Review

Brain Structure and Its Origins provides an evolutionary and very interesting perspective of the organization and function of the vertebrate nervous system from lamprey to man.

(Sten Grillner, Professor, Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Karolinska Institutet)

Brain Structure and Its Origins by Gerald Schneider is different from any other book on the topic. Its strengths lie in clear, comprehensive, and sometimes provocative explanations of the complex anatomy and functions of the brain, combined with a historical view of the field and the people who developed it. The great variability in how brains are organized and function across species is included and explained in terms of modes of brain development and evolution. Each chapter makes you want to learn more; chapters are followed by suggested readings that range from early landmark studies to the best of recent reviews. This is the book that would best introduce students at any level to the exciting field of neuroscience, and serves as an excellent review for the experienced investigator.

(Jon H. Kaas, Distinguished Centennial Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University)

This is a well-written general book on brain anatomy and function, which includes numerous useful pictures and clear diagrams to explain brain organization in terms of development, evolution and function. It is not only valuable for students interested in the field, but also for neuroscientists and neurologists in general.

(Javier DeFelipe, Neuroscientist, Cajal Institute)

About the Author

Gerald E. Schneider is Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.

Contents

PART I: INTRODUCTORY ORIENTATION

۱ Getting Ready for a Brain Structure Primer 3
۲ Methods for Mapping Pathways and Interconnections That Enable the Integrative Activity of the CNS 29

PART II: THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, FROM INITIAL STEPS TO ADVANCED CHORDATES

۳ Evolution of Multicellular Organisms with Neuron-Based Coordination 55
۴ Expansions of the Neuronal Apparatus of Success 67

PART III: INTRODUCTION TO CONNECTION PATTERNS AND SPECIALIZATIONS IN THE EVOLVING CNS

۵ The Ancestors of Mammals: Sketch of a Pre-mammalian Brain 89
۶ Some Specializations Involving Head Receptors and Brain Expansions 107
۷ The Components of the Forebrain Including the Specialty of the Mammals: The Neocortex 117

PART IV: DEVELOPMENT AND DIFFERENTIATION: SPINAL LEVEL

۸ The Neural Tube Forms in the Embryo, and CNS Development Begins 139
۹ The Lower Levels of Background Support: Spinal Cord and the Innervation of the Viscera 153
Intermission: The Ventricular System, the Meninges, and the Glial Cells 175

PART V: DIFFERENTIATION OF THE BRAIN VESICLES

۱۰ Hindbrain Organization, Specializations, and Distortions 181
۱۱ Why a Midbrain? Notes on Evolution, Structure, and Functions 205
۱۲ Picturing the Forebrain with a Focus on Mammals 217
۱۳ Growth of the Great Networks of Nervous Systems 235

PART VI: A BRIEF STUDY OF MOTOR SYSTEMS

۱۴ Overview of Motor System Structure 265
۱۵ Descending Pathways and Evolution 283
۱۶ The Temporal Patterns of Movements 299

PART VII: BRAIN STATES

۱۷ Widespread Changes in Brain State 311

PART VIII: SENSORY SYSTEMS

۱۸ Taste 325
۱۹ Olfaction 333
۲۰ Visual Systems: Origins and Functions 355
۲۱ Visual Systems: The Retinal Projections 371
۲۲ The Visual Endbrain Structures 393
۲۳ Auditory Systems 417

PART IX: THE FOREBRAIN AND ITS ADAPTIVE PRIZES: A SNAPSHOT

۲۴ Forebrain Origins: From Primitive Appendage to Modern Dominance 449

PART X: THE HYPOTHALAMUS AND LIMBIC SYSTEM

۲۵ Regulating the Internal Milieu and the Basic Instincts 467
۲۶ Core Pathways of the Limbic System, with Memory for Meaningful Places 483
۲۷ Hormones and the Shaping of Brain Structures 501
۲۸ The Medial Pallium Becomes the Hippocampus 513
۲۹ The Limbic Striatum and Its Outpost in the Temporal Lobe 537

PART XI: CORPUS STRIATUM

۳۰ The Major Subpallial Structure of the Endbrain 561
۳۱ Lost Dopamine Axons: Consequences and Remedies 583
Intermission: Neurogenesis in Mature Brains 589

PART XII: THE CROWN OF THE MAMMALIAN CNS: THE NEOCORTEX

۳۲ Structural Origins of Object Cognition, Place Cognition, Dexterity, and Planning 595
۳۳ Basic Neocortical Organization: Cells, Modules, and Connections 617
۳۴ Structural Change in Development and in Maturity 645