The goal of this sixth edition of Principles of Neural Science is to provide readers with insight into how genes, molecules, neurons, and the circuits they form give rise to behavior. With the exponential growth in neuroscience research over the 40 years since the first edition of this book, an increasing challenge is to provide a comprehensive overview of the field while remaining true to the original goal of the first edition, which is to elevate imparting basic principles over detailed encyclopedic knowledge.

Principles of Neurobiology, Second Edition presents the major concepts of neuroscience with an emphasis on how we know what we know. The text is organized around a series of key experiments to illustrate how scientific progress is made and helps upper-level undergraduate and graduate students discover the relevant primary literature. Written by a single author in a clear and consistent writing style, each topic builds in complexity from electrophysiology to molecular genetics to systems level in a highly integrative approach. Students can fully engage with the content via thematically linked chapters and will be able to read the book in its entirety in a semester-long course. Principles of Neurobiology is accompanied by a rich package of online student and instructor resources including animations, figures in PowerPoint, and a Question Bank for adopting instructors.

The gold standard of neuroscience texts―updated with hundreds of brand-new images and fully revised content in every chapter Doody's Core Titles for 2023! For more than 40 years, Principles of Neural Science has helped readers understand the link between the human brain and behavior. As the renowned text has shown, all behavior is an expression of neural activity and the future of both clinical neurology and psychiatry is dependent on the progress of neural science. Fully updated, this sixth edition of the landmark reference reflects the latest research, clinical perspectives, and advances in the field. It offers an unparalleled perspective on the the current state and future of neural science. This new edition features: Unmatched coverage of how the nerves, brain, and mind function NEW chapters on: - The Computational Bases of Neural Circuits that Mediate Behavior - Brain-Machine Interfaces - Decision-Making and Consciousness NEW section on the neuroscientific principles underlying the disorders of the nervous system Expanded coverage of the different forms of human memory Highly detailed chapters on stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis 2,200 images, including 300 new color illustrations, diagrams, radiology studies, and PET scans Principles of Neural Science, Sixth Edition benefits from a cohesive organization, beginning with an insightful overview of the interrelationships between the brain, nervous system, genes, and behavior. The text is divided into nine sections: Part I: Overall Perspective provides an overview of the broad themes of neural science, including the basic anatomical organization of the nervous system and the genetic bases of nervous system function and behavior. Part II: Cell and Molecular Biology of Cells of the Nervous System examines the basic properties of nerve cells, including the generation and conduction of propagated signaling. Part III: Synaptic Transmission focuses on the electrophysiological and molecular mechanism of synaptic transmission with chapters on neuronal excitability, neurotransmitters, and transmitter release. Part IV: Perception discusses the various aspects of sensory perception, including how information from the primary organs of sensation is transmitted to and processed by the central nervous system. Part V: Movement considers the neural mechanisms underlying movement and examines a new treatment that addresses how the basal ganglia regulate the selection of motor actions and instantiate reinforcement learning. Part VI: The Biology of Emotion, Motivation and Homeostasis examines the neural mechanisms by which subcortical areas mediate homeostatic control mechanisms, emotions, and motivation. Part VII: Development and the Emergence of Behavior looks at the nervous system from early embryonic differentiation to the formation and elimination of synapses. Part VIII: Learning, Memory, Language and Cognition expands on the previous section, examining the cellular mechanisms of implicit and explicit memory storage, as well as decision-making and consciousness. Part IX: explores the neural mechanisms underlying diseases and disorders of the nervous system, including autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and anxiety.

How does brain activity give rise to sleep, dreams, learning, memory, and language? Do drugs like cocaine and heroin tap into the same neurochemical systems that evolved for life's natural rewards? What are the powerful new tools of molecular biology that are revolutionizing neuroscience? This undergraduate textbook explores the relation between brain, mind, and behavior. It clears away the extraneous detail that so often impedes learning, and describes critical concepts step by step, in straightforward language. Rich illustrations and thought-provoking review questions further illuminate the relations between biological, behavioral, and mental phenomena. With writing that is focused and engaging, even the more challenging topics of neurotransmission and neuroplasticity become enjoyable to learn. While this textbook filters out non-critical details, it includes all key information, allowing readers to remain focused and enjoy the feeling of mastery that comes from a grounded understanding of a topic, from its fundamentals to its implications.

Neuroscience research has exploded, with more than fifty thousand neuroscientists applying increasingly advanced methods. A mountain of new facts and mechanisms has emerged. And yet a principled framework to organize this knowledge has been missing. In this book, Peter Sterling and Simon Laughlin, two leading neuroscientists, strive to fill this gap, outlining a set of organizing principles to explain the whys of neural design that allow the brain to compute so efficiently. Setting out to "reverse engineer" the brain -- disassembling it to understand it -- Sterling and Laughlin first consider why an animal should need a brain, tracing computational abilities from bacterium to protozoan to worm. They examine bigger brains and the advantages of "anticipatory regulation"; identify constraints on neural design and the need to "nanofy"; and demonstrate the routes to efficiency in an integrated molecular system, phototransduction. They show that the principles of neural design at finer scales and lower levels apply at larger scales and higher levels; describe neural wiring efficiency; and discuss learning as a principle of biological design that includes "save only what is needed." Sterling and Laughlin avoid speculation about how the brain might work and endeavor to make sense of what is already known. Their distinctive contribution is to gather a coherent set of basic rules and exemplify them across spatial and functional scales.

Development of the Nervous System, Second Edition has been thoroughly revised and updated since the publication of the First Edition. It presents a broad outline of neural development principles as exemplified by key experiments and observations from past and recent times. The text is organized along a development pathway from the induction of the neural primordium to the emergence of behavior. It covers all the major topics including the patterning and growth of the nervous system, neuronal determination, axonal navigation and targeting, synapse formation and plasticity, and neuronal survival and death. This new text reflects the complete modernization of the field achieved through the use of model organisms and the intensive application of molecular and genetic approaches. The original, artist-rendered drawings from the First Edition have all been redone and colorized to so that the entire text is in full color. This new edition is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate level students in courses such as Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, and Developmental Biology. Updates information including all the new developments made in the field since the first edition Now in full color throughout, with the original, artist-rendered drawings from the first edition completely redone, revised, colorized, and updated