Neuroscience
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English Wiktionary has a dictionary definition (word meaning) for:
Neuroscience is the scientific study of brain and mind and the whole nervous system. It helps to understand how we perceive and interact with the external world and, in particular, how human experience and human biology influence each other.
Its studies may include genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous system. Traditionally it is seen as a branch of biological sciences. However, recently there has been a convergence of interest from many allied disciplines, including psychology, computer science, statistics, physics, and medicine.
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[edit] Major Branches of Neuroscience
Current neuroscience research activities can be very roughly categorized into the following major branches, based on the subject and scale of the system in examination as well as distinct experimental approaches. Individual neuroscientists, however, often work on questions that span several distinct subfields.
| Branch | Major Topics and Concepts | Experimental and Theoretical Methods |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience | behavioral genetics, neurocytology, glia, protein trafficking, ion channel, synapse, action potential, neurotransmitters, neuroimmunology | PCR, immunohistochemistry, patch clamp, voltage clamp, molecular cloning, gene knockout, biochemical assays, linkage analysis, fluorescent in situ hybridization, Southern blots, DNA microarray, green fluorescent protein, calcium imaging, two-photon microscopy |
| Behavioral Neuroscience | biological psychology, circadian rhythms, neuroendocrinology, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, neurotransmitters, homeostasis, dimorphic sexual-behavior, motor control, sensory processing, photo reception, organizational/activational effects of hormones, drug/alcohol effects | animal models (gene knockout), in-situ hybridization, golgi stain, fMRI, immunohistochemistry, functional genomics, PET, pattern recognition, EEG, MEG |
| Systems Neuroscience | primary visual cortex, perception, audition, sensory integration, population coding, pain, spontaneous and evoked activity, color vision, olfaction, taste, motor system, spinal cord, sleep, homeostasis, arousal, attention, play | single unit recording, intrinsic signal imaging, microstimulation, voltage sensitive dyes, fMRI, patch clamp, genomics, training awake behaving animals, local field potential, ROC, cortical cooling, calcium imaging, two-photon microscopy |
| Developmental Neuroscience | axon guidance, neural crest, growth factors, growth cone, neuromuscular junction, cell proliferation, neuronal differentiation, cell survival and apoptosis, synaptic formation, motor differentiation, injury and regeneration | Xenopus oocyte, protein chemistry, genomics, Drosophila, Hox gene |
| Cognitive Neuroscience | language, emotion, motor learning, sexual behavior, decision making, behavioral genetics, motivation, social neuroscience | psychometrics, EEG, MEG, fMRI, PET, SPECT, single unit recording, human genetics |
| Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience | cable theory, Hodgkin-Huxley model, neural networks, voltage-gated currents, Hebbian learning | Markov chain Monte Carlo, simulated annealing, high performance computing, partial differential equations, self-organizing nets, pattern recognition |
| Neuroscience of Diseases and Aging | dementia, peripheral neuropathy, spinal cord injury, autonomic nervous system, depression, anxiety, Parkinson's disease, addiction, memory loss | clinical trials, neuropharmacology, deep brain stimulation, neurosurgery |
| Neural engineering | Neuroprosthetic, brain-computer interface |
[edit] Major Themes of Research
Neuroscience research from different areas can also be seen as focusing on a set of specific themes and questions. (Some of these are taken from http://www.northwestern.edu/nuin/fac/index.htm)
- Behavior/Cognition/Language
- Biological Rhythms
- Brain Imaging or neuroimaging
- Cell Biology
- Cell Imaging & Electrophysiology
- Learning/Memory
- Neurobiology of Disease
- Signal transduction
- Neurobiology of the neuron
- Sensation and perception
- Sleep
- Autonomic systems and homeostasis
- Arousal, attention and emotion
- Genetics of the nervous system
- Injury of the nervous systems
[edit] Allied and Overlapping Fields
Wikibooks has more about this subject:
[edit] Textbooks
- Bear, M.F.; B.W. Connors, and M.A. Paradiso (2001). Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, Baltimore: Lippincott. ISBN 0-7817-3944-6.
- Kandel, ER; Schwartz JH, Jessell TM (2000). Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-8385-7701-6.
- Squire, L. et al. (2003). Fundamental Neuroscience, 2nd edition. Academic Press; ISBN 0-12-660303-0
- Byrne and Roberts (2004). From Molecules to Networks. Academic Press; ISBN 0-12-148660-5
- Sanes, Reh, Harris (2005). Development of the Nervous System, 2nd edition. Academic Press; ISBN 0-12-618621-9
- Siegel et al. (2005). Basic Neurochemistry, 7th edition. Academic Press; ISBN 0-12-088397-X
- Rieke, F. et al. (1999). Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code. The MIT Press; Reprint edition ISBN 0-262-68108-0
[edit] Online textbooks
- Neuroscience 2nd ed. Dale Purves, George J. Augustine, David Fitzpatrick, Lawrence C. Katz, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, James O. McNamara, S. Mark Williams. Published by Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2001.
- Basic Neurochemistry: Molecular, Cellular, and Medical Aspects 6th ed. by George J. Siegel, Bernard W. Agranoff, R. Wayne Albers, Stephen K. Fisher, Michael D. Uhler, editors. Published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 1999.
[edit] Popular works
- Andreasen, Nancy C. (March 4 2004). Brave New Brain: Conquering Mental Illness in the Era of the Genome, Oxford University Press. 392 pages, 56 halftones & line illus.; 8 color plates, 234x154 mm. ISBN 9780195145090.
- Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York, Avon Books. ISBN 0-399-13894-3 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-380-72647-5 (Paperback)
- Gardner, H. (1976). The Shattered Mind: The Person After Brain Damage. New York, Vintage Books, 1976 ISBN 0-394-71946-8
- Luria, A. R. (1997). The Man with a Shattered World: The History of a Brain Wound. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-224-00792-0 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-674-54625-3 (Paperback)
- Sacks, O. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Summit Books ISBN 0-671-55471-9 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-06-097079-0 (Paperback)
- Sacks, O. (1990). Awakenings. New York, Vintage Books. (See also Oliver Sacks) ISBN 0-671-64834-9 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-06-097368-4 (Paperback)
- Sternberg, E. (2007) Are You a Machine? The Brain, the Mind and What it Means to be Human. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
[edit] Notes From Online Courses
- Intro to Neuroscience - Smith College Spring 2005
[edit] External links
- High-Resolution Cytoarchitectural Primate Brain Atlases
- Society for Neuroscience
- Neural Plasticity-Open Access Journal (Hindawi Publishing)
- Neuroscience. 2nd ed. by Purves et al (online textbook)
- Neuroscience for Kids
