Vassilis Cutsuridis – författare

Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems 2008 (June 24-27, 2008; São Luís, Brazil) brought together leading scientists and engineers who use analytic, syntactic and computational methods both to understand the prodigious processing properties of biological systems and, specifically, of the brain, and to exploit such knowledge to advance computational methods towards ever higher levels of cognitive competence.

This book includes the papers presented at four major symposia:

Part I - Cognitive Neuroscience

Part II - Biologically Inspired Systems

Part III - Neural Computation

Part IV - Models of Consciousness.

Rich in detail, Hippocampal Microcircuits: A Computational Modeler’s Resource Book provides succinct and focused reviews of experimental results. It is an unparalleled resource of data and methodology that will be invaluable to anyone wishing to develop computational models of the microcircuits of the hippocampus. The editors have divided the material into two thematic areas. Covering the subject’s experimental background, leading neuroscientists discuss the morphological, physiological and molecular characteristics as well as the connectivity and synaptic properties of the various cell types found in the hippocampus. Here, ensemble activity, related to behavior, on the part of morphologically identified neurons in anesthetized and freely moving animals, lead to insights into the functions of hippocampal areas. In the second section, on computational analysis, computational neuroscientists present models of hippocampal microcircuits at various levels of detail, including single-celland network levels. A full chapter is devoted to the single-neuron and network simulation environments currently used by computational neuroscientists in developing their models.

In addition to the above, the chapters also identify outstanding questions and areas in need of further clarification that will guide future research by computational neuroscientists.

This book focuses on our current understanding of brain dynamics in various brain disorders (e.g. epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease) and how the multi-scale, multi-level tools of computational neuroscience can enhance this understanding.

In recent years, there have been significant advances in the study of the dynamics of the disordered brain at both the microscopic and the macroscopic levels. This understanding can be furthered by the application of multi-scale computational models as integrative principles that may link single neuron dynamics and the dynamics of local and distant brain regions observed using human EEG, ERPs, MEG, LFPs and fMRI.

Focusing on the computational models that are used to study movement, memory and cognitive disorders as well as epilepsy and consciousness related diseases, the book brings together physiologists and anatomists investigating cortical circuits; cognitive neuroscientists studying brain dynamics and behaviorby means of EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); and computational neuroscientists using neural modeling techniques to explore local and large-scale disordered brain dynamics.

Covering topics that have a significant impact on the field of medicine, neuroscience and computer science, the book appeals to a diverse group of investigators.