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Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction
An introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system that emphasizes the history of experiments and observations that led to modern neuroscientific knowledge.

This introduction to neuroscience is unique in its emphasis on how we know what we know about the structure and function of the nervous system. What are the observations and experiments that have taught us about the brain and spinal cord? The book traces our current neuroscientific knowledge to many and varied sources, including ancient observations on the role of the spinal cord in posture and movement, nineteenth-century neuroanatomists' descriptions of the nature of nerve cells, physicians' attempts throughout history to correlate the site of a brain injury with its symptoms, and experiments on the brains of invertebrates.

After an overview of the brain and its connections to the sensory and motor systems, Neuroscience discusses, among other topics, the structure of nerve cells; electrical transmission in the nervous system; chemical transmission and the mechanism of drug action; sensation; vision; hearing; movement; learning and memory; language and the brain; neurological disease; personality and emotion; the treatment of mental illness; and consciousness. It explains the sometimes baffling Latin names for brain subdivisions; discusses the role of technology in the field, from microscopes to EEGs; and describes the many varieties of scientific discovery. The book's novel perspective offers a particularly effective way for students to learn about neuroscience. It also makes it clear that past contributions offer a valuable guide for thinking about the puzzles that remain.

1116784046
Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction
An introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system that emphasizes the history of experiments and observations that led to modern neuroscientific knowledge.

This introduction to neuroscience is unique in its emphasis on how we know what we know about the structure and function of the nervous system. What are the observations and experiments that have taught us about the brain and spinal cord? The book traces our current neuroscientific knowledge to many and varied sources, including ancient observations on the role of the spinal cord in posture and movement, nineteenth-century neuroanatomists' descriptions of the nature of nerve cells, physicians' attempts throughout history to correlate the site of a brain injury with its symptoms, and experiments on the brains of invertebrates.

After an overview of the brain and its connections to the sensory and motor systems, Neuroscience discusses, among other topics, the structure of nerve cells; electrical transmission in the nervous system; chemical transmission and the mechanism of drug action; sensation; vision; hearing; movement; learning and memory; language and the brain; neurological disease; personality and emotion; the treatment of mental illness; and consciousness. It explains the sometimes baffling Latin names for brain subdivisions; discusses the role of technology in the field, from microscopes to EEGs; and describes the many varieties of scientific discovery. The book's novel perspective offers a particularly effective way for students to learn about neuroscience. It also makes it clear that past contributions offer a valuable guide for thinking about the puzzles that remain.

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Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction

Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction

by Mitchell Glickstein
Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction

Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction

by Mitchell Glickstein

Overview

An introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system that emphasizes the history of experiments and observations that led to modern neuroscientific knowledge.

This introduction to neuroscience is unique in its emphasis on how we know what we know about the structure and function of the nervous system. What are the observations and experiments that have taught us about the brain and spinal cord? The book traces our current neuroscientific knowledge to many and varied sources, including ancient observations on the role of the spinal cord in posture and movement, nineteenth-century neuroanatomists' descriptions of the nature of nerve cells, physicians' attempts throughout history to correlate the site of a brain injury with its symptoms, and experiments on the brains of invertebrates.

After an overview of the brain and its connections to the sensory and motor systems, Neuroscience discusses, among other topics, the structure of nerve cells; electrical transmission in the nervous system; chemical transmission and the mechanism of drug action; sensation; vision; hearing; movement; learning and memory; language and the brain; neurological disease; personality and emotion; the treatment of mental illness; and consciousness. It explains the sometimes baffling Latin names for brain subdivisions; discusses the role of technology in the field, from microscopes to EEGs; and describes the many varieties of scientific discovery. The book's novel perspective offers a particularly effective way for students to learn about neuroscience. It also makes it clear that past contributions offer a valuable guide for thinking about the puzzles that remain.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780262534611
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication date: 09/01/2017
Series: The MIT Press
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 418
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Mitchell Glickstein is Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at University College London. He has held research and teaching positions at Caltech, University of Washington, Brown University, and Dartmouth College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction 1

2 Overview of the Nervous System: Structures and Functions 7

3 The Structure of Nerve Cells and Their Supporting Tissues 31

4 Electrical Transmission in the Nervous System 55

5 Chemical Transmission and the Mechanism of Drug Action 73

6 Sensation 89

7 Vision and the Eye 103

8 Vision: Central Mechanisms 119

9 Audition 143

10 Somesthesis and Vestibular Sense 161

11 Chemical, Heat, and Electrical Senses 185

12 Reflexes 193

13 Brain Control of Movement 217

14 Learning and Memory 235

15 Motivation 257

16 Language and the Brain 271

17 Neurological Disease 285

18 Personality and Emotion 305

19 Mental Illness and the History of Surgical and Drug Treatment 321

20 Consciousness and the Techniques for Study of the Human Brain 337

21 Are We There Yet? 349

Notes 351

Further Readings 357

References 361

Index 375

What People are Saying About This

Michael N. Shadlen

Neuroscience by Mitchell Glickstein is a delightful mixture of the factual and historical underpinnings of neurology and neuroscience from one of the field's greatest scholars.

Robert H. Wurtz

Mitch Glickstein weaves the history of neuroscience into the presentation of the basic concepts of neuroscience. Both the salient scientists and their experiments are recounted with a wry sense of humor. If you want to read or teach neuroscience in the context of its historical development, this is your book.

Endorsement

Neuroscience by Mitchell Glickstein is a delightful mixture of the factual and historical underpinnings of neurology and neuroscience from one of the field's greatest scholars.

—Michael N. Shadlen, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Professor of Neuroscience, Columbia University

From the Publisher

Authoritative, highly readable, wonderfully illustrated, and just plain interesting. Students of neuroscience will finally learn where all those ideas and terms came from that we now use with regularity. Only Glickstein could have achieved all of this.

—Michael Gazzaniga

This book is a must for anyone interested in the historical antecedents of the concepts and ideas that preoccupy today's neuroscientists.

—Leo M. Chalupa, The George Washington University

Mitch Glickstein weaves the history of neuroscience into the presentation of the basic concepts of neuroscience. Both the salient scientists and their experiments are recounted with a wry sense of humor. If you want to read or teach neuroscience in the context of its historical development, this is your book.

—Robert H. Wurtz, National Institutes of Health

Neuroscience by Mitchell Glickstein is a delightful mixture of the factual and historical underpinnings of neurology and neuroscience from one of the field's greatest scholars.

—Michael N. Shadlen, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Professor of Neuroscience, Columbia University

Michael Gazzaniga

Authoritative, highly readable, wonderfully illustrated, and just plain interesting. Students of neuroscience will finally learn where all those ideas and terms came from that we now use with regularity. Only Glickstein could have achieved all of this.

Leo M. Chalupa

This book is a must for anyone interested in the historical antecedents of the concepts and ideas that preoccupy today's neuroscientists.

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