Monographs of the Physiological Society – serie

This is the first book that attempts to bring together what is known about the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the development of the cortex in mammals. Ranging from the emergence of the forebrain from the neural plate to the functioning adult form, the authors draw on evidence from several species to provide a detailed description of processes at each stage. Where appropriate, evidence is extrapolated from non-mammalian species to generate hypotheses about mammalian development. In contrast to other texts of developmental biology, Mechanisms of Cortical Development integrates information on regulatory processes at the levels of molecules, cells and metworks. The authors draw together an extensive literature on cellular development and structural morphology, biochemical and genetic events and hypotheses that have been subject to mathematical modelling. Important metholdogies, such as transgenics and formal modelling, are explained for the non-specialist. Major future challenges are clearly identified. This is a unique contribution to the literature, combining the fundamentals of experimental developmental neurobiology with accessible neural modelling. It will be essential reading for neuroscientists in general as well as those with a particular interest in development.

This is an authoritative and comprehensive account of the regions of the brain which control the performance of skilled voluntary movements, especially the accurate and precise control of the use of the fingers and the hand by monkeys and humans. The significance of recent and clinical observations concerning the details of the cortico-cortical connections which contribute to the determination of these functions is discussed.

This book summarizes the most recent data on the molecular and cellular mechanisms which determine the unique properties of nerve cells - their ability to differentiate, establish connections to each other, and to form the nervous system with its immense capability for receiving, analysing, and storing information about our external and internal world. The key role of calcium ions in this process is particularly explored, along with nervous system function in aging and neural pathology. The author, based at a high-profile research unit in the Ukraine, is able to draw on significant new research which has not been widely published. Plasticity in nerve cell function will be of interest to researchers and research students in the fields of neurophysiology, cellular physiology, biophysics, and neurochemistry in particular. It will also be of relevance to researchers and medical doctors interested in neuropathology and aging.

The Motoneurone and its Muscle Fibres presents a state-of-the-art summary of knowledge concerning the motoneurones, vital for innervating and commanding skeletal muscles. No muscle action would be possible without motoneurones. These cells are therefore absolutely essential for the execution of normal behaviour and for life support. It is their degeneration that leads to various kinds of motoneurone disease (e.g. ALS) that are often ultimately lethal. However, the study of motoneurones is also important for general insights as to how neurones work, because the motoneurone is probably the best understood kind of nerve cell so far in neuroscience. Motoneurones of the spinal cord were the first type of central nerve cell to be subjected to detailed physiological measurements, and much is known about how their activity is regulated by synapses from other central neurones. For most of the individual neurones within the central nervous system, the precise functional tasks are difficult to define. However, for motoneurones much is now known about their short- and long-term interactions with their main targets, the skeletal muscle fibres. Functions of neurones must be analyzed in relation to the response properties of their target cells. Therefore, this book deals with both, summarizing classical as well as recent knowledge concerning the motoneurone and its muscle fibres. This is the first time that so many aspects of this broad subject matter are treated in one comprehensive monograph.

The book describes how changes in respiration can affect the heart and circulation, with particular reference to the control of the two systems by small organs, known as chemoreceptors, which are situated in the neck and chest. These are stimulated when the body is partly deprived of an oxygen supply. Apart from a detailed description of the mechanisms by which the respiratory and circulatory systems are integrated the book also contains chapters which would appeal to those interested in the historical, morphological, medico-legal and clinical aspects of the subject.

BL The first book devoted to human baroreflexes A comprehensive review of baroreflex involvement in human diseases, this book places the most recent understanding of human physiology solidly in the context of knowledge from animals. This book secures a place for human studies in the understanding of baroreflex physiology and pathophysiology and celebrates the advances made. By describing clearly the existing deficiencies in the understanding of baroreflex mechanisms, it points a way for future research in this exciting and important area of medical science. Nerve endings in the walls of the carotid sinuses and the aortic arch transduce arterial pressure changes and provide the central nervous system with a steady stream of encoded information. On the basis of this information, efferent autonomic neural activity is modulated finely, and the neurohumoral milieu of the heart and blood vessels is adjusted on a second-to-second basis. The arterial baroreflex may be the most important of the cardiovascular control mechanisms, because the baroreflex, above all other reflex mechanisms is the one whose speed is most adequate to respond rapidly to the abrupt transients of arterial pressure that occur in daily life.This book will help to fix a place for human studies in the understanding of baroreflex physiology and pathophysiology. It is intended as a celebration of the advances that have been made and, by describing clearly the existing deficiencies in the understanding of baroreflex mechanisms, it points a way for future research in this exciting and important area of medical science.

A lucid and comprehensive review of developments made in the understanding of cellular activation phenomena in striated muscle. Basic physical, mathematical, and physiological principles are covered to a more coherent level than currently available in published literature. The book consistently draws correlations both with cellular and molecular biological information and their physiological consequences and significance. Accessible both as a survey of basic concepts and as an authorative review of recent work in the field.The book succeeds in explaining complex biophysics in such a way that the non-expert reader obtains insights into the molecular mechanisms of muscle activation and their control mechanisms as well as providing the expert with the detailed mathematical and experimental evidence.

During sleep, the mammalian brain generates an orderly progression of low frequency oscillations as the brain moves from sleep onset into deep sleep. This book explores the underlying neural mechanisms involved in generating these oscillations through interacting neural assemblies in the thalamus and the cortex. Sleep spindles are involved in the consolidation of experiences in long-term memory during sleep.Written by two leading experts in the field, this book integrates the properties of ion channels, synaptic interactions, and intrinsic cellular mechanisms into biophysical models of neural oscillations in local circuits and distributed networks. In particular, the book focuses on sleep spindles and how they are highjacked by epileptic seizuresReissued in paperback after being unavailable for many years, this revised edition of Thalamocortical Assemblies includes updates to each chapter, highlighting developments since its first publication. The book will be valuable to neuroscientists, neurobiologists, physiologists and computational researchers interested in sleep and memory processes.

First printed in 1983, this book concerns the comparative physiological adaptations of vertebrate animals, especially mammals, to cessation of breathing. These adaptations were originally identified in species living in aquatic habitats. The argument is presented that the natural divers display a well-developed and conveniently studied example of a more general defence against asphyxia. The topics considered include the diving response, metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations, variations in resistance to asphyxia, neural control mechanisms, which govern the respiratory and circulatory responses, perinatal asphyxia, applications to the human species and medical implications. The book's purpose is to acquaint its readers with some advances resulting from research in this field.