The Intact and Sliced Brain (Bradford Books)
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: The MIT Press
Published: October 1, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 322
ISBN-13: 9780262194563
Subjects: Neurosciences; Cerebral Physiology; Physiological Research; Science; Medical / Nursing; Medical; Neurology - General; Neuroscience; Medical / Neuroscience; Life Sciences - Anatomy & Physiology; Brain; Methodology; Neurophysiology; Physiology; Research
First sentence: The main message of this book is that the integrative properties of the cerebrum can only be understood by envisioning a permanent dialogue among multiple interconnected structures in a brain with preserved connectivity.
Description: "In this book, Mircea Steriade cautions against the tendency to infer global brain functions, normal and pathological, from the properties of single neurons or simple networks. Studies on extremely simplified preparations, he argues, led to a climate in which isolated neuronal networks and even single neurons are sometimes considered responsible for complex physiological processes that arise naturally from interconnections between many brain structures.

These interconnections cannot be seen in brain slices. Based on his lifetime of research, Steriade emphasizes the need to integrate information obtained from studies of simple circuits within the context of an intact brain. Despite the degree to which knowledge of brain structure and function have progressed, he views skeptically the quest to relate consciousness to specific neuronal types, located in distinct cortical layers or in circumscribed neuronal systems."--BOOK JACKET.