In this book we have experts writing on various neuroscience topics ranging from mental illness, syndromes, compulsive disorders, brain cancer and advances in therapies and imaging techniques. Although diverse, the topics provide an overview of an array of diseases and their underlying causes, as well as advances in the treatment of these ailments. This book includes three chapters dedicated to neurodegenerative diseases, undoubtedly a group of diseases of huge socio-economic importance due to the number of people currently suffering from this type of disease but also the prediction of a huge increase in the number of people becoming afflicted. The book also includes a chapter on the molecular and cellular aspects of brain cancer, a disease which is still amongst the least treatable of cancers.

The Human Brain Book is a complete guide to the one organ in the body that makes each of us what we are - unique individuals. It combines the latest findings from the field of neuroscience with expert text and state-of-the-art illustrations and imaging techniques to provide an incomparable insight into every facet of the brain. Layer by layer, it reveals the fascinating details of this remarkable structure, covering all the key anatomy and delving into the inner workings of the mind, unlocking its many mysteries, and helping you to understand what's going on in those millions of little gray and white cells. Tricky concepts are illustrated and explained with clarity and precision, as The Human Brain Book looks at how the brain sends messages to the rest of the body, how we think and feel, how we perform unconscious actions (for example, breathing), explores the nature of genius, asks why we behave the way we do, explains how we see and hear things, and how and why we dream. Physical and psychological disorders affecting the brain and nervous system are clearly illustrated and summarized in easy-to-understand terms.

Neuroscience, the study of the structure and function of the brain, has captured our imaginations. Breakthrough technologies permit neuroscientists to probe how the human brain works in ever-more fascinating detail, revealing what happens when we think, move, love, hate, and fear. We know more than ever before about what goes wrong in the brain when we develop psychiatric and neurological illnesses like depression, dementia, epilepsy, panic attacks, and schizophrenia. We also now have clues about how treatments for those disorders change the way our brains look and function. Neuroscience at the Intersection of Mind and Brain has three main purposes. First, it makes complicated concepts and findings in modern neuroscience accessible to anyone with an interest in how the brain works. Second, it explains in detail how every experience we have from the moment we are conceived changes our brains. Third, it advances the idea that psychotherapy is a type of life experience that alters brain function and corrects aberrant brain connections. Among the topics covered are: what makes our brains different from those of other primates, our nearest genetic neighbors? How do life's experiences affect genetic expression of the brain and the way neurons connect with each other? Why are connections between different parts of the brain important in both health and disease? What happens in the brains of animals and humans when we are suddenly afraid of something, get depressed, or fall in love? How do medications and psychotherapies work? The information in this book is based on cutting-edge research in neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology. Written by an author who studied human behavior and brain function for three decades, it is presented in a highly accessible manner, full of personal anecdotes and observations, and touches on many of the controversies in contemporary mental health practice.

This science ebook of award-wiining print edition uses the latest findings from neuroscience research and brain-imaging technology to take you on a journey into the human brain. CGI artworks and brain MRI scans reveal the brain's anatomy in unprecedented detail. Step-by-step sequences unravel and simplify the complex processes of brain function, such as how nerves transmit signals, how memories are laid down and recalled, and how we register emotions. The book answers fundamental and compelling questions about the brain: what does it means to be conscious, what happens when we're asleep,and are the brains of men and women different? Written by award-winning author Rita Carter, this is an accessible and authoritative reference book to a fascinating part of the human body. Thanks to improvements in scanning technology, our understanding of the brain is changing fast. Now in its third edition, the Brain Book provides an up-to-date guide to one of science's most exciting frontiers. With its coverage of over 50 brain-related diseases and disorders - from strokes to brain tumours and schizophrenia - it is also an essential manual for students and healthcare professionals.

Neurological and psychiatric disorders have long been regarded as fundamentally different, depending on whether they appear to affect the brain or the mind. In reality, the brain and the mind are inseparable. Both types of disorder can affect every aspect of brain function: from perception, action, memory and emotion to empathy, social interaction, attention and consciousness. It is easy to view brain disorders as simply tragic or frightening. However, studying where these functions go wrong provides a window on the workings of the healthy brain, and makes it more likely that scientists and clinicians will be able to develop effective treatments or preventative strategies. As individuals, and as a society, we are also able to better empathise with people with disorders of the mind. Building on his pioneering research, Eric R. Kandel illustrates how breakthrough studies of brain disruptions can deepen our understanding of thought, feeling, behaviour, memory and creativity, and perhaps in the future will transform medical care and lead to the development of a unified theory of mind.

The Lost Self: Pathologies of the Brain and Identity is an in-depth exploration into one of the most mysterious and controversial topics in neuroscience, neurology, psychiatry, and psychology-namely, the search for the biological basis of the self. The Lost Self is a guide to understanding how the brain creates who we are, and what happens when things go wrong.

Understanding the human brain is essential to become a well-informed, modern citizen. As always, nonsense proliferates around popular topics. The author of the human Brain is a physician-writer, an expert navigator who can steer you away from nonsense, and help you understand practical details about brain function and disease. This is a big book with big ideas, so be prepared to read, re-read and then keep the book as reference. Read topics from the book by clicking links to the left. Dr. Gislason's Preface "My goal in writing this book is to provide a guide to intervention in disorders of brain function. The brain is the organ of the mind. Therefore, molecular influences that alter the function of brain are manifest as mental influences. Brains are delicate devices that need special care to work well. When brains do not function well, disorders of sensing, deciding, acting and remembering occur. Food is the major source of molecular influences on the brain and, therefore, on mind states. Finding and consuming food is the main business of all animal brains and remains the priority in the organization of human behavior. An integrated view of body/mind does not draw artificial boundaries among different events. Psyche does not affect Soma or vice versa. Psyche and Soma are one interacting whole system. Behavioral adaptation to environment is intermeshed with molecular adaptation. This means that mind and body interact with environment as a single integrated unit. Molecular events determine mind/body events just as mental or behavioral events determine molecular events. There is little argument that diseased arteries that carry blood to the brain lead toward the most prevalent and often the most devastating loss of brain function. High blood pressure and plugged arteries work together to produce strokes. Other brain diseases are not so obvious. The role of the environment and dietary problems in creating emotionally and mentally disturbed people has been underestimated or ignored. Bad environments and problems in the food supply can disturb brain function in entire populations. Bad chemicals are more powerful than good intentions and good ideas unless the good idea is to remove the bad chemicals from the environment. When a fish in an aquarium displays psychotic behavior, you do not call a fish psychiatrist; you check the oxygen concentration, temperature, and pH of the water. You have to clean the tank and change the fish diet. I regret the increasing use of psychotropic drugs. The aggressive marketing of drugs that affect the brain has become a major determinant of what people believe and how people behave. I was once an advocate of drug therapy, but now I believe that we are on the wrong track and advise against taking drugs that affect the mind. My work in philosophy takes the broadest view of the human experience and also focuses on the details of how our mind works. As a physician, I advocate practical solutions to brain dysfunction that are often ignored in medical practice. These are solutions that emphasize removing the causes of disease by improving the environment and the food supply. Download eBook in PDF format