The Neuronal Codes of the Cerebellum


Book Description

The Neuronal Codes of the Cerebellum provides the most updated information on what is known on the topics of the cerebellum’s anatomy and single cell physiology, two areas where there has been a gap in knowledge regarding the specific codes it uses to process information internally and convey commands to other brain regions. This has created difficulties for researchers and clinicians looking to develop an understanding of the mechanisms by which it contributes to behavior and how its dysfunction causes neurological symptoms. Focused on findings related to the neuronal code used by cerebellar neurons for the representation of behavioral and sensory processes, this edited volume will aid scientists in overcoming that knowledge gap, also serving as the first resource to broadly address the different aspects of spike coding in the cerebellum that focuses on spike train analysis. Compiles current knowledge about functioning of the cerebellum on a cellular basis and how information is encoded in the cerebellum Highlights findings related to the neuronal code used by cerebellar neurons for the representation of behavioral and sensory processes Contents include an introduction to the cerebellum and experimental/theoretical techniques, as well as the function of cerebral coding during disorder, learning, behavior generation, motor behavior, and more Bridges the gap for cerebellar researchers between single cell biophysics/anatomic studies and behavioral studies Incorporates various in vivo approaches with different behavioral paradigms in primates and rodents, modeling studies of coding, and in vitro approaches







Principles of Neural Coding


Book Description

Understanding how populations of neurons encode information is the challenge faced by researchers in the field of neural coding. Focusing on the many mysteries and marvels of the mind has prompted a prominent team of experts in the field to put their heads together and fire up a book on the subject. Simply titled Principles of Neural Coding, this book covers the complexities of this discipline. It centers on some of the major developments in this area and presents a complete assessment of how neurons in the brain encode information. The book collaborators contribute various chapters that describe results in different systems (visual, auditory, somatosensory perception, etc.) and different species (monkeys, rats, humans, etc). Concentrating on the recording and analysis of the firing of single and multiple neurons, and the analysis and recording of other integrative measures of network activity and network states—such as local field potentials or current source densities—is the basis of the introductory chapters. Provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach Describes topics of interest to a wide range of researchers The book then moves forward with the description of the principles of neural coding for different functions and in different species and concludes with theoretical and modeling works describing how information processing functions are implemented. The text not only contains the most important experimental findings, but gives an overview of the main methodological aspects for studying neural coding. In addition, the book describes alternative approaches based on simulations with neural networks and in silico modeling in this highly interdisciplinary topic. It can serve as an important reference to students and professionals.




The Cerebellum as a Neuronal Machine


Book Description

This book has had a three-fold origin, corresponding to the discoveries made by the three authors and their collaborators during the last few years - mostly since 1962. A most fruitful symposium on the cerebellum was held in Tokyo at the time of the International Physiological Congress in September 1965, and there was then formulated the project of writing this book so as to organize all this new knowledge and make it readily available, and to give opportunity for the con ceptual developments that may be seen in Chapters XI, XII and XV in particular. The present account of the physiological properties of the cerebellar cortex is based to a large extent on systematic investigations that were concerned with discovering the mode of operation of the constituent neuronal elements of the cerebellar cortex. This work was carried out in the Physiology Department of the Australian National University from 1963 to 1966 in collaboration with several visiting scientists - initially Drs. ANDERSEN, OscARssaN and VooRHOEVE and later Drs. LuNAs, SAsAKI and STRATA - to all of whom grateful thanks are extended for a great many of the figures, and even more significantly for the original and critical contributions that they made to so many aspects of this exploration into the mode of operation of the neural machinery of the cerebellar cortex.




Discovering the Brain


Book Description

The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."




Temporal Coding in the Brain


Book Description

Temporal coding in the brain documents a revolution now occurring in the neurosciences. How does parallel processing of information bind together the complex nature of the outer and our inner worlds? Do intrinsic oscillations and transient cooperative states of neurons represent the physiological basis of cognitive and motor functions of the brain? Some answers to these challenging issues are provided in this book by leading world experts of brain function. A common denominator of the works presented in this volume is the nature and mechanisms of neuronal cooperation in the temporal domain. The topics range from simple organisms to the human brain. The volume is intended for investigators and graduate students in neurophysiology, cognitive neuroscience, neural computation and neurology.




Large-scale Coordinated Neural Ensemble Coding of Motor Behavior in the Cerebellum


Book Description

The cerebellum is critical for learning skilled movements such as reaching and manipulating objects. Coordination of ensemble neuronal spiking may be key to cerebellar control of movement, but is largely unexplored during skilled behavior. Here we show that skilled reaching tasks evoke novel coordinated silence, spiking, and motor coding seen only by monitoring many Purkinje neurons simultaneously. We designed a robotic manipulandum that mice grasped while making targeted reaches during 2-photon calcium imaging. Neurons often all stopped spiking together, much more frequently than observing each neuron separately would predict. This concerted silence signaled individual reaches more effectively than ensemble average spiking. We also found that collective synchronous spiking near reach onset accompanied less jerky and variable movements. Robotic perturbations to reaching elicited collective direction-selective synchrony. These coordinated activity patterns were unavailable from individual neurons or traditional population averages and hint at a novel reaching-evoked coordinated cerebellar circuit state.




Cerebellum and Neuronal Plasticity


Book Description







The Cerebellum Revisited


Book Description

This book is organized into three parts that correspond with the main groups of chapters delivered during the Cajal Centenary Meeting on The Neutron Doctrine. These chapters represent important aspects of the morphology, development, and function of the cerebellum and related structures. Clearly an exhaustive analysis of all aspects of the cerebellar system, as they relate to the legacy of Ramon y Cajal, would be impossible to contain in just one volume, given its far-reaching impact. Instead, we deliberately steered away from the traditional handbook approach that some of us have taken in the past and selected those aspects of cerebellar research currently under vigorous study that would also represent the widest scope of interest for neuroscientists in general and for cerebellar specialists in particular. In particular, we felt that as the discrete anatomy of the cerebellum is quite well known, only certain aspects of the structure should be discussed here. For example, the organization of the pontocerebellar pathways, we felt, would be particularly interesting given the enormity of the system in higher vertebrates. Also of interest is the distribution and development of the synaptology and neurotransmitter properties in this cortex. Indeed, from the point of view of cerebellar development, this may represent one of the clearest paradigms in the understanding of rules for neurogenesis for the central nervous system.