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Précis of "Structure, Function, and Dynamics: An Integrated Approach to Neural Organization"

Arbib , Michael and Erdi , Peter Précis of "Structure, Function, and Dynamics: An Integrated Approach to Neural Organization".

Short Abstract:

Neural Organization: Structure, Function, and Dynamics (Arbib, Érdi, and Szentágothai, 1997, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; henceforth Organization) shows how theory and experiment can supplement each other in an integrated, evolving account of structure, function, and dynamics. New data lead to new models; new models suggest the design of new experiments. Much of modern neuroscience seems excessively reductionist, focusing on the study of ever smaller microsystems with little appreciation of their contribution to the behaving organism. We welcome these new data but are concerned to restore some equilibrium between systems, cellular, and molecular neuroscience.

Long Abstract:

Neural Organization: Structure, Function, and Dynamics (Arbib, Érdi, and Szentágothai, 1997, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press; henceforth Organization) shows how theory and experiment can supplement each other in an integrated, evolving account of structure, function, and dynamics. New data lead to new models; new models suggest the design of new experiments. Much of modern neuroscience seems excessively reductionist, focusing on the study of ever smaller microsystems with little appreciation of their contribution to the behaving organism. We welcome these new data but are concerned to restore some equilibrium between systems, cellular, and molecular neuroscience. After a brief tribute to our late colleague John Szentágothai, we trace the threads of Structure, Function and Dynamics as they weave through the book, thus providing a broad general framework for the integration of computational and empirical neuroscience. Part II of Organization presents a structural analysis of various brain regions – olfactory bulb and cortex, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia - as prelude to our account of the dynamics of the neural circuits and function of each region. To exemplify this approach, this précis analyzes the hippocampus in anatomical, dynamical, and functional terms. We conclude by pointing the way to the use of our methodology in the development of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Keywords:	neural organization, dynamics, Szentgothai, computational neuroscience, neural modeling, modular architectonics, neural plasticity, hippocampus, rhythmogenesis, cognitive maps, memory.
Subjects:	Neuroscience: Behavioral Neuroscience Psychology: Cognitive Psychology Neuroscience: Computational Neuroscience Psychology: Learning and Memory Neuroscience: Neuroanatomy Neuroscience: Neural Modelling Neuroscience: Neuropsychology Psychology: Physiological Psychology Psychology: Psychobiology
ID code:	bbs00000422
Deposited by:	Michael A Arbib on 30 April 2001