Nervous system

About: Nervous system is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 16729 publications have been published within this topic receiving 847181 citations.

A Dissection and tissue culture manual of the nervous system

Abstract: An Illustrated Outline of Techniques for the Dissection of Brain Areas in the Rat Fetus and the Neonate The Dissection of Selected Specialized Structures, such as the Ciliary Ganglion Organotypic Explant Culture of Nervous Tissue Dissociated Culture of Astrocytes, Oligodendrocytes, Neurons and Schwann Cells Reaggregation Culture of Dissociated Cells.

From neuron to brain: A cellular approach to the function of the nervous system

Abstract: The title of this book well describes its approach and its content. In a series of six sections the authors present a vivid and well-balanced discussion of the basic neurophysiologic mechanisms necessary for the transmission and integration of information, and then relate these mechanisms to such complex phenomena as visual perception, neural specificity, and the development of neuronal connections. The approach is highly personal and imaginative. It is also somewhat unorothdox. Instead of the usual progression from simple to complex, the authors begin, after a brief introduction, with a complicated topic-visual perception. Their discussion reveals the need to understand more basic issues. Hence they turn to the cellular aspects of neurophysiology , including the resting membrane potential, the action potential, and synaptic mechanisms. Next reflexes are considered, and then sensory receptors. Finally, the authors return to their starting point. Again they address themselves to visual perception; but this time, with the intervening material as a background, they are able to take the subject in new directions and to add additional perspectives. This individualistic approach works. The topics meld logically and coherently and the result is a beautiful perspective of many aspects of modem neurobiology . Emphasis is placed on basic neurophysiologic principles throughout the book. To do this, information obtained from many model systems is described in considerable detail. Some, such as the squid giant axon and the frog neuromuscufar junction, are familiar to the clinical neurologist accustomed to standard texts. Others, such as the crustacean stretch receptor, the goldfish Mauthner cell, and the leech CNS, are less conventional. They are systems, however, which have been used by modem neurophysiologists, including the authors and many of their present and former colleagues, to understand the cellular machinery of the nerve cell. And a great many of the principles which hold for invertebrates can be directly extrapolated to the mammalian central nervous system. Although the authors have achieved a masterful overview of neurophysiologic processes, they have not attempted a comprehensive treatment of the mammalian nervous system. The clinical neurologist will not find information concerning cerebellar function, the motor cortex, or the dorsal column. But the authors have succeeded in producing a text which, in the absence of previous neurophysiologic knowledge, can be read with comprehension and enjoyment. The reader is aided in this regard by a glossary, notes on nomenclature, an appendix on current flow, reviews of key terms, and informative schematic drawings. Furthermore, this volume provides a strong basis for reading and digesting other texts which deal more directly with clinically relevant material. Graduate students, residents, and large numbers of clinicians who have not received specific training in basic neurophysiology will find this volume an excellent guide to much of what is pertinent and modem in neurobiology. However, this is not a text just for the novice. A trained neurophysiologist may already know much of what is contained in these pages, but what a pleasure it is to read material that has seldom been presented so clearly! From Neuron to Bruin is heartily recommended.