For a century, the neuron doctrine has been the basis for our concepts of nervous organization and brain function. Formulated in 1891 by Wilhelm Waldeyer, it stated that the cell theory applies to the nervous system. Santiago Ramon y Cajal, Spain's greatest scientist, was its main architect; his main tool was a capricious nerve cell stain discovered by Camillo Golgi. This book reviews the original papers on which the neuron doctrine was based, showing that the evidence came from a much wider base of contributions than is generally realized, including such diverse and brilliant personalities...

It is widely recognized that the neural basis of brain function can be fully understood only by integrating many disciplines at many levels. Studies of synaptic organization are bringing about a quiet revolution in achieving this goal, as documented by this unique book over the past 30 years. In this fifth edition, the results of the mouse and human genome projects are incorporated for the first time. Molecular biologists interested in functional genomics and proteomics of the brain will find answers here to the critical questions: what are the cell and circuit functions of gene products?...

This widely used and highly praised textbook has been extensively revised to reflect the most exciting research across the entire range of neuroscience. A new feature is an introductory discussion of the mechanisms of gene regulation, while the superfamily of molecules responsible for membrane signaling is given new emphasis as a unifying theme throughout molecular and cellular neurobiology. The roles of these molecules in impulse conduction and synaptic transmission are fully explained, and illustrated by computer models. For the first time in a neurobiology text, these mechanisms can be...

For modern scientists, history often starts with last week's journals and is regarded as largely a quaint interest compared with the advances of today. However, this book makes the case that, measured by major advances, the greatest decade in the history of brain studies was mid-twentieth century, especially the 1950s. The first to focus on worldwide contributions in this period, the book ranges through dozens of astonishing discoveries at all levels of the brain, from DNA (Watson and Crick), through growth factors (Hamburger and Levi-Montalcini), excitability (Hodgkin and Huxley), synapses...

The neuron doctrine, first formulated in 1891, states that the brain is constructed of individual neurons, organized into functioning circuits that mediate behavior. It is the fundamental principal that underlies all of neuroscience and clinical neurology. Foundations of the Neuron Doctrine gives an authoritative account of how this theory was the product of an explosion of histological studies and vigorous debates near the end of the nineteenth century by an extraordinary group of scientists, led by Santiago Ramon y Cajal of Spain, using a selective stain discovered by...

Modern brain imaging is revolutionizing the study of brain function in health and disease. However, few realize that its origins began in the nineteenth century with Dr. Angelo Mosso's pioneering experiments.

A foremost Italian physiologist and scientist, Angelo Mosso studied several patients brought to him with head injuries that exposed their live brains to direct, long-term observation. He took advantage of these rare opportunities to document, for the first time, changes in cerebral blood flow in response to different stimuli, behaviors, and emotions, the very same changes that are...

In his new book, Gordon M. Shepherd expands on the startling discovery that the brain creates the taste of wine. This approach to understanding wine's sensory experience draws on findings in neuroscience, biomechanics, human physiology, and traditional enology. Shepherd shows, just as he did in Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters, that creating the taste of wine engages more of the brain than does any other human behavior. He clearly illustrates the scientific underpinnings of this process, along the way enhancing our enjoyment of wine....