Building Brains

Beschreibung

The development of a brain from its simple beginnings in the embryoto the extraordinarily complex fully-functional adult structure isa truly remarkable process. Understanding how it occurs remains aformidable challenge despite enormous advances over the lastcentury and current intense world-wide scientific research. Agreater knowledge of how nervous systems construct themselves willbring huge benefits for human health and future technologies.Unravelling the mechanisms that lead to the development of healthybrains should help scientists tackle currently incurable diseasesof the nervous system such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia(to name but a few), discover more about the processes that causethe uncontrolled growth associated with cancer and develop possibletreatments. Building Brains provides a highly visual andreadily accessible introduction to the main events that occurduring neural development and the mechanisms by which they occur.Aimed at undergraduate students and postgraduates new to the field,who may not have a background in neuroscience and/or moleculargenetics, it explains how cells in the early embryo first becomeneural, how their proliferation is controlled, what regulates thetypes of neural cells they become, how neurons connect to eachother, how these connections are later refined under the influenceof neural activity including that arising from experience, and whysome neurons normally die. Key Features: * A concise illustrated guide focusing on the core elements ofcurrent understanding of neural development, emphasising commonprinciples underlying developmental mechanisms and supplemented bysuggestions for further reading. * Text boxes throughout provide further detail on selected majoradvances, issues of particular uncertainty or controversy andexamples of human diseases that result from abnormaldevelopment. * A balanced mammalian/non-mammalian perspective, drawing onexamples from model organisms including the fruit fly, nematodeworm, frog, zebrafish, chick, mouse, ferret, cat, monkey and human,and emphasising mechanisms that are conserved across species. * Introduces the methods for studying neural developmentincluding genetics, transgenic technologies, advanced microscopyand computational modeling, allowing the reader to understand themain evidence underlying research advances. * Student-friendly, full colour artwork reinforces importantconcepts; an extensive glossary and definitions in page marginshelp readers from different backgrounds; chapter summaries stressimportant points and aid revision. * Associated Website includes a complete set of figures from thetextbook.

Autor*in

David Price

Themen in »Building Brains«

Animal Development Biowissenschaften Life Sciences Medical Science Medizin Neurologie Neurology Neuroscience Neurowissenschaften Zoologie / Individualentwicklung

Stimmen zu »Building Brains«

"This book is both well written and illustrated ... For clinicians,this book would be of interest to those who treat patients withdisorders of Neural Development. In particular pediatricneurologists, developmental paediatricians and geneticists wouldappreciate this book." (Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences,1 January 2012) "Overall, a student-friendly guide for those new to the field ofneural development. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-divisionundergraduates and graduate students." (Choice, 1 December2011) "Building Brains, on the other hand, is a good start tounderstanding what goes on during the complex process that takes usfrom a tiny, simple cell to the complexities of the brain." (LabTimes, 1 July 2011) "The main strength of Building Brains already becomes evident atthis point: it is a highly visual book, and the graphics are verywell thought through. In the introduction, each of the modelanimals is represented by a small black icon that re-occursthroughout the book whenever experimental evidence from that animalis presented. . . All in all, the book 'does exactly what itsays on the tin', providing an introduction to the subject, and aninspiring one at that." (J Physiol, 2011) "Another way the authors have made this text accessible is withthe layout and organisation. . .If were to come into the fieldagain, Building Brains would be well worth a read. I think theauthors have met the challenge of making neural developmentaccessible, whilst keeping it enjoyable too." (BNA Bulletin,2011) "For undergraduates, for more advanced students studyingmedicine or any subject requiring an understanding of the nervoussystem, and for students entering such a field without priorknowledge of neuroscience - here's an accessible, yet rigorous,abundantly illustrated text offering a multifaceted approach."(Book News, 1 August 2011) "With an extensive use of clear and colorful illustrations, thisbook makes accessible to undergraduates the beauty and complexityof neural development. The book fills a void in undergraduateneuroscience curricula, which would not be complete without anintroduction to the important topic of nervous systemdevelopment." --Mark F. Bear, Ph.D. Picower Professor of Neuroscience,Massachusetts Institute of Technology Investigator, Howard HughesMedical Institute "The book 'does exactly what it says on thetin', providing an introduction to the subject, and aninspiring one at that." --J Physiol 589 (17), 2011
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