This volume includes papers presented at the Sixth Annual Computational Neurosci ence meeting (CNS*97) held in Big Sky, Montana, July 6-10, 1997. This collection includes 103 of the 196 papers presented at the meeting. Acceptance for meeting presentation was based on the peer review of preliminary papers originally submitted in January of 1997. The papers in this volume represent final versions of this work submitted in January of 1998. Taken together they provide a cross section of computational neuroscience and represent well the continued vitality and growth of this field. The meeting in Montana was unusual in several respects. First, to our knowledge it was the first international scientific meeting with opening ceremonies on horseback. Second, after five days of rigorous scientific discussion and debate, meeting participants were able to resolve all remaining conflicts in barrel race competitions. Otherwise the magnificence of Montana and the Big Sky Ski Resort assured that the meeting will not soon be forgotten. Scientifically, this volume once again represents the remarkable breadth of subjects that can be approached with computational tools. This volume and the continuing CNS meet ings make it clear that there is almost no subject or area of modem neuroscience research that is not appropriate for computational studies.

This book is the fourth in a series based on conferences sponsored by the Metroplex Institute for Neural Dynamics (MIND), an interdisciplinary organization of Dallas-Fort Worth area neural network professionals in both academia and industry. This topic was chosen as the focus for this special issue because of the increasing interest by neuroscientists and psychologists in both rhythmic and chaotic activity patterns observed in the nervous system. Neither the mathematical structure of neural oscillations nor their functional significance is precisely understood. There are a great many open problems in both the structure and function of neural oscillations, whether rhythmic, chaotic, or a combination of the two, and many of these problems are dealt with in the chapters of this book.

Volume 11 examines the many methodologies that researchers use to investigate the barrel cortex.

This book reviews recent progress in cortical development research, focusing on the mechanisms of neural stem cell regulation, neuronal diversity and connectivity formation, and neocortical organization. Development of the cerebral cortex, the center for higher brain functions such as cognition, memory, and decision making, is one of the major targets of current research. The cerebral cortex is divided into many areas, including motor, sensory, and visual cortices, each of which consists of six layers containing a variety of neurons with different activities and connections. As this book explains, such diversity in neuronal types and connections is generated at various levels. First, neural stem cells change their competency over time, giving sequential rise to distinct types of neurons and glial cells: initially deep layer neurons, then superficial layer neurons, and lastly astrocytes. The activities and connections of neurons are further modulated via interactions with other brain regions, such as the thalamocortical circuit, and via input from the environment. This book on cortical development is essential reading for students, postdocs, and neurobiologists.

This third edition of the standard reference on the nervous system of the rat is a complete and updated revision of the 1994 second edition. All chapters have been extensively updated, and new chapters added covering early segmentation, growth factors, and glia. The book is now aligned with the data available in the Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates, making it an excellent companion to this bestselling atlas. Physiological data, functional concepts, and correlates to human anatomy and function round out the new edition. - Designed to be used in conjunction with the bestselling Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates - New to this edition is inclusion of physiological data, functional concepts, and correlates to human anatomy and function in each chapter - Contains new chapters on early segmentation of the central nervous system, growth factors and glia

The extremely labile nature of the nervous system has proved an intriguing area of research for over thirty years. From the earliest stages of neuronal growth during development, both the morphology and strength of neuronal connections within the central nervous system are shaped and modified by experience. While connections between neurons that are continually stimulated are strengthened, redundant connections weaken and are eventually lost. The Mutable Brain provides a comprehensive introduction to plasticity of the brain and neural circuits whilst covering the history of neurological research, from early work on the developing visual system, right through to current state-of-the-art molecular techniques. Authored by leading researchers in the field, it address a range of research areas, including ongoing research on the behavioural significance of hippocampal plasticity, the mediation of avian vocal learning by neural plasticity and the dynamicity of the somatosensory system with its multi-hierarchical interactions. Together, these chapters provide a broad, introductory overview of current views on neuronal plasticity.

The barrel area is a unique specialization of the cerebral cortex, shared by many species of rodents and some marsupials, in which the somatotopic map of the body surface receives direct morphological expression. Here, the homogeneous sheet of layer IV granule cells seen in most mammals is fractured into large archipelagos, each representing one of the larger subdivisions of the contra lateral half-body. Within these larger domains are smaller aggregates of granule cells that contain the concentrated terminations of thalamocortical fibers bear ing messages emanating from constellations of receptors located in finer subdi visions of a body part. These smaller aggregates are particularly well-defined in the representation of the face, where they form a one-to-one representation of the sinus hairs or vibrissae and where they have been given the name barrels. The first inklings of the unique structure of the parietal cortex of rodents came in the study of Droogleever-Fortuyn (1914), who remarked on the pres ence in it of clouds of granule cells 0. 5-1 mm in diameter, which he thought were in some way associated with concentrations of nerve fibers. Little attention, however, was paid to his observations. Lorente de N 6 (1922) later observed dense focal concentrations of afferent fiber ramifications in Golgi preparations of the mouse cortex, calling them glomeruli, and these can now be seen as the structures that form the hearts of the barrels and around which the granule cells concentrate.

Using the most well-studied behavioral analyses of animal subjects to promote a better understanding of the effects of disease and the effects of new therapeutic treatments on human cognition, Methods of Behavior Analysis in Neuroscience provides a reference manual for molecular and cellular research scientists in both academia and the pharmaceutic