap

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