As one of the first cortical areas to be explored experimentally, the motor cortex continues to be the focus of intense research. Motor Cortex in Voluntary Movements: A Distributed System for Distributed Functions presents developments in motor cortex research, making it possible to understand and interpret neural activity and use it to recons

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 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."

In The Intelligent Movement Machine: An Ethological Perspective on the Primate Motor System, Michael Graziano offers a fundamentally new theory of motor cortex organization: the rendering of the movement repertoire onto the cortex. The action repertoire of an animal is highly dimensional, whereas the cortical sheet is two-dimensional. Rendering the action space onto the cortex therefore results in a complex pattern, explaining the otherwise inexplicable details of the motor cortex organization. This clearly written book book includes a complete history of motor cortex research from its discovery to the present, a discussion of the major issues in motor cortex research, and an account of recent experiments that led to Graziano's "action map" view. Though focused on the motor cortex, the book includes a range of topics from an explanation of how primates put food in their mouths, to the origins of social beahvior such as smiling and laughing, to the mysterious link between movement disorders and autism. This book is written for a general audience, and should be of interest to experts, students, and the scientific lay.

This book is the first to view the effects of development, aging, and practice on the control of human voluntary movement from a contemporary context. Emphasis is on the links between progress in basic motor control research and applied areas such as motor disorders and motor rehabilitation. Relevant to both professionals in the areas of motor control, movement disorders, and motor rehabilitation, and to students starting their careers in one of these actively developed areas.

In this, the post-genomic age, our knowledge of biological systems continues to expand and progress. As the research becomes more focused, so too does the data. Genomic research progresses to proteomics and brings us to a deeper understanding of the behavior and function of protein clusters. And now proteomics gives way to neuroproteomics as we beg

An account of the neurobiology of motor recovery in the arm and hand after stroke by two experts in the field. Stroke is a leading cause of disability in adults and recovery is often difficult, with existing rehabilitation therapies largely ineffective. In Broken Movement, John Krakauer and S. Thomas Carmichael, both experts in the field, provide an account of the neurobiology of motor recovery in the arm and hand after stroke. They cover topics that range from behavior to physiology to cellular and molecular biology. Broken Movement is the only accessible single-volume work that covers motor control and motor learning as they apply to stroke recovery and combines them with motor cortical physiology and molecular biology. The authors cast a critical eye at current frameworks and practices, offer new recommendations for promoting recovery, and propose new research directions for the study of brain repair. Krakauer and Carmichael discuss such subjects as the behavioral phenotype of hand and arm paresis in human and non-human primates; the physiology and anatomy of the motor system after stroke; mechanisms of spontaneous recovery; the time course of early recovery; the challenges of chronic stroke; and pharmacological and stem cell therapies. They argue for a new approach in which patients are subjected to higher doses and intensities of rehabilitation in a more dynamic and enriching environment early after stroke. Finally they review the potential of four areas to improve motor recovery: video gaming and virtual reality, invasive brain stimulation, re-opening the sensitive period after stroke, and the application of precision medicine.

The human brain is made up of 85 billion neurons, which are connected by over 100 trillion synapses. For more than a century, a diverse array of researchers searched for a language that could be used to capture the essence of what these neurons do and how they communicate – and how those communications create thoughts, perceptions and actions. The language they were looking for was mathematics, and we would not be able to understand the brain as we do today without it. In Models of the Mind, author and computational neuroscientist Grace Lindsay explains how mathematical models have allowed scientists to understand and describe many of the brain's processes, including decision-making, sensory processing, quantifying memory, and more. She introduces readers to the most important concepts in modern neuroscience, and highlights the tensions that arise when the abstract world of mathematical modelling collides with the messy details of biology. Each chapter of Models of the Mind focuses on mathematical tools that have been applied in a particular area of neuroscience, progressing from the simplest building block of the brain – the individual neuron – through to circuits of interacting neurons, whole brain areas and even the behaviours that brains command. In addition, Grace examines the history of the field, starting with experiments done on frog legs in the late eighteenth century and building to the large models of artificial neural networks that form the basis of modern artificial intelligence. Throughout, she reveals the value of using the elegant language of mathematics to describe the machinery of neuroscience.