The Amphibian Visual System
The Amphibian Visual System

Author: Katherine V. Fite

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2013-09-03

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 1483270130

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The Amphibian Visual System: A Multidisciplinary Approach is a compendium of articles across a broad range of disciplines within experimental biology focusing on the study of the amphibian visual system. The book presents a survey of the evolutionary history and major taxonomic and ecological adaptations of amphibians; anatomic, physiological, developmental, and behavioral data relating to the amphibian visual system; description of important standards for laboratory amphibians; and the crucial problem of species identification in neurobiological research. Zoologists, experimental biologists, neurologists, and anatomists will find the text very interesting.

Frog Neurobiology
Frog Neurobiology

Author: R. Llinas

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 1056

ISBN-13: 3642663168

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In review, the amount of information available on the morphological and func tional properties of the frog nervous system is very extensive indeed and in certain areas is the only available source of information in vertebrates. Further more, much of the now classical knowledge in neurobiology was originally ob tained and elaborated in depth in this vertebrate. To cite only a few examples, studies of nerve conduction, neuromuscular transmission, neuronal integration, sense organs, development, and locomotion have been developed with great detail in the frog and in conjunction provide the most complete holistic descrip tion of any nervous system. Added to the above considerations, the ease with which these animals may be maintained (both as adults and during development) and the advantage of their lower cost as compared with other vertebrate forms make the frog one of the most important laboratory animals in neurobiology. With these thoughts in mind, we decided to compile this volume. Our goal in doing so was to assemble as much as possible of the information available on frog neurobiology and to have the different topics covered by authorities in each of the fields represented. To keep the handbook restricted to one volume, we found it necessary to omit the large field of amphibian muscle neurobiology, which has already been summarized in various other publications.

Advances in Vertebrate Neuroethology
Advances in Vertebrate Neuroethology

Author: Jorg-Peter Ewert

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 1212

ISBN-13: 1468444123

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This volume presents the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Advances in Vertebrate Neuroethology" held at the University of Kassel, Federal Republic of Germany in August 1981. During the last decade much progress has been made in understanding the neurophysiological bases of behavior in both vertebrates and invertebrates. The reason for this is that a number of new physiological, anatomical, and histochemical techniques have recently been developed for brain research which can now be combined with ethological methods for the analysis of animal behavior to form a new field of research known as "Neuroethology". The term Neuroethology was originally introduced by S.L.Brown and R.W.Hunsperger (1963) in connection with studies on the activation of agonistic behaviors by electrical brain stimulation in cats. Neuroethology was more closely defined by G.Hoyle (1970) in the context of a review on cellular mechanisms underlying behavior of invertebrates. Since the 6th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in Toronto in 1976, Neuroethology has become established as a session topic.

The Visual System in Vertebrates
The Visual System in Vertebrates

Author: F. Crescitelli

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-12-11

Total Pages: 816

ISBN-13: 3642664687

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The vertebrate eye has been, and continues to be, an object of interest and of inquiry for biologists, physicists, chemists, psychologists, and others. Quite apart from its important role in the development of ophthalmology and related medical disciplines, the vertebrate eye is an exemplar of the ingenuity of living systems in adapting to the diverse and changing environments in which vertebrates have evolved. The wonder is not so much that the visual system, like other body systems, has been able to adapt in this way, but rather that these adaptations have taken such a variety of forms. In a previous volume in this series (VII/I) Eakin expressed admiration for the diversity of invertebrate photoreceptors. A comparable situation exists for the vertebrate eye as a whole and one object of this volume is to present to the reader the nature of this diversity. One result of this diversification of ocular structures and properties is that the experimental biologist has available a number of systems for study that are unique or especially favorable for the investigation of particular questions in visual science or neurobiology. This volume includes some examples of progress made by the use of such specially selected vertebrate systems. It is our hope that this comparative approach will continue to reveal new and useful preparations for the examination of important questions.

Spontaneous Activity in the Sensory System
Spontaneous Activity in the Sensory System

Author: Kazuo Imaizumi

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2018-05-10

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 2889454789

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Spontaneous activity in the nervous system is defined as neural activity that is not driven by an external stimulus and is considered a problem for sensory processing and computation. However, spontaneous activity is not completely random and often has unique spatiotemporal patterns that instruct neural circuit development in the developing brain. Moreover, normal and aberrant patterns of spontaneous activity underlie behavioral states and diseased conditions in the adult brain. The recent technological development has shed light on these unique questions in spontaneous activity. This eBook provides both original and review articles in the propensity, mechanisms, and functions of spontaneous activity in the sensory system. Our goal is to define the state of knowledge in the field, the current challenges, and the future directions for research.

