Single Neuron Studies of the Human Brain


Book Description

Foundational studies of the activities of spiking neurons in the awake and behaving human brain and the insights they yield into cognitive and clinical phenomena. In the last decade, the synergistic interaction of neurosurgeons, engineers, and neuroscientists, combined with new technologies, has enabled scientists to study the awake, behaving human brain directly. These developments allow cognitive processes to be characterized at unprecedented resolution: single neuron activity. Direct observation of the human brain has already led to major insights into such aspects of brain function as perception, language, sleep, learning, memory, action, imagery, volition, and consciousness. In this volume, experts document the successes, challenges, and opportunity in an emerging field. The book presents methodological tutorials, with chapters on such topics as the surgical implantation of electrodes and data analysis techniques; describes novel insights into cognitive functions including memory, decision making, and visual imagery; and discusses insights into diseases such as epilepsy and movement disorders gained from examining single neuron activity. Finally, contributors consider future challenges, questions that are ripe for investigation, and exciting avenues for translational efforts. Contributors Ralph Adolphs, William S. Anderson, Arjun K. Bansal, Eric J. Behnke, Moran Cerf, Jonathan O. Dostrovsky, Emad N. Eskandar, Tony A. Fields, Itzhak Fried, Hagar Gelbard-Sagiv, C. Rory Goodwin, Clement Hamani, Chris Heller, Mojgan Hodaie, Matthew Howard III, William D. Hutchison, Matias Ison, Hiroto Kawasaki, Christof Koch, Rüdiger Köhling, Gabriel Kreiman, Michel Le Van Quyen, Frederick A. Lenz, Andres M. Lozano, Adam N. Mamelak, Clarissa Martinez-Rubio, Florian Mormann, Yuval Nir, George Ojemann, Shaun R. Patel, Sanjay Patra, Linda Philpott, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, Ian Ross, Ueli Rutishauser, Andreas Schulze-Bonhage, Erin M. Schuman, Demetrio Sierra-Mercado, Richard J. Staba, Nanthia Suthana, William Sutherling, Travis S. Tierney, Giulio Tononi, Oana Tudusciuc, Charles L. Wilson




Handbook of Reward and Decision Making


Book Description

This book addresses a fundamental question about the nature of behavior: how does the brain process reward and makes decisions when facing multiple options? The book presents the most recent and compelling lesion, neuroimaging, electrophysiological and computational studies, in combination with hormonal and genetic studies, which have led to a clearer understanding of neural mechanisms behind reward and decision making. The neural bases of reward and decision making processes are of great interest to scientists because of the fundamental role of reward in a number of behavioral processes (such as motivation, learning and cognition) and because of their theoretical and clinical implications for understanding dysfunctions of the dopaminergic system in several neurological and psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, drug addiction, pathological gambling, ...) - Comprehensive coverage of approaches to studying reward and decision making, including primate neurophysiology and brain imaging studies in healthy humans and in various disorders, genetic and hormonal influences on the reward system and computational models. - Covers clinical implications of process dysfunction (e.g., schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, eating disorders, drug addiction, pathological gambling) - Uses multiple levels of analysis, from molecular mechanisms to neural systems dynamics and computational models. " This is a very interesting and authoritative handbook by some of the most outstanding investigators in the field of reward and decision making ", Professor Edmund T. Rolls, Oxford Center for Computational Neuroscience, UK




Handbook of Basal Ganglia Structure and Function


Book Description

Handbook of Basal Ganglia Structure and Function, Second Edition, offers an integrated overview of the structural and functional aspects of the basal ganglia, highlighting clinical relevance. The basal ganglia, a group of forebrain nuclei interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and brainstem, are involved in numerous brain functions, such as motor control and learning, sensorimotor integration, reward, and cognition. These nuclei are essential for normal brain function and behavior, and their importance is further emphasized by the numerous and diverse disorders associated with basal ganglia dysfunction, including Parkinson's disease, Tourette's syndrome, Huntington's disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dystonia, and psychostimulant addiction. This updated edition has been thoroughly revised to provide the most up-to-date account of this critical brain structure. Edited and authored by internationally acclaimed basal ganglia researchers, the new edition contains ten entirely new chapters that offer expanded coverage of anatomy and physiology, detailed accounts of recent advances in cellular/molecular mechanisms and cellular/physiological mechanisms, and critical, deeper insights into the behavioral and clinical aspects of basal ganglia function and dysfunction. - Synthesizes widely dispersed information on the behavioral neurobiology of the basal ganglia, including advances in the understanding of anatomy, cellular/molecular and cellular/physiological mechanisms, and behavioral and clinical aspects of function and dysfunction - Written by international authors who are preeminent researchers in the field - Explores, in full, the clinically relevant impact of the basal ganglia on various psychiatric and neurological diseases




