Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Telencephalon, with Special Reference to the Mammalian Neocortex

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3540497609
Total Pages : 124 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Telencephalon, with Special Reference to the Mammalian Neocortex by : Francisco Aboitiz

Download or read book Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Telencephalon, with Special Reference to the Mammalian Neocortex written by Francisco Aboitiz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-05-24 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Telencephalon, with Special Reference to the Mammalian Neocortex

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3540497617
Total Pages : 121 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Telencephalon, with Special Reference to the Mammalian Neocortex by : Francisco Aboitiz

Download or read book Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Telencephalon, with Special Reference to the Mammalian Neocortex written by Francisco Aboitiz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-06-20 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Micro-, Meso- and Macro-Dynamics of the Brain

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319288024
Total Pages : 181 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (192 download)

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Book Synopsis Micro-, Meso- and Macro-Dynamics of the Brain by : György Buzsáki

Download or read book Micro-, Meso- and Macro-Dynamics of the Brain written by György Buzsáki and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-05-02 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together leading investigators who represent various aspects of brain dynamics with the goal of presenting state-of-the-art current progress and address future developments. The individual chapters cover several fascinating facets of contemporary neuroscience from elementary computation of neurons, mesoscopic network oscillations, internally generated assembly sequences in the service of cognition, large-scale neuronal interactions within and across systems, the impact of sleep on cognition, memory, motor-sensory integration, spatial navigation, large-scale computation and consciousness. Each of these topics require appropriate levels of analyses with sufficiently high temporal and spatial resolution of neuronal activity in both local and global networks, supplemented by models and theories to explain how different levels of brain dynamics interact with each other and how the failure of such interactions results in neurologic and mental disease. While such complex questions cannot be answered exhaustively by a dozen or so chapters, this volume offers a nice synthesis of current thinking and work-in-progress on micro-, meso- and macro- dynamics of the brain.

From Ecology to Brain Development: Bridging Separate Evolutionary Paradigms

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Author :
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
ISBN 13 : 2889455572
Total Pages : 133 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (894 download)

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Book Synopsis From Ecology to Brain Development: Bridging Separate Evolutionary Paradigms by : Francisco Aboitiz

Download or read book From Ecology to Brain Development: Bridging Separate Evolutionary Paradigms written by Francisco Aboitiz and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2018-09-14 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nervous system is the product of biological evolution and is shaped by the interplay between extrinsic factors determining the ecology of animals, and by intrinsic processes that dictate the developmental rules that give rise to adult functional structures. This special topic is oriented to develop an integrative view from behavior and ecology to neurodevelopmental processes. We address questions such as how do sensory systems evolve according to ecological conditions? How do neural networks organize to generate adaptive behavior? How does cognition and brain connectivity evolve? What are the developmental mechanisms that give rise to functional adaptation? Accordingly, the book is divided in three sections, (i) Evolution of sensorimotor systems; (ii) Cognitive computations and neural circuits, and (iii) Development and brain evolution. We hope that this initiative will support an interdisciplinary program that addresses the nervous system as a unified organ, subject to both functional and developmental constraints, where the final outcome results of a compromise between different parameters rather than being the result of several single variables acting independently of each other.

Brains Through Time

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195125681
Total Pages : 541 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis Brains Through Time by : Georg F. Striedter

Download or read book Brains Through Time written by Georg F. Striedter and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Much is conserved in vertebrate evolution, but significant changes in the nervous system occurred at the origin of vertebrates and in most of the major vertebrate lineages. This book examines these innovations and relates them to evolutionary changes in other organ systems, animal behavior, and ecological conditions at the time. The resulting perspective clarifies what makes the major vertebrate lineages unique and helps explain their varying degrees of ecological success. One of the book's major conclusions is that vertebrate nervous systems are more diverse than commonly assumed, at least among neurobiologists. Examples of important innovations include not only the emergence of novel brain regions, such as the cerebellum and neocortex, but also major changes in neuronal circuitry and functional organization. A second major conclusion is that many of the apparent similarities in vertebrate nervous systems resulted from convergent evolution, rather than inheritance from a common ancestor. For example, brain size and complexity increased numerous times, in many vertebrate lineages. In conjunction with these changes, olfactory inputs to the telencephalic pallium were reduced in several different lineages, and this reduction was associated with the emergence of pallial regions that process non-olfactory sensory inputs. These conclusions cast doubt on the widely held assumption that all vertebrate nervous systems are built according to a single, common plan. Instead, the book encourages readers to view both species similarities and differences as fundamental to a comprehensive understanding of nervous systems. Evolution; Phylogeny; Neuroscience; Neurobiology; Neuroanatomy; Functional Morphology; Paleoecology; Homology; Endocast; Brain"--