Visual Structures and Integrated Functions
Visual Structures and Integrated Functions

Author: Michael A. Arbib

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 3642845452

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This volume integrates theory and experiment to place the study of vision within the context of the action systems which use visual information. This theme is developed by stressing: (a) The importance of situating anyone part of the brain in the context of its interactions with other parts of the brain in subserving animal behavior. The title of this volume emphasizes that visual function is to be be viewed in the context of the integrated functions of the organism. (b) Both the intrinsic interest of frog and toad as animals in which to study the neural mechanisms of visuomotor coordination, and the importance of comparative studies with other organisms so that we may learn from an analysis of both similarities and differences. The present volume thus supplements our studies of frog and toad with papers on salamander, bird and reptile, turtle, rat, gerbil, rabbit, and monkey. (c) Perhaps most distinctively, the interaction between theory and experiment.

Visuomotor Coordination
Visuomotor Coordination

Author: Jorg Peter Ewert

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 931

ISBN-13: 1489908978

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Various brain areas of mammals can phyletically be traced back to homologous structures in amphibians. The amphibian brain may thus be regarded as a kind of "microcosm" of the highly complex primate brain, as far as certain homologous structures, sensory functions, and assigned ballistic (pre-planned and pre-pro grammed) motor and behavioral processes are concerned. A variety of fundamental operations that underlie perception, cognition, sensorimotor transformation and its modulation appear to proceed in primate's brain in a way understandable in terms of basic principles which can be investigated more easily by experiments in amphibians. We have learned that progress in the quantitative description and evaluation of these principles can be obtained with guidance from theory. Modeling - supported by simulation - is a process of transforming abstract theory derived from data into testable structures. Where empirical data are lacking or are difficult to obtain because of structural constraints, the modeler makes assumptions and approximations that, by themselves, are a source of hypotheses. If a neural model is then tied to empirical data, it can be used to predict results and hence again to become subject to experimental tests whose resulting data in tum will lead to further improvements of the model. By means of our present models of visuomotor coordination and its modulation by state-dependent inputs, we are just beginning to simulate and analyze how external information is represented within different brain structures and how these structures use these operations to control adaptive behavior.

Human and Machine Vision
Human and Machine Vision

Author: Virginio Cantoni

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 1489910042

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The following are the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Perception held in Pavia, Italy, on September 27-30, 1993, under the auspices of four institutions: the Group of Cybernetic and Biophysics (GNCB)s of the National Research Council (CNR), the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AI * IA), the Italian Association of Psychology (AlP), and the Italian Chapter of the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR). The theme of this third workshop was: "Human and Machine Vision: Analogies and Divergencies." A wide spectrum of topics was covered, ranging from neurophysiology, to computer architecture, to psychology, to image understanding, etc. For this reason the structure of this workshop was quite different from those of the first two held in Parma (1991), and Trieste (1992). This time the workshop was composed of just eight modules, each one consisting of two invited lectures (dealing with vision in nature and machines, respectively) and a common panel discussion (including the two lecturers and three invited panellists).

Visual Psychophysics and Physiology
Visual Psychophysics and Physiology

Author: John Armington

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2012-12-02

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 032314778X

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Visual Psychophysics and Physiology: A Volume Dedicated to Lorrin Riggs illustrates a particular approach to the study of vision. It also celebrates Lorrin Riggs' retirement from formal teaching duties. During his teaching career Riggs advised and directed about fifty doctoral and postdoctoral students, many of whom wrote the chapters that make up this volume. The book is organized into six parts. Part 1 explains the approach to the study of vision, thus providing the philosophical theme for the chapters that follow. Part 2 on physiological mechanisms presents examples of comparative and physiological investigations. Part 3 on sensitivity and adaptation examines new research that bears directly upon the classical problems of visual psychophysics. Here, there is an initial concern with measurement, visual sensitivity, scaling, and adaptation. Part 4 discusses research on color vision while Part 5 on acuity, contrast, and movement considers some of the factors that contribute to these perceptions. Part 6 deals with applications of visual science to other disciplines. Specific examples are given that link visual research with ophthalmology, child development, and the investigation of cognitive variables such as meaning, activation, and so forth.