Human Spatial Navigation


Book Description

The first book to comprehensively explore the cognitive foundations of human spatial navigation Humans possess a range of navigation and orientation abilities, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. All of us must move from one location to the next, following habitual routes and avoiding getting lost. While there is more to learn about how the brain underlies our ability to navigate, neuroscience and psychology have begun to converge on some important answers. In Human Spatial Navigation, four leading experts tackle fundamental and unique issues to produce the first book-length investigation into this subject. Opening with the vivid story of Puluwat sailors who navigate in the open ocean with no mechanical aids, the authors begin by dissecting the behavioral basis of human spatial navigation. They then focus on its neural basis, describing neural recordings, brain imaging experiments, and patient studies. Recent advances give unprecedented insights into what is known about the cognitive map and the neural systems that facilitate navigation. The authors discuss how aging and diseases can impede navigation, and they introduce cutting-edge network models that show how the brain can act as a highly integrated system underlying spatial navigation. Throughout, the authors touch on fascinating examples of able navigators, from the Inuit of northern Canada to London taxi drivers, and they provide a critical lens into previous navigation research, which has primarily focused on other species, such as rodents. An ideal book for students and researchers seeking an accessible introduction to this important topic, Human Spatial Navigation offers a rich look into spatial memory and the neuroscientific foundations for how we make our way in the world.




From Neuron to Cognition via Computational Neuroscience


Book Description

A comprehensive, integrated, and accessible textbook presenting core neuroscientific topics from a computational perspective, tracing a path from cells and circuits to behavior and cognition. This textbook presents a wide range of subjects in neuroscience from a computational perspective. It offers a comprehensive, integrated introduction to core topics, using computational tools to trace a path from neurons and circuits to behavior and cognition. Moreover, the chapters show how computational neuroscience—methods for modeling the causal interactions underlying neural systems—complements empirical research in advancing the understanding of brain and behavior. The chapters—all by leaders in the field, and carefully integrated by the editors—cover such subjects as action and motor control; neuroplasticity, neuromodulation, and reinforcement learning; vision; and language—the core of human cognition. The book can be used for advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses. It presents all necessary background in neuroscience beyond basic facts about neurons and synapses and general ideas about the structure and function of the human brain. Students should be familiar with differential equations and probability theory, and be able to pick up the basics of programming in MATLAB and/or Python. Slides, exercises, and other ancillary materials are freely available online, and many of the models described in the chapters are documented in the brain operation database, BODB (which is also described in a book chapter). Contributors Michael A. Arbib, Joseph Ayers, James Bednar, Andrej Bicanski, James J. Bonaiuto, Nicolas Brunel, Jean-Marie Cabelguen, Carmen Canavier, Angelo Cangelosi, Richard P. Cooper, Carlos R. Cortes, Nathaniel Daw, Paul Dean, Peter Ford Dominey, Pierre Enel, Jean-Marc Fellous, Stefano Fusi, Wulfram Gerstner, Frank Grasso, Jacqueline A. Griego, Ziad M. Hafed, Michael E. Hasselmo, Auke Ijspeert, Stephanie Jones, Daniel Kersten, Jeremie Knuesel, Owen Lewis, William W. Lytton, Tomaso Poggio, John Porrill, Tony J. Prescott, John Rinzel, Edmund Rolls, Jonathan Rubin, Nicolas Schweighofer, Mohamed A. Sherif, Malle A. Tagamets, Paul F. M. J. Verschure, Nathan Vierling-Claasen, Xiao-Jing Wang, Christopher Williams, Ransom Winder, Alan L. Yuille




