Neuroscience

Neuroscience (or neurobiology) is the scientific study of the nervous system. It is the branch of biology that investigates the molecular, cellular, developmental, functional, evolutionary, computational, psychosocial and medical aspects of the brain.

The nervous system is made of billions of neurons connected together and to other systems in the body. The central nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord and Retina.^[1] It is connected to the rest of the body via the peripheral nervous system. A neuroscientist, is a scientist who studies neuroscience.

Research themes[change | change source]

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
• Signal transduction
• Neurobiology of the neuron
• Sensation and perception
• Sleep
• Autonomic nervous system and homeostasis
• Arousal, attention and emotion
• Genetics of the nervous system
• Developmental biology of the nervous system
• Diseases of the nervous system

Related pages[change | change source]

The English Wikibooks has more information on: Consciousness studies

• Biology
• Cognitive neuropsychology
• Ethology
• Neurology
• Psychiatry

References[change | change source]

1. ↑ Neuroscience. Purves, Dale., Williams, S. Mark (Stephen Mark), 1963- (2nd ed ed.). Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates. 2001. ISBN 0-87893-742-0. OCLC 44627256. |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: others (link)

Textbooks[change | change source]

• 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, and 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

Online textbooks[change | change source]

• Neuroscience 2nd ed. Dale Purves et al. Published by Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2001.
• Basic Neurochemistry: Molecular, Cellular, and Medical Aspects 6th ed. by George J. Siegel et al. Published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 1999.

Popular works[change | change source]

• Andreasen, Nancy C. (March 4, 2004). Brave New Brain: Conquering Mental Illness in the Era of the Genome. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1951-4509-0. 392 pages, 56 halftones & line illus.; 8 color plates, 234x154 mm.
• 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.

Notes From Online Courses[change | change source]

• Intro to Neuroscience^{[permanent dead link]} - Smith College Spring 2005

Other websites[change | change source]

• 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