How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Aristotle in the Historia animalium, (Book IV) gives one of the earliest descriptions of the anatomy of the cephalopod digestive tract, comparing it to that of other molluscs. From dissections of cuttlefish several key features of the cephalopod digestive tract were described: the beak (“teeth”) and radula (“tongue”), the passage of the oesophagus through the brain en route to the crop and stomach. The stomach is described as having spiral convolutions like a trumpet snail shell suggesting that the structure described is actually the caecum. The gut then turns anteriorly so that the anal opening is near the funnel leading a modern author to comment that they “defaecate on their heads” (Leroi, 2014). In the intervening two millennia research on the cephalopod digestive tract has been sporadic with much of the current knowledge arising from a series of studies in the 1950s to the 1970s by A.M. Bidder, E. Boucaud -Camou, R. Boucher-Rodoni and K. Mangold which established the basic mechanisms of digestion and absorption (e.g., Bidder, 1950; Boucaud-Camou et al., 1976). The last 10 years has seen a resurgence of research on the digestive tract stimulated by interest cephalopods (particularly Octopus vulgaris and Sepia officinalis) as candidate species for aquaculture and the potential impact of climate change on cephalopod ecology. Additionally, the inclusion of cephalopods in the European Union legislation regulating scientific research has necessitated improved understanding of dietary requirements and metabolism as well as the development of methods to monitor digestive tract function to ensure optimal care and welfare in the laboratory. Prompted by this resurgence of interest in the cephalopod digestive tract and an international workshop on the topic held in November 2015 we have collected a series of papers reflecting the current state-of-the art. The seventeen papers in this book combine original research publications and reviews covering a diversity of topics that are grouped under four main themes reflecting key topics in the physiology and ecology of the cephalopod digestive tract; feeding strategies, early life stages and aquaculture, anatomy and digestive physiology, care and welfare. This book provides a timely synthesis of ongoing research into the cephalopod digestive tract which we hope will stimulate further studies into this relatively neglected aspect of cephalopod biology. References Aristotle. The History of Animals, Book IV. Translated by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson. Bidder, A. (1950). The digestive mechanisms of the European squids Loligo vulgaris, Loligo forbesii, Alloteuthis media and Allotuethis subulata. Q. J. Microscop. Sci. 91, 1-43. Boucaud-Camou, E., Boucher, Rodoni, R., and Mangold, K (1976). Digestive absorption in Octopus vulgaris (Cephalopoda: Octopoda). J.Zool.179, 261-271. Leroi, A.M. (2014). The Lagoon-How Aristotle Invented Science. Bloomsbury Circus, London.

What produces emotions? Why do we have emotions? How do we have emotions? Why do emotional states feel like something? This book seeks explanations of emotion by considering these questions. Emotion continues to be a topic of enormous scientific interest. This new book, a successor to 'The Brain and Emotion', (OUP, 1998), describes the nature, functions, and brain mechanisms that underlie both emotion and motivation. 'Emotion Explained' goes beyond examining brain mechanisms of emotion, by proposing a theory of what emotions are, and an evolutionary, Darwinian, theory of the adaptive value of emotion. It also shows that there is a clear relationship between motivation and emotion. The book also examines how cognitive states can modulate emotions, and in turn, how emotions can influence cognitive states. It considers the role of sexual selection in the evolution of affective behaviour. It also examines emotion and decision making, with links to the burgeoning field of neuroeconomics. The book is also unique in considering emotion at several levels - the neurophysiological, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, behavioural, and computational neuroscience levels.

There are myriad questions that emerge when one considers emotions and decision-making: What produces emotions? Why do we have emotions? How do we have emotions? Why do emotional states feel like something? What is the relationship between emotion, reward value, and subjective feelings of pleasure? How is the value of 'good' represented in the brain? Will neuroeconomics replace classical microeconomics? How does the brain implement decision-making? Are gene-defined rewards and emotions in the interests of the genes? Does rational multistep planning enable us to go beyond selfish genes to plans in the interests of the individual? The Brain, Emotion, and Depression addresses these issues, providing a unified approach to emotion, reward value, economic value, decision-making, and their brain mechanisms. The evolutionary, adaptive value of the processes involved in emotion, the neural networks involved in emotion and decision making, and the issue of conscious emotional feelings are all considered. The book will be valuable for those in the fields of neuroscience, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, biology, animal behaviour, economics, and philosophy from the advanced undergraduate level upwards, and for all interested in emotion and decision-making.

What produces emotions? Why do we have emotions? How do we have emotions? Why do emotional states feel like something? What is the relation between emotion, and reward value, and subjective feelings of pleasure? How is the value of a good represented in the brain? Will neuroeconomics replace classical microeconomics? How does the brain implement decision-making? Are gene-defined rewards and emotions in the interests of the genes, and does rational multistep planning enable us to go beyond selfish genes to long-term plans and social contracts in the interests of the individual? This book seeks explanations of emotion and decision-making by considering these questions. The topics covered include: The nature of emotion, and a theory of emotion The functions of emotion, including a Darwinian theory of the adaptive value of emotion, which helps to illuminate many aspects of brain design and behaviour The brain mechanisms of emotion Affective states and motivated behaviour: hunger and sexual behaviour The pharmacology of emotion, and brain mechanisms for action Neuroeconomics, and the foundation of economic value Decision-making Emotional feelings, and consciousness Neural networks involved in emotion The book will be valuable for those in the fields of neuroscience and neurology, psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy

When an excessive proportion of the human energy requirement is derived from fat, the likelihood of obesity increases. Any such individual is at risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease- grave and costly health hazards. The selective control of fat ingestion is a promising solution to these concerns. Existing data suggests that macronutrient intake can be manipulated. Further research is working to create pharmacological tools that will suppress fat consumption. It will also be possible to fight obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Neural and Metabolic Control of Macronutrient Intake systematically discusses the known physiological mechanisms involved in macronutrientselection, including their molecular, genetic and neurochemical aspects. The book is also a critical review of the hypothesis that ingestion of the three nutrients is regulated by separate neural control mechanisms, leaving open the possibility that strategies could be devised to intervene in bodily control systems and alter the proportion of fat in the diet. This reference provides three types of information: First, the basic background of the biochemical and physiological systems as they relate to macronutrient selection. Second, opinions and data concerning to what degree animals and humans show evidence of macronutrient selection. And, third, evidence about how the central nervous system might be involved in the choices animals make among macronutrients.