Evolution of the Primate Brain

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0444538674
Total Pages : 496 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (445 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution of the Primate Brain by :

Download or read book Evolution of the Primate Brain written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of Progress in Brain Research provides a synthetic source of information about state-of-the-art research that has important implications for the evolution of the brain and cognition in primates, including humans. This topic requires input from a variety of fields that are developing at an unprecedented pace: genetics, developmental neurobiology, comparative and functional neuroanatomy (at gross and microanatomical levels), quantitative neurobiology related to scaling factors that constrain brain organization and evolution, primate palaeontology (including paleoneurology), paleo-anthropology, comparative psychology, and behavioural evolutionary biology. Written by internationally-renowned scientists, this timely volume will be of wide interest to students, scholars, science journalists, and a variety of experts who are interested in keeping track of the discoveries that are rapidly emerging about the evolution of the brain and cognition. Written by internationally renowned scientists, this timely volume will be of wide interest to students, scholars, science journalists, and a variety of experts who are interested in keeping track of the discoveries that are rapidly emerging about the evolution of the brain and cognition

The Ancient Origins of Consciousness

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262034336
Total Pages : 387 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ancient Origins of Consciousness by : Todd E. Feinberg

Download or read book The Ancient Origins of Consciousness written by Todd E. Feinberg and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2016-03-25 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly assumed, and why all vertebrates and perhaps even some invertebrates are conscious. How is consciousness created? When did it first appear on Earth, and how did it evolve? What constitutes consciousness, and which animals can be said to be sentient? In this book, Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt draw on recent scientific findings to answer these questions—and to tackle the most fundamental question about the nature of consciousness: how does the material brain create subjective experience? After assembling a list of the biological and neurobiological features that seem responsible for consciousness, and considering the fossil record of evolution, Feinberg and Mallatt argue that consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly assumed. About 520 to 560 million years ago, they explain, the great “Cambrian explosion” of animal diversity produced the first complex brains, which were accompanied by the first appearance of consciousness; simple reflexive behaviors evolved into a unified inner world of subjective experiences. From this they deduce that all vertebrates are and have always been conscious—not just humans and other mammals, but also every fish, reptile, amphibian, and bird. Considering invertebrates, they find that arthropods (including insects and probably crustaceans) and cephalopods (including the octopus) meet many of the criteria for consciousness. The obvious and conventional wisdom–shattering implication is that consciousness evolved simultaneously but independently in the first vertebrates and possibly arthropods more than half a billion years ago. Combining evolutionary, neurobiological, and philosophical approaches allows Feinberg and Mallatt to offer an original solution to the “hard problem” of consciousness.

Religious Beliefs, Evolutionary Psychiatry, and Mental Health in America

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319524887
Total Pages : 341 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (195 download)

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Book Synopsis Religious Beliefs, Evolutionary Psychiatry, and Mental Health in America by : Kevin J. Flannelly

