Behavioural Brain Research in Naturalistic and Semi-Naturalistic Settings: 82 (NATO Science Series D:, 82) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792335708 ISBN 13: 9780792335702

Publisher: Springer, 1995

Synopsis

We are at the midpoint in the "Decade of the Brain". Why do we know so much and yet understand so little about the brain? The field of neuroscience has exploded, and anyone who attends one of the large meetings has the impression of drinking from a fire hydran- as so aptly put by the late neuroanatomist Walle J. H. Nauta. Part of that feeling is a general-information problem, experienced in other fields of scienc as well. In brain research, however, the problem is accentuated by the rapid advances of molecular and cellular brain research. The dynamics created by these lines of research have multiplied published output, but have inevitably entailed a compartmentalization of scientific interests and research strategies. If the cost of gaining knowledge is a shrinking horizon of the individual scientist, neuroscience must develop strategies for organizing the acquisition of knowledge. Some of this guidance is given by the society -by medical and, perhaps, commercial needs. But who provides the backbone for establishing a generally accepted "schema" for basic brain research -a frame of reference onto which the millions of information fragments can be fitted, in a way acceptable to a multicultural and polymethodical neuroscience community? We believe that developmental and evolutionary biology has the potential to provide a commonly accepted frame of reference for that multilevel system approach needed to understand the workings of the brain.

About this title

Synopsis

This is a comprehensive review of behavioural neurosciences in an ecological context, covering both theories and experimental procedures. Special attention is placed on the hippocampus and its relation to spatial learning in different species, such as food-storing birds, homing pigeons, kangaroo rats and laboratory rodents. Various methodological chapters deal with measurements of behavioural events and telemetry, exploiting the perspectives of miniaturization of data loggers. This is embedded in chapters dealing with the history of behavioural brain research, development, brain evolution, and population genetics. It is suitable for any neuroscientist who is aware that there is also a world outside the laboratory.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792335708
• ISBN 13: 9780792335702
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 487
• Editor: Alleva E., Fasolo Aldo, Lipp Hans-Peter, Nadel Lynn, Ricceri Laura