The Bereitschaftspotential

Kornhuber and Deecke first recorded and reported the Bereitschaftspotential in 1964. The aim of this book is to bring together in a single volume some of the important research on the Bereitschaftspotential and other movement-related cortical potentials and to highlight and address some of the pertinent questions relating to the Bereitschaftspotential and to identify the key issues for future investigation in this field. This book represents a unique compilation of information about the Bereitschaftspotential and related cortical potentials and techniques for measuring preparatory processes in the brain. The book will be of interest to motor physiologists, psychologists and neurologists working in clinical or research laboratories.

Comprises the proceedings of a symposium held at the Ciba Foundation, London, February 1987. Addresses main issues and new techniques in the study of motor areas of the cerebral cortex in humans and animals. Reviews the historical development of the study of cortical structure and function, examines anatomical connections of motor areas, and surveys physiological studies of cortical areas in conscious primates. Also considers the effects of cortical lesions, and discusses clinical and experimental results on disorders of motor control.

The Oxford Handbook of Event-Related Potential Components provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of the major ERP components. It covers components related to multiple research domains, including perception, cognition, emotion, neurological and psychiatric disorders, and lifespan development.

In The Will and its Brain, Hans Helmut Kornhuber and Lüder Deecke present evidence that proves we can record activity from the human brain occurring prior to our volitional actions. They claim that we have free will, albeit not absolutely free, but realized in degrees of freedom.

How is free will possible in the light of the physical and chemical underpinnings of brain activity and recent neurobiological experiments? How can the emergence of complexity in hierarchical systems such as the brain, based at the lower levels in physical interactions, lead to something like genuine free will? The nature of our understanding of free will in the light of present-day neuroscience is becoming increasingly important because of remarkable discoveries on the topic being made by neuroscientists at the present time, on the one hand, and its crucial importance for the way we view ourselves as human beings, on the other. A key tool in understanding how free will may arise in this context is the idea of downward causation in complex systems, happening coterminously with bottom up causation, to form an integral whole. Top-down causation is usually neglected, and is therefore emphasized in the other part of the book’s title. The concept is explored in depth, as are the ethical and legal implications of our understanding of free will. This book arises out of a workshop held in California in April of 2007, which was chaired by Dr. Christof Koch. It was unusual in terms of the breadth of people involved: they included physicists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, philosophers, and theologians. This enabled the meeting, and hence the resulting book, to attain a rather broader perspective on the issue than is often attained at academic symposia. The book includes contributions by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, George F. R. Ellis , Christopher D. Frith, Mark Hallett, David Hodgson, Owen D. Jones, Alicia Juarrero, J. A. Scott Kelso, Christof Koch, Hans Küng, Hakwan C. Lau, Dean Mobbs, Nancey Murphy, William Newsome, Timothy O’Connor, Sean A.. Spence, and Evan Thompson.

No other neurological condition allows the same opportunities for an intracranial electrophysiological study of the human brain as epilepsy does. Epileptic surgery is designed to remove the epileptic focus from the human brain, thereby effecting either cure or substantial reduction of seizures in an individual with an otherwise intractable condition. Its use as a treatment modality dates from the late 19th century, and it has become a widely used treatment option throughout the world in the last 20-30 years. The complexity of epilepsy cases in surgical centres, and the need for invasive electrode studies for pre-surgical evaluation, are both greatly increasing. Invasive Studies of the Human Epileptic Brain is the definitive reference text on the use of invasive electroencephalographic (EEG) diagnostic studies in human epilepsy. Written by some of the most renowned epilepsy experts of the 20th and 21st centuries, the authors provide their expertise and insights into the identification and mapping of intracranial epileptiform and non-epileptiform activity, mapping of the human brain function, and approaches in the use of invasive electroencephalography in a variety of clinical situations. The book is organized into an easily readable series of chapters and is brilliantly illustrated with case studies; each providing an intuitively comprehensive approach to invasive brain studies.

The issue of the relationship between cognition and motor processes can be - and has been - raised at different levels of analysis. At the neurophysiological level it refers to the interactions between afferent and efferent information. At the neurological and neuropsychological level it relates to the mutual dependencies between the sensory and the motor part of the brain, or, more precisely, between sensory and motor functions of various parts of the brain. In psychology, the issue under debate concerns, at a molecular level, the relationship between percep tion and movement or, at a more molar level, the relations between cognition and action. For the title of this book we deliberately decided to combine two terms that are taken from two of these levels ,in order to emphasize both the multilevel structure of the issues involved and the multidis ciplinary nature of the following contributions. Although the term "cognition" has been tremendously misused in recent years (at least in psychology), it is still the only term available to serve as a convenient collective name for all sorts of cognitive processes and functions.

A collection of the best science and nature writing published in North America in 2019, guest edited by New York Times best-selling author and ground-breaking physicist Dr. Michio Kaku. "Scientists and science writers have a monumental task: making science exciting and relevant to the average person, so that they care," writes renowned American physicist Michio Kaku. "If we fail in this endeavor, then we must face dire consequences." From the startlingly human abilities of AI, to the devastating accounts of California's forest fires, to the impending traffic jam on the moon, the selections in this year's Best American Science and Nature Writing explore the latest mysteries and marvels occurring in our labs and in nature. These gripping narratives masterfully translate the work of today's brightest scientists, offering a clearer view of our world and making us care. THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE AND NATURE WRITING 2020 INCLUDES RIVKA GALCHEN - ADAM GOPNIK - FERRIS JABR - JOSHUA SOKOL - MELINDA WENNER MOYER - SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE - NATALIE WOLCHOVER and others