What does Medial Frontal Cortex Signal During Behavior? Insights from Behavioral Neurophysiology, Volume 158 addresses and highlights a question that has remained central to cognitive and systems neuroscience since its inception, namely, what does the medial frontal cortex do? With insights from 17 of the fields leading teams of scientists, this volume attempts to address this question covering several topics with chapters including What do single unit responses in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex mean?, Social Processing by the Primate Medial Frontal Cortex, Medial frontal cortex and the temporal control of action, The midcingulate cortex and temporal integration, and more. Additional chapters cover The anterior cingulate cortex and event-based modulation of autonomic states, Integration of value and action in medial prefrontal neural systems, Secondary motor cortex: broadcasting and biasing animal's decisions through long-range circuits, The prefrontal cortex in social cognition, Representing task strategies in the medial prefrontal cortex, Prefrontal contributions to action control in rodents, From affective to cognitive processings: functional organization of the medial frontal cortex, and much more. - Comprises the perspectives of a diverse array of world-leading researchers in medial frontal cortex function - Provides the latest theoretical and data-based evidence for the function of medial frontal cortex - Presents the importance of systems-based neuroscience approaches to the understanding of medial frontal cortex function

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

New edition building on the success of previous one. Retains core aim of providing an accessible introduction to behavioral neuroanatomy.

It is only relatively recently that it has been possible to study the neural processes that might underlie working memory, leading to a proliferation of research in this domain. This volume brings together leading researchers from around the world to summarise current knowledge of this field.

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."

The prefrontal cortex makes up almost a quarter of the human brain, and it expanded dramatically during primate evolution. The Neurobiology of the Prefrontal Cortex presents a new theory about its fundamental function. In this important new book, the authors argue that primate-specific parts of the prefrontal cortex evolved to reduce errors in foraging choices, so that particular ancestors of modern humans could overcome periodic food shortages. These developments laid the foundation for working out problems in our imagination, which resulted in the insights that allow humans to avoid errors entirely, at least at times. In the book, the authors detail which parts of the prefrontal cortex evolved exclusively in primates, how its connections explain why the prefrontal cortex alone can perform its function, and why other parts of the brain cannot do what the prefrontal cortex does. Based on an analysis of its evolutionary history, the book uses evidence from lesion, imaging, and cell-recording experiments to argue that the primate prefrontal cortex generates goals from a current behavioural context and that it can do so on the basis of single events. As a result, the prefrontal cortex uses the attentive control of behaviour to augment an older general-purpose learning system, one that evolved very early in the history of animals. This older system learns slowly and cumulatively over many experiences based on reinforcement. The authors argue that a new learning system evolved in primates at a particular time and place in their history, that it did so to decrease the errors inherent in the older learning system, and that severe volatility of food resources provided the driving force for these developments. Written by two leading brain scientists, The Neurobiology of the Prefrontal Cortex is an important contribution to our understanding of the evolution and functioning of the human brain.

This volume of Progress in Brain Research is based on the proceedings of a conference, "Using Eye Movements as an Experimental Probe of Brain Function," held at the Charing Cross Hospital Campus of Imperial College London, UK on 5th -6th December, 2007 to honor Professor Jean Büttner-Ennever. With 87 contributions from international experts – both basic scientists and clinicians – the volume provides many examples of how eye movements can be used to address a broad range of research questions. Section 1 focuses on extraocular muscle, highlighting new concepts of proprioceptive control that involve even the cerebral cortex. Section 2 comprises structural, physiological, pharmacological, and computational aspects of brainstem mechanisms, and illustrates implications for disorders as diverse as opsoclonus, and congenital scoliosis with gaze palsy. Section 3 addresses how the cerebellum transforms neural signals into motor commands, and how disease of such mechanisms may lead to ataxia and disorders such as oculopalatal tremor. Section 4 deals with sensory-motor processing of visual, vestibular, somatosensory, and auditory inputs, such as are required for navigation, and gait. Section 5 illustrates how eye movements, used in conjunction with single-unit electrophysiology, functional imaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and lesion studies have illuminated cognitive processes, including memory, prediction, and even free will. Section 6 includes 18 papers dealing with disorders ranging from congenital to acquired forms of nystagmus, genetic and degenerative neurological disorders, and treatments for nystagmus and motion sickness.* Clinicians will find important new information on the substrate for spinocerebellar ataxia, late-onset Tay-Sachs disease, Huntington disease, and pulvinar lesions* Organizes multiple articles on such topics as proprioception, short and longer-term memory, and hereditary cerebellar ataxias for a more coherent presentation* Articles on anatomic tracers, functional imaging, and computational neuroscience are illustrated in color