Basal ganglia: physiological, behavioral, and computational studies


Book Description

The basal ganglia has received much attention over the last two decades, as it has been implicated in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Most of this research—in both animals and humans—attempt to understand the neural and biochemical substrates of basic motor and learning processes, and how these are affected in human patients as well as animal models of brain disorders. The current volume contains research articles and reviews describing basic, pre-clinical and clinical neuroscience research of the basal ganglia written by attendees of the 11th Triennial Meeting of the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS) that was held March 3-7th, 2013 at the Princess Hotel, Eilat, Israel and by researchers of the basal ganglia. Specifically, articles in this volume include research reports on the biochemistry, computational theory, anatomy and physiology of single neurons and functional circuitry of the basal ganglia networks as well as the latest data on animal models of basal ganglia dysfunction and clinical studies in human patients.




Network


Book Description




The Frontal Cortex


Book Description

An in-depth investigation of the structure, neuronal mechanisms, and computations of the frontal lobe that enable higher-level thought. Experts from neurobiology, neuroanatomy, evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and clinical science examine how the neuronal structure of the frontal lobes enables unique aspects of higher-level thought. Implications for understanding disrupted function in neurological and psychiatric disorders, as well as societal issues, such as volitional control of behavior and educational practice, are also considered.




Computational and Robotic Models of the Hierarchical Organization of Behavior


Book Description

Current robots and other artificial systems are typically able to accomplish only one single task. Overcoming this limitation requires the development of control architectures and learning algorithms that can support the acquisition and deployment of several different skills, which in turn seems to require a modular and hierarchical organization. In this way, different modules can acquire different skills without catastrophic interference, and higher-level components of the system can solve complex tasks by exploiting the skills encapsulated in the lower-level modules. While machine learning and robotics recognize the fundamental importance of the hierarchical organization of behavior for building robots that scale up to solve complex tasks, research in psychology and neuroscience shows increasing evidence that modularity and hierarchy are pivotal organization principles of behavior and of the brain. They might even lead to the cumulative acquisition of an ever-increasing number of skills, which seems to be a characteristic of mammals, and humans in particular. This book is a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on the modeling of the hierarchical organization of behavior in animals, and on its exploitation in robot controllers. The book perspective is highly interdisciplinary, featuring models belonging to all relevant areas, including machine learning, robotics, neural networks, and computational modeling in psychology and neuroscience. The book chapters review the authors' most recent contributions to the investigation of hierarchical behavior, and highlight the open questions and most promising research directions. As the contributing authors are among the pioneers carrying out fundamental work on this topic, the book covers the most important and topical issues in the field from a computationally informed, theoretically oriented perspective. The book will be of benefit to academic and industrial researchers and graduate students in related disciplines.




Neuromodulation of Executive Circuits


Book Description

High-order executive tasks involve the interplay between frontal cortex and other cortical and subcortical brain regions. In particular, the frontal cortex, striatum and thalamus interact via parallel fronto-striatal "loops" that are crucial for the executive control of behavior. In all of these brain regions, neuromodulatory inputs (e.g. serotonergic, dopaminergic, cholinergic, adrenergic, and peptidergic afferents) regulate neuronal activity and synaptic transmission to optimize circuit performance for specific cognitive demands. Indeed, dysregulation of neuromodulatory input to fronto-striatal circuits is implicated in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, and Parkinson's disease. However, despite decades of intense investigation, how neuromodulators influence the activity of fronto-striatal circuits to generate the precise activity patterns required for sophisticated cognitive tasks remains unknown. In part, this reflects the complexity of the cellular microcircuits in these brain regions (i.e. heterogeneity of neuron subtypes and connectivity), cell-type specific expression patterns for the numerous receptor subtypes mediating neuromodulatory signals, and the potential interaction of multiple signaling cascades in individual neurons. This Research Topic includes 10 original research articles and seven review articles addressing the role of neuromodulation in executive function at multiple levels of analysis, ranging from the activity of single voltage-dependent ion channels to computational models of network interactions in cortex-striatum-thalamus systems.