Download or read book Religious Beliefs, Evolutionary Psychiatry, and Mental Health in America written by Kevin J. Flannelly and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-04-08 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a new perspective on the association between religious beliefs and mental health. The book is divided into five parts, the first of which traces the development of theories of organic evolution in the cultural and religious context before Charles Darwin. Part II describes the major evolutionary theories that Darwin proposed in his three books on evolution, and the religious, sociological, and scientific reactions to his theories. Part III introduces the reader to the concept of evolutionary psychiatry. It discusses how different regions of the brain evolved over time, and explains that certain brain regions evolved to protect us from danger by assessing threats of harm in the environment, including other humans. Specifically, this part describes: how psychiatric symptoms that are commonly experienced by normal individuals during their everyday lives are the product of brain mechanisms that evolved to protect us from harm; the prevalence rate of psychiatric symptoms in the U.S. general population; how religious and other beliefs influence the brain mechanisms that underlie psychiatric symptoms; and the brain regions that are involved in different psychiatric disorders. Part IV presents the findings of U.S. studies demonstrating that positive beliefs about God and life-after-death, and belief in meaning-in-life and divine forgiveness have salutary associations with mental health, whereas negative beliefs about God and life-after-death, belief in the Devil and human evil, and doubts about one’s religious beliefs have pernicious associations with mental health. The last part of the book summarizes each section and recommends research on the brain mechanism underlying psychiatric symptoms, and the relationships among these brain mechanisms, religious beliefs, and mental health in the context of ETAS Theory.

A Brain for Speech

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1137540605
Total Pages : 505 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (375 download)

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Book Synopsis A Brain for Speech by : Francisco Aboitiz

Download or read book A Brain for Speech written by Francisco Aboitiz and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses evolution of the human brain, the origin of speech and language. It covers past and present perspectives on the contentious issue of the acquisition of the language capacity. Divided into two parts, this insightful work covers several characteristics of the human brain including the language-specific network, the size of the human brain, its lateralization of functions and interhemispheric integration, in particular the phonological loop. Aboitiz argues that it is the phonological loop that allowed us to increase our vocal memory capacity and to generate a shared semantic space that gave rise to modern language. The second part examines the neuroanatomy of the monkey brain, vocal learning birds like parrots, emergent evidence of vocal learning capacities in mammals, mirror neurons, and the ecological and social context in which speech evolved in our early ancestors. This book's interdisciplinary topic will appeal to scholars of psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, biology and history.

Towards a New Neuromorphology

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319256939
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (192 download)

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Book Synopsis Towards a New Neuromorphology by : Rudolf Nieuwenhuys

Download or read book Towards a New Neuromorphology written by Rudolf Nieuwenhuys and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-28 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book demonstrates that the systematic study of gene expression patterns in embryonic and adult brains, in combination with selected data from earlier studies, can pave the way for a new neuromorphology, the most salient features of which may be summarized as follows: (1) Causal analysis of molecular patterning at neural plate and early neural tube stages has shown that the CNS is essentially organized into transverse neural segments or neuromeres and longitudinal zones which follow the curved axis of the brain. (2) The FMUs initially represent thin neuroepithelial fields; in the course of further development they are transformed into three-dimensional radial units, extending from the ventricular surface to the meningeal surface of the brain. (3) The principal histogenetic processes, including cellular proliferation, cell migration and differentiation, essentially take place within the confines of these radial units, controlled by characteristic sets of developmental regulatory genes. (4) Although most developing neurons migrate radially and settle within their own FMU, at many locations neuroblasts leave the FMU where they were produced and migrate tangentially to other nearby or remote territories, colonizing parts of foreign FMUs. (5) Many structural complexes in the adult brain, including the cerebral and cerebellar cortices, are the products of radial and tangential intermingling of migrated cell contingents. (6) By using appropriate molecular markers, all neuron types in the adult CNS can be traced back to a specific progenitor zone within a specific FMU, and the progeny of any FMU can be traced to their final positions with the help of selective labeling approaches. (7) Early outgrowing axons form bundles, which tend to pass close to the border zones of the radial units. By means of their molecularly diversely tuned growth cones, these extending axons decide how to behave at each boundary they encounter, sometimes even reorienting at right angles. Collectively these early axonal bundles form a checkerboard-like scaffold, which accentuates the molecular regionalization of the CNS and leads to the formation of topographically ordered synaptic fields. The book covers all of these aspects in detail, providing a morphologic model (blueprint) that highlights the natural coordinates of CNS structure resulting from the conserved molecularly controlled shaping phenomena within morphogenetic fields.

