Humans are biologically programmed to seek out pleasurable experiences. These experiences are processed in the mesolimbic system, also referred to as the "reward center" of the brain, where a number of chemical messengers work in concert to provide a net release of dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens. In some genetically predisposed individuals, addiction occurs when the mechanisms of the mesolimbic system are disrupted by the use of various drugs of abuse. Since Alcoholics Anonymous was fou...

Deep Brain Stimulation: A New Frontier in Psychiatry provides an overview of current developments and the future possibilities of deep brain stimulation for patients with therapy-refractory psychiatric disorders. The side-by-side presentation of clinical applications and animal research provides a truly translational approach. Also included is a special chapter on the ethical issues involved in deep brain stimulation in psychiatry.Deep brain stimulation of selected brain a...

Cultural neuroscience combines brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and event-related brain potentials with methods of social and cultural psychology to investigate whether and how cultures influence the neural mechanisms of perception, attention, emotion, social cognition, and other human cognitive processes. The findings of cultural neuroscience studies improve our understanding of the relation between human brain function and sociocultural contexts and ...

Loudness is the primary psychological correlate of intensity. When the intensity of a sound increases, loudness increases. However, there exists no simple one-to-one correspondence between loudness and intensity; loudness can be changed by modifying the frequency or the duration of the sound, or by adding background sounds. Loudness also changes with the listener’s cognitive state. Loudness provides a basic reference for graduate students, consultants, clinicians,...

This book, in two volumes, focuses on contemporary issues and dilemmas in relation to depression. The aim is to equip readers with an up-to-date understanding of the clinical and neurobiological underpinnings of depression, the clinical manifestations, and the development of more effective treatments. This second volume is devoted specifically to clinical and management issues. Readers will find detailed information on a wide range of frequently encountered and more complicated clinical pr...

Amyloid-forming proteins are implicated in over 30 human diseases. The proteins involved in each disease have unrelated sequences and dissimilar native structures, but they all undergo conformational alterations to form fibrillar polymers. The fibrillar assemblies accumulate progressively into disease-specific lesions in vivo. Substantial evidence suggests these lesions are the end state of aberrant protein folding whereas the actual disease-causing culprits likely are soluble, non-fibrill...

This issue of Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience focuses on the neuropeptide orexin (hypocretin) and brings together scientists from around the world who will provide a timely discussion of how this peptide regulates behavior. This is a fast-moving field, and with the incorporation of novel technologies, new breakthroughs are likely to continue. For example, the use of optogenetic approaches has enabled the identification of the role of orexin-containing neurons in arousal ...

Since information in the brain is processed by the exchange of spikes among neurons, a study of such group dynamics is extremely important in understanding hippocampus dependent memory. These spike patterns and local field potentials (LFPs) have been analyzed by various statistical methods. These studies have led to important findings of memory information processing. For example, memory-trace replay, a reactivation of behaviorally induced neural patterns during subsequent sleep, has been ...

Our brain is the source of everything that makes us human: language, creativity, rationality, emotion, communication, culture, politics. The neurosciences have given us, in recent decades, fundamental new insights into how the brain works and what that means for how we see ourselves as individuals and as communities. Now – with the help of new advances in nanotechnology – brain science proposes to go further: to study its molecular foundations, to repair brain functions, to create mind-mac...

This book presents recent topics on the development, differentiation, and myelination of Schwann cells, as well as pathological mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for peripheral neuropathies, such as Charcot–Marie–Tooth diseases, amyloid polyneuropathy, immune-mediated neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy. The rapid progress of molecular biological techniques in the last decades, especially for RNA techniques and gene modification technologies have allowed us to investigate the pathobiolo...

"Nitric Oxide and Free Radicals in Peripheral Neurotransmission" is a welcome addition to the literature and describes current research into the role of nitric oxide in the peripheral nervous system and its associated organs. Topics covered range from general consideration of nitrergic transmission, in its broadest sense, to elaboration of our current understanding of the role of nitric oxide in transmission in individual peripheral organs, including its role as a backup, or alternate as w...

This book reviews some of the most important scientific and philosophical theories concerning the nature of mind and consciousness. Current theories on the mind-body problem and the neural correlates of consciousness are presented through a series of biographical sketches of the most influential thinkers across the fields of philosophy of mind, psychology and neuroscience. The book is divided into two parts: the first is dedicated to philosophers of mind and the second, to neuroscientists/...