The Synaptic Organization of the Brain

There has been rapid progress on the analysis of synaptic circuits in the past decade, requiring a new edition of this definitive text. Once again, leading authorities have joined to provide accounts of the best understood brain regions that are both in-depth and state-of-the-art. Each author uses the same format in covering the neural elements, synaptic connections, basic circuits, physiology and pharmacology, dendritic properties and functional implications, so that readers can...
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There has been rapid progress on the analysis of synaptic circuits in the past decade, requiring a new edition of this definitive text. Once again, leading authorities have joined to provide accounts of the best understood brain regions that are both in-depth and state-of-the-art. Each author uses the same format in covering the neural elements, synaptic connections, basic circuits, physiology and pharmacology, dendritic properties and functional implications, so that readers can easily compare different regions to recognize common principles and specific adaptations. A new chapter on the cochlear nucleus highlights the neural basis of audition, to accompany the account of vision in the retina, lateral geniculate and visual cortex, and of olfaction in the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex. Chapters on the spinal cord, cerebellum and basal ganglia provide insights into the neural basis of sensorimotor integration. The chapter on the hippocampus is a new synthesis of the anatomy and physiology related to learning and memory. Common themes connecting the chapters are the recent studies of backpropagating impulses and active properties of dendrites; the increasing evidence for specific types of receptor and channel subunits and their properties in different parts of the neuron; the neuronal modeling; and the emerging evidence for canonical types of synaptic circuits mediating specific types of information processing that underlie behavior and cognition. The book will be essential reading for experimental and computational neuroscientists, neuropharmacologists, and cognitive neuroscientists, and for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students studying brain organization and brain function.