Biophysics of Consciousness

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Author :
Publisher : World Scientific
ISBN 13 : 9814644277
Total Pages : 664 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (146 download)

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Book Synopsis Biophysics of Consciousness by : Roman R Poznanski

Download or read book Biophysics of Consciousness written by Roman R Poznanski and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problem of how the brain produces consciousness, subjectivity and "something it is like to be" remains one of the greatest challenges to a complete science of the natural world. While various scientists and philosophers approach the problem from their own unique perspectives and in the terms of their own respective fields, Biophysics of Consciousness: A Foundational Approach attempts a consilience across disparate disciplines to explain how it is possible that an objective brain produces subjective experience. This volume unites the crème de la crème of physicists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists in the attempt to understand consciousness through a foundational approach encompassing ontological, evolutionary, neurobiological, and Freudian interpretations with the focus on conscious phenomena occurring in the brain. By integrating the perspectives of these diverse disciplines with the latest research and theories on the biophysics of the brain, the book tries to explain how consciousness can be an adaptive and causal element in the natural world.

Neurobiology of Monotremes

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Author :
Publisher : CSIRO PUBLISHING
ISBN 13 : 0643103155
Total Pages : 537 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (431 download)

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Book Synopsis Neurobiology of Monotremes by : Ken Ashwell

Download or read book Neurobiology of Monotremes written by Ken Ashwell and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details the development, structure, function and behavioural ecology of the monotremes.

Experimental models of early exposure to alcohol: a way to unravel the neurobiology of mental retardation

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Author :
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
ISBN 13 : 2889194728
Total Pages : 105 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (891 download)

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Book Synopsis Experimental models of early exposure to alcohol: a way to unravel the neurobiology of mental retardation by : Alberto Granato

Download or read book Experimental models of early exposure to alcohol: a way to unravel the neurobiology of mental retardation written by Alberto Granato and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2015-01-27 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excessive alcohol drinking represents a major social and public health problem for several countries. Alcohol abuse during pregnancy leads to a complex syndrome referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), chiefly characterized by mental retardation. The effects of early exposure to ethanol can be reproduced in laboratory animals and this helped to answer several key questions concerning the human pathology. The interest of experimental models of FASD is twofold. First, they increase our knowledge about the dose and modality of alcohol consumption able to induce damaging effects on the developing brain. Second, experimental models of FASD can provide useful hints to elucidate the basic mechanisms leading to the intellectual disability. In fact, experimental exposure to alcohol can be carried out during discrete, often very restricted, time windows. As a consequence, FASD models, though depending on the multifaceted interference of alcohol with several molecular pathways, can provide valuable information about which specific developmental periods and brain areas are critically involved in the genesis of mental retardation. Putting together data obtained through several experimental paradigms of alcohol exposure and those deriving from other genetic and non-genetic models, one can figure out to what extent different types of mental retardation share common pathogenetic mechanisms. The present Research Topic is aimed at establishing the state of the art of the current research on experimental FASD, focusing on differences and homologies with other types of intellectual disability. The ultimate goal is to find out a common roadmap in view of future therapeutical approaches.

Comprehensive Developmental Neuroscience: Cellular Migration and Formation of Neuronal Connections

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Author :
Publisher : Elsevier Inc. Chapters
ISBN 13 : 0128062983
Total Pages : 1080 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (28 download)

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Book Synopsis Comprehensive Developmental Neuroscience: Cellular Migration and Formation of Neuronal Connections by : H.J. Luhmann

Download or read book Comprehensive Developmental Neuroscience: Cellular Migration and Formation of Neuronal Connections written by H.J. Luhmann and published by Elsevier Inc. Chapters. This book was released on 2013-05-06 with total page 1080 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward

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Author :
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 142006729X
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward by : Jay A. Gottfried

