The Synaptic Organization of the Brain / Edition 5

by Gordon M. Shepherd

Overview

It is widely recognized that the neural basis of brain function can be fully understood only by integrating many disciplines at many levels. Studies of synaptic organization are bringing about a quiet revolution in achieving this goal, as documented by this unique book over the past 30 years. In this fifth edition, the results of the mouse and human genome projects are incorporated for the first time. Molecular biologists interested in functional genomics and proteomics of the brain will find answers here to the critical questions: what are the cell and circuit functions of gene products? Also for the first time, the reader is oriented to supporting neuroscience databases. Among the new advances covered are 2-photon confocal laser microscopy of dendrites and dendritic spines, biochemical analyses, and dual patch and multielectrode recordings, applied together with an increasing range of behavioral and gene-targeting methods. Leading experts in the best understood brain regions bring together the molecular, anatomical, functional, and behavioral data in authoritative integrated accounts. The chapters are organized in the same format, covering the neural elements, synaptic connections, basic circuits, physiology, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, membrane properties, dendritic properties, and with a final section on how the circuits mediate specific behaviors. The uniform framework for each chapter enables the authors to higlight the principles that are common to all regions, as well as the adaptations unique to each, thus serving as a model for understanding the neural basis of behavior.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195159561
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/06/2003
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	736
Product dimensions:	6.54(w) x 9.16(h) x 1.36(d)

About the Author

Gordon M. Shepherd is Professor of Neuroscience, Yale University.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Synaptic Circuits, iGordon M. Shepherd/i2. Membrane Properties and Neurotransmitter Actions, iDavid A. McCormick/i3. Spinal Cord: Ventral Horn, iRobert E. Burke/i4. Cochlear Nucleus, iEric D. Young and Donata Oertel/i5. Olfactory Bulb, iGordon M. Shepherd, Wei R. Chen and Charles A. Greer/i6. Retina, iPeter Sterling and Jonathan B. Demb/i7. Cerebellum, iRodolfo R. Llinas, Kerry D. Walton and Eric J. Lang/i8. Thalamus, iS. Murray Sherman and R.W. Guillery/i9. Basal Ganglia, iCharles J. Wilson/i10. Olfactory Cortex, iKevin R. Neville and Lewis B. Haberly/i11. Hippocampus, iDaniel Johnston and David G. Amaral/i12. Neocortex, iRodney Douglas, Henry Markram and Kevin Martin/i

Editorial Reviews

4 Stars! from Doody

This fourth edition continues the ""classical"" tradition for excellence in gathering together the most authoritative sources of the best scientific work on synaptic structures and combining it in a concise, clear, and integrated manner for a broad spectrum of readership. This book includes results on the latest scientific techniques including calcium imaging of neuronal activity, knockouts, knockins, site-directed mutagenesis, caged compounds, etc., in slices, cultured cells, and expression systems. All twelve chapters are written by outstanding authorities in their respective fields, covering synaptic circuits, membrane properties, ventral horn circuits, the cochlea nucleus, the olfactory bulb, the retina, the cerebellum, the thalamus, the olfactory cortex, the hippocampus, and the neocortex. The editor has skillfully worked to integrate a wide array of contributors' styles, leaving the impression of single authorship. This greatly simplifies complex subjects and expands the readership of this volume to include beginning students in neuroscience to active researchers themselves. Experimental techniques and methodological assumptions are explained and spelled out with great clarity. This fourth edition mirrors its predecessors; it contains outstanding illustrations that portray concepts, structures, and experimental designs. Readers will be delighted with this volume, especially as it focuses upon the active dendrite issues and how synaptic integration has been more closely linked to dendritic spiking and back propagation pointing in the direction of recursive rather than uni-direction processing.

Thomas H. Jobe

Reviewer: Thomas H. Jobe, MD (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: This fourth edition continues the "classical" tradition for excellence in gathering together the most authoritative sources of the best scientific work on synaptic structures and combining it in a concise, clear, and integrated manner for a broad spectrum of readership.
Purpose: This book includes results on the latest scientific techniques including calcium imaging of neuronal activity, knockouts, knockins, site-directed mutagenesis, caged compounds, etc., in slices, cultured cells, and expression systems. All 12 chapters are written by outstanding authorities in their respective fields, covering synaptic circuits, membrane properties, ventral horn circuits, the cochlea nucleus, the olfactory bulb, the retina, the cerebellum, the thalamus, the olfactory cortex, the hippocampus, and the neocortex.
Audience: The editor has skillfully worked to integrate a wide array of contributors' styles, leaving the impression of single authorship. This greatly simplifies complex subjects and expands the readership of this volume to include beginning students in neuroscience to active researchers themselves. Experimental techniques and methodological assumptions are explained and spelled out with great clarity.
Features: This fourth edition mirrors its predecessors; it contains outstanding illustrations that portray concepts, structures, and experimental designs.
Assessment: Readers will be delighted with this book, especially as it focuses upon the active dendrite issues and how synaptic integration has been more closely linked to dendritic spiking and back propagation pointing in the direction of recursive rather than uni-direction processing.

Doody's Review Service

From reviews of previous editions:

"This is...a reference textbook that has served generations of neuroscientists at all levels of their career for a quarter century. It is like a wise and trusted mentor, who is always there for you...The marvel of the book in all editions is how much information is packed into such a small number of pages, yet it is comprehensible...any college or university instructor who teaches neurobiology ought to read this book, for it provides a depth of knowledge and perspective that cannot be gained from a (bad) strategy of knowing the course textbook cold and staying a few chapters ahead of one's students."—Contemporary Psychology

"The book remains a staple, and should be on the shelf of any serious neuroscientist."—The Quarterly Review of Biology

"By any measure this work is a classic...It will undoubtedly take its place as one of the most significant and comprehensive commentaries of our time on structure and function of nervous tissue."—Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology

"This well-organized volume clearly summarizes knowledge of neuronal interaction in several brain regions and assimilates new findings to the classical view of neuron communication."—Journal of the American Medical Association

From the Publisher