The Neocortex

Experts review the latest research on the neocortex and consider potential directions for future research. Over the past decade, technological advances have dramatically increased information on the structural and functional organization of the brain, especially the cerebral cortex. This explosion of data has radically expanded our ability to characterize neural circuits and intervene at increasingly higher resolutions, but it is unclear how this has informed our understanding of underlying mechanisms and processes. In search of a conceptual framework to guide future research, leading researchers address in this volume the evolution and ontogenetic development of cortical structures, the cortical connectome, and functional properties of neuronal circuits and populations. They explore what constitutes “uniquely human” mental capacities and whether neural solutions and computations can be shared across species or repurposed for potentially uniquely human capacities. Contributors Danielle S. Bassett, Randy M. Bruno, Elizabeth A. Buffalo, Michael E. Coulter, Hermann Cuntz, Stanislas Dehaene, James J. DiCarlo, Pascal Fries, Karl J. Friston, Asif A. Ghazanfar, Anne-Lise Giraud, Joshua I. Gold, Scott T. Grafton, Jennifer M. Groh, Elizabeth A. Grove, Saskia Haegens, Kenneth D. Harris, Kristen M. Harris, Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos, Tarik F. Haydar, Takao K. Hensch, Wieland B. Huttner, Matthias Kaschube, Gilles Laurent, David A. Leopold, Johannes Leugering, Belen Lorente-Galdos, Jason N. MacLean, David A. McCormick, Lucia Melloni, Anish Mitra, Zoltán Molnár, Sydney K. Muchnik, Pascal Nieters, Marcel Oberlaender, Bijan Pesaran, Christopher I. Petkov, Gordon Pipa, David Poeppel, Marcus E. Raichle, Pasko Rakic, John H. Reynolds, Ryan V. Raut, John L. Rubenstein, Andrew B. Schwartz, Terrence J. Sejnowski, Nenad Sestan, Debra L. Silver, Wolf Singer, Peter L. Strick, Michael P. Stryker, Mriganka Sur, Mary Elizabeth Sutherland, Maria Antonietta Tosches, William A. Tyler, Martin Vinck, Christopher A. Walsh, Perry Zurn

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 planning of this Study Week at the Pontifical Academy of Science from September 28 to October 4, 1964, began just two years before when the President, Professor Lemaitre, asked me if 1 would be responsible for a Study Week relating Psychology to what we may call the Neurosciences. 1 accepted this responsibility on the understanding that 1 could have as sistance from two colleagues in the Academy, Professors Heymans and Chagas. Besides participating in the Study Week they gave me much needed assistance and advice in the arduous and, at times, perplexing task that 1 had undertaken, and 1 gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to them. Though there have been in recent years many symposia concerned with the so-called higher functions of the brain, for example with percep tion, learning and conditioning, and with the processing of information in the brain, there has to my knowledge been no symposium specifically with brain functions and consciousness since the memorable treating Laurentian Conference of 1953, which was later published in 1954 as the book, "Brain Mechanisms and Consciousness.

This monumental work creates a new subdiscipline: perceptual neuroscience. Mountcastle gathers information from a vast number of sources reaching back through two centuries, from phylogenetic, comparative, and neuroanatomical studies of the neocortex to rhythmicity and synchronization in neocortical networks and inquiries into the binding problem.

How could a structure as complex as the vertebrate brain develop from the simplest multicellular animals? Natural selection offers an impeccable mechanism for the gradual transformation of species, but even Darwin sometimes expressed doubts about the origin of highly complex structures. Following an approach that has been termed "developmental evolutionary genetics," this book seeks to establish a correspondence between embryological processes and the phylogenetic history of an organism.

Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in Alagna, Italy, August 26-31, 1989

This book provides insights into the principles of operation of the cerebral cortex. These principles are key to understanding how we, as humans, function. The book includes Appendices on the operation of many of the neuronal networks described in the book, together with simulation software written in Matlab.

David Courtnay Marr was born on January 19, 1945 in Essex, England. He went to the English public school, Rugby, on scholarship and between 1963 and 1966 studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge University where he obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees. Rather than pursue a Ph. D. in math ematics he preferred to switch to neurophysiology under Giles Brindley. His education involved training in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Marr's Ph. D. work resulted in a theory of the cerebel lar cortex, the essence of which became "A Theory of the Cerebellar Cortex," reproduced in Chapter 1 of this volume with a commentary by Thomas Thach. He wrote a short paper subsequently with Stephen Blomfield, "How the Cere bellum May Be Used," (Chapter 2 in this volume with commentary by Jack Cowan). After obtaining his Ph. D., David Marr accepted an appointment to the scientific staff of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge in the division of Cell Biology under Sydney Brenner and Francis Crick. Two other major studies, "Simple Memory: A Theory of the Archicortex" (Chapter 3 in this volume, commented on by Bruce McNaughton and David Willshaw) and "A Theory for Cerebral Neocortex" (Chapter 4 in this volume and commented on by Jack Cowan) followed the cerebellum study.