Download or read book Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward written by Jay A. Gottfried and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2011-03-28 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Synthesizing coverage of sensation and reward into a comprehensive systems overview, Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward presents a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary approach to the interplay of sensory and reward processing in the brain. While over the past 70 years these areas have drifted apart, this book makes a case for reuniting sensation and reward by highlighting the important links and interface between the two. Emphasizing the role of reward in reinforcing behaviors, the book begins with an exploration of the history, ecology, and evolution of sensation and reward. Progressing through the five senses, contributors explore how the brain extracts information from sensory cues. The chapter authors examine how different animal species predict rewards, thereby integrating sensation and reward in learning, focusing on effects in anatomy, physiology, and behavior. Drawing on empirical research, contributors build on the themes of the book to present insights into the human sensory rewards of perfume, art, and music, setting the scene for further cross-disciplinary collaborations that bridge the neurobiological interface between sensation and reward.

Evolution of Nervous Systems

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Author :
Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 0128040963
Total Pages : 2064 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (28 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution of Nervous Systems by : Georg F. Striedter

Download or read book Evolution of Nervous Systems written by Georg F. Striedter and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2016-11-23 with total page 2064 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolution of Nervous Systems, Second Edition, Four Volume Set is a unique, major reference which offers the gold standard for those interested both in evolution and nervous systems. All biology only makes sense when seen in the light of evolution, and this is especially true for the nervous system. All animals have nervous systems that mediate their behaviors, many of them species specific, yet these nervous systems all evolved from the simple nervous system of a common ancestor. To understand these nervous systems, we need to know how they vary and how this variation emerged in evolution. In the first edition of this important reference work, over 100 distinguished neuroscientists assembled the current state-of-the-art knowledge on how nervous systems have evolved throughout the animal kingdom. This second edition remains rich in detail and broad in scope, outlining the changes in brain and nervous system organization that occurred from the first invertebrates and vertebrates, to present day fishes, reptiles, birds, mammals, and especially primates, including humans. The book also includes wholly new content, fully updating the chapters in the previous edition and offering brand new content on current developments in the field. Each of the volumes has been carefully restructured to offer expanded coverage of non-mammalian taxa, mammals, primates, and the human nervous system. The basic principles of brain evolution are discussed, as are mechanisms of change. The reader can select from chapters on highly specific topics or those that provide an overview of current thinking and approaches, making this an indispensable work for students and researchers alike. Presents a broad range of topics, ranging from genetic control of development in invertebrates, to human cognition, offering a one-stop resource for the evolution of nervous systems throughout the animal kingdom Incorporates the expertise of over 100 outstanding investigators who provide their conclusions in the context of the latest experimental results Presents areas of disagreement and consensus views that provide a holistic view of the subjects under discussion

The Ancient Origins of Consciousness

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262333279
Total Pages : 387 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ancient Origins of Consciousness by : Todd E. Feinberg

Download or read book The Ancient Origins of Consciousness written by Todd E. Feinberg and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2016-03-25 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly assumed, and why all vertebrates and perhaps even some invertebrates are conscious. How is consciousness created? When did it first appear on Earth, and how did it evolve? What constitutes consciousness, and which animals can be said to be sentient? In this book, Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt draw on recent scientific findings to answer these questions—and to tackle the most fundamental question about the nature of consciousness: how does the material brain create subjective experience? After assembling a list of the biological and neurobiological features that seem responsible for consciousness, and considering the fossil record of evolution, Feinberg and Mallatt argue that consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly assumed. About 520 to 560 million years ago, they explain, the great “Cambrian explosion” of animal diversity produced the first complex brains, which were accompanied by the first appearance of consciousness; simple reflexive behaviors evolved into a unified inner world of subjective experiences. From this they deduce that all vertebrates are and have always been conscious—not just humans and other mammals, but also every fish, reptile, amphibian, and bird. Considering invertebrates, they find that arthropods (including insects and probably crustaceans) and cephalopods (including the octopus) meet many of the criteria for consciousness. The obvious and conventional wisdom–shattering implication is that consciousness evolved simultaneously but independently in the first vertebrates and possibly arthropods more than half a billion years ago. Combining evolutionary, neurobiological, and philosophical approaches allows Feinberg and Mallatt to offer an original solution to the “hard problem” of consciousness.