Depending on your point of view the brain is an organ, a machine, a biological computer, or simply the most important component of the nervous system. How does it work as a whole? What are its major parts and how are they interconnected to generate thinking, feelings, and behavior? This book surveys 2,500 years of scientific thinking about these profoundly important questions from the perspective of fundamental architectural principles, and then proposes a new model for the basic plan of neural systems organization based on an explosion of structural data emerging from the neuroanatomy revolution of the 1970's. The importance of a balance between theoretical and experimental morphology is stressed throughout the book. Great advances in understanding the brain's basic plan have come especially from two traditional lines of biological thought-- evolution and embryology, because each begins with the simple and progresses to the more complex. Understanding the organization of brain circuits, which contain thousands of links or pathways, is much more difficult. It is argued here that a four-system network model can explain the structure-function organization of the brain. Possible relationships between neural networks and gene networks revealed by the human genome project are explored in the final chapter. The book is written in clear and sparkling prose, and it is profusely illustrated. It is designed to be read by anyone with an interest in the basic organization of the brain, from neuroscience to philosophy to computer science to molecular biology. It is suitable for use in neuroscience core courses because it presents basic principles of the structure of the nervous system in a systematic way.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a mythic figure in science. Hailed as the father of modern anatomy and neurobiology, he was largely responsible for the modern conception of the brain. His groundbreaking works were New Ideas on the Structure of the Nervous System and H istology of the Nervous System in Man and Vertebrates. In addition to leaving a legacy of unparalleled scientific research, Cajal sought to educate the novice scientist about how science was done and how he thought it should be done. This recently rediscovered classic, first published in 1897, is an anecdotal guide for the perplexed new investigator as well as a refreshing resource for the old pro.Cajal was a pragmatist, aware of the pitfalls of being too idealistic -- and he had a sense of humor, particularly evident in his diagnoses of various stereotypes of eccentric scientists. The book covers everything from valuable personality traits for an investigator to social factors conducive to scientific work.

Product Description: Already acknowledged by researchers, instructors, students and librarians as a definitive and comprehensive reference on the structure of the rat brain, this new edition offers completely revised and updated information and is now complemented by two companion CD-ROMs...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: This book is a companion to the atlas of the adult rat brain (Brain Maps: Structure of the Rat Brain, Elsevier, 1992), using a consistent approach to nomenclature and graphical representation.The two goals of the approach used for the book, are to clarify the basic structural plan of the mammalian brain, and to generate computer graphics maps for summarizing related information, using the rat as a particular model...read more

Product Description: The atlas is a set of photomicrographs of technically excellent sections of the brain of the laboratory rat. Each plate consists of matching cell and fiber stains labeled for neuronal groups and axonal tracts, respectively, with abbreviations directly on the appropriate structures and annotations explaining criteria, and other problems of nomenclature, for structures requiring commentary...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The atlas is a set of photomicrographs of technically excellent sections of the brain of the laboratory rat. Each plate consists of matching cell and fiber stains labeled for neuronal groups and axonal tracts, respectively, with abbreviations directly on the appropriate structures and annotations explaining criteria, and other problems of nomenclature, for structures requiring commentary...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: With the research summarized in this monumental two volume treatise, Santiago Ramon y Cajal founded modern neuroscience and thus joined Darwin and Pasteur as the leading biologists of the 19th century. Starting around 1887, Cajal refined a neurological staining method developed almost 15 years earlier by the Italian histologist Camillo Golgi, and applied it first to relatively orderly parts of the nervous systems like the cerebellum, spinal cord, and retina...read more

Product Description: This large format book sets a new standard in quality and clarity. Excellent reproduction and documentation sets this book apart from its counterparts. The main objective of Brain Maps is to provide information about rat brain anatomy that is accurate, convenient, documented, complete, and systematic...read more

Product Description: Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) is widely thought of as the founder of modern neuroscience; and his work is more frequently cited than that of any other scientist in the field. In this seminal book, Cajal summarized for a broad audience the modem cellular view of brain organization...read more