The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set is a comprehensive reference work covering the range of topics that constitute current knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying the different senses. This important work provides the most up-to-date, cutting-edge, comprehensive reference combining volumes on all major sensory modalities in one set. Offering 264 chapters from a distinguished team of international experts, The Senses lays out current knowledge on the anatomy, physiology, and molecular biology of sensory organs, in a collection of comprehensive chapters spanning 4 volumes. Topics covered include the perception, psychophysics, and higher order processing of sensory information, as well as disorders and new diagnostic and treatment methods. Written for a wide audience, this reference work provides students, scholars, medical doctors, as well as anyone interested in neuroscience, a comprehensive overview of the knowledge accumulated on the function of sense organs, sensory systems, and how the brain processes sensory input. As with the first edition, contributions from leading scholars from around the world will ensure The Senses offers a truly international portrait of sensory physiology. The set is the definitive reference on sensory neuroscience and provides the ultimate entry point into the review and original literature in Sensory Neuroscience enabling students and scientists to delve into the subject and deepen their knowledge. All-inclusive coverage of topics: updated edition offers readers the only current reference available covering neurobiology, physiology, anatomy, and molecular biology of sense organs and the processing of sensory information in the brain Authoritative content: world-leading contributors provide readers with a reputable, dynamic and authoritative account of the topics under discussion Comprehensive-style content: in-depth, complex coverage of topics offers students at upper undergraduate level and above full insight into topics under discussion

Synthesizing coverage of sensation and reward into a comprehensive systems overview, Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward presents a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary approach to the interplay of sensory and reward processing in the brain. While over the past 70 years these areas have drifted apart, this book makes a case for reuniting sensation a

This edition of Advances in Neurobiology brings together experts in the emerging field of Systems Neuroscience to present an overview of this area of research. Topics covered include: how different neural circuits analyze sensory information, form perceptions of the external world, make decisions, and execute movements; how nerve cells behave when connected together to form neural networks; the relationship between molecular and cellular approaches to understanding brain structure and function; the study of high-level mental functions; and studying brain pathologies and diseases with Systems Neuroscience. A hierarchy of biological complexity arises from the genome, transcriptome, proteome, organelles, cells, synapses, circuits, brain regions, the whole brain, and behaviour. The best way to study the brain, the most complex organ in the body composed of 100 billion cells with trillions of interconnections, is with a Systems Biology approach. Systems biology is an inter-disciplinary field that focuses on complex interactions within biological systems to reveal 'emergent properties' - properties of cells and groups of cells functioning as a system whose actual and theoretical description is only possible using Systems Biology techniques.

While the brain is ruled to a large extent by chemical neurotransmitters, it is also a bioelectric organ. The collective study of Quantitative ElectroEncephaloGraphs (QEEG-the conversion of brainwaves to digital form to allow for comparison between neurologically normative and dysfunctional individuals), Event Related Potentials (ERPs - electrophysiological response to stimulus) and Neurotherapy (the process of actually retraining brain processes to) offers a window into brain physiology and function via computer and statistical analyses of traditional EEG patterns, suggesting innovative approaches to the improvement of attention, anxiety, mood and behavior.The volume provides detailed description of the various EEG rhythms and ERPs, the conventional analytic methods such as spectral analysis, and the emerging method utilizing QEEG and ERPs. This research is then related back to practice and all existing approaches in the field of Neurotherapy - conventional EEG-based neurofeedback, brain-computer interface, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation - are covered in full. While it does not offer the breadth provided by an edited work, this volume does provide a level of depth and detail that a single author can deliver, as well as giving readers insight into the personl theories of one of the preeminent leaders in the field. - Provide a holistic picture of quantitative EEG and event related potentials as a unified scientific field - Present a unified description of the methods of quantitative EEG and event related potentials - Give a scientifically based overview of existing approaches in the field of neurotherapy - Provide practical information for the better understanding and treatment of disorders, such as ADHD, Schizophrenia, Addiction, OCD, Depression, and Alzheimer's Disease

Bringing together neural, perceptual, and behavioral studies, The Merging of the Senses provides the first detailed review of how the brain assembles information from different sensory systems in order to produce a coherent view of the external world. Stein and Meredith marshall evidence from a broad array of species to show that interactions among senses are the most ancient scheme of sensory organization, an integrative system reflecting a general plan that supersedes structure and species. Most importantly, they explore what is known about the neural processes by which interactions among the senses take place at the level of the single cell.The authors draw on their own experiments to illustrate how sensory inputs converge (from visual, auditory, and somatosensory modalities, for instance) on individual neurons in different areas of the brain, how these neurons integrate their inputs, the principles by which this integration occurs, and what this may mean for perception and behavior. Neurons in the superior colliculus and cortex are emphasized as models of multiple sensory integrators.

The term Interception refers to information that is sent by the nervous system from the body to the brain. Despite its importance in the control of visceral organ function, emotional-motivational processes, and in psychosomatic disorders, the topic has not received as much attention as central functions of the nervous system. This book provides the first review of the field and will be of interest to scientists in neurobiology, psychology, and brain imaging, to individuals in related clinical fields such as psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and clinical psychology, and to their students and trainees.

This preface is addressed to the reader who wishes to inquire into the prevailing concepts, hypotheses and theories about development of sensory systems and wants to know how they are exemplified in the following chapters. I believe that science is hypothesis and theory and that the growth and evolution of any branch of science can be measured by the degree to which its theories have been reified. By that standard, one must conc1ude that developmental neuro biologie is in its infancy. The rapid accumulation of observations which has occurred in this branch of science in the past century leads to progress only to the extent that the facts validate or falsify hypotheses. The following chapters show that we have a plethora of facts but a dearth of hypotheses. Another index of the maturity of any branch of science is its level of historical self-awareness. Because the history of any branch of science is essentially the history of ideas and of the rise and fall of theories, the level of historical awareness is related to the extent to which reification of its hypothetical constructs has advanced. It is largely because few theories of development of sensory systems, or indeed, of developmental neurobiology, have progressed far in the process of reification that the his tory of developmental neurobiology remains unwritten. The subject of this volume is hardly mentioned in the many books devoted to the history of related disciplines.