Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme
Reviews aspects of nervous plasticity, emphasizing how the higher nervous activity of humans and animals are an expression of plastic properties of the brain. Covers the plasticity of nerve cells and its mechanisms, plasticity of the brain as the basis of individual forms of adaptive behavior, and its role in disturbances of brain function. Updated and translated from the award-winning 1986 edition, which is now a standard text in many neuroscience departments. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
A comprehensive overview of the many factors that can influence brain plasticity throughout the lifespan. Addresses perinatal plasticity, functional state plasticity, injury-induced plasticity, and stressor-induced plasticity. Because it looks at so many aspects of the field, this volume will serve as a great resource for students as well as researchers interested in expanding their knowledge. The volume comes out as an integrated view based in the expertise of Ibero American neuroscientists working in the field.
Catalyzed by the development of new neurobiological and behavioral techniques as well as new conceptual and theoretical approaches to the study of the relationship between brain and behavior, research exploring brain functions enabling learning and memory has greatly accelerated in recent years. The chapters in this book reflect current theoretical approaches to the study of brain and memory and provide new insights concerning the cellular bases of memory and the differential involvement of brain systems in different forms of memory. By presenting up-to-date summaries of research investigating brain mechanisms underlying learning and memory, these chapters help to place current findings in appropriate theoretical context, and further stimulate research inquiry attempting to understand how the brain makes memory. Divided into three sections, coverage in this volume includes: * a discussion of pharmacological approaches to the study of brain and memory; * a review of experiments using a variety of techniques, including brain lesions, brain grafting, and electrophysiological recording to investigate the role of different brain regions in learning and memory; and * an examination of molecular analyses of events associated with memory formation.
"A welcome newcomer to the meager ranks of developmental texts ... Either as a text ... or as an introduction to the developmental and plasticity literature ... it represents a valuable and most appreciated addition." --Development Psychobiology
The extremely labile nature of the nervous system has proved an intriguing area of research for over thirty years. From the earliest stages of neuronal growth during development, both the morphology and strength of neuronal connections within the central nervous system are shaped and modified by experience. While connections between neurons that ar
In the thirty years since its discovery by Terje Lomo and Tim Bliss, Long Term Potentiation (LTP) has become one of the most extensively studied topics in contemporary neuroscience. In LTP the strength of synapses between neurons is potentiated following brief but intense activation. LTP is thought to play a central role in learning and memory, though the exact nature of its role is less clear. In spite of years of research, there are many questions about LTP regarding its functional relevance that remain unanswered - for example, is it a model of memory formation, or is the actual neural mechanism used by the brain to store information?This volume presents a state of the art account of LTP. It begins with lively accounts, by the scientists most closely involved, of the discovery of LTP and of the experiments that established its basic properties and induction mechanisms. Later contributions contain reviews and new research that cover the range of molecular, cellular, physiological and behavioural approaches to the study of LTP. Provocative, accessible, and authoritative, this book makes it clear why LTP continues in equal measure to puzzle and beguile neuroscientists today.Advance praise for Long Term Potentiation: 'This book provides a definitive overview of the development of ideas about synaptic plasticity and about the wide range of current research in this fascinating field.' Colin Blakemore, University of OxfordReadership: Neuroscientists from postgraduate level upwards
Synthesizing current information about sensory-motor plasticity, Neural Plasticity in Adult Somatic Sensory-Motor Systems provides an up-to-date description of the dynamic processes that occur in somatic sensory-motor cortical circuits or somatic sensory pathways to the cortex due to experience, learning, or damage to the nervous system. The book e
How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.
