Main description:

The understanding of parallel processing and of the mechanisms underlying neural networks in the brain is certainly one of the most challenging problems of contemporary science. During the last decades significant progress has been made by the combination of different techniques, which have elucidated properties at a cellular and molecular level. However, in order to make significant progress in this field, it is necessary to gather more direct experimental data on the parallel processing occurring in the nervous system. Indeed the nervous system overcomes the limitations of its elementary components by employing a massive degree of parallelism, through the extremely rich set of synaptic interconnections between neurons. This book gathers a selection of the contributions presented during the NATO ASI School "Neuronal Circuits and Networks" held at the Ettore Majorana Center in Erice, Sicily, from June 15 to 27, 1997. The purpose of the School was to present an overview of recent results on single cell properties, the dynamics of neuronal networks and modelling of the nervous system. The School and the present book propose an interdisciplinary approach of experimental and theoretical aspects of brain functions combining different techniques and methodologies.

Contents:

1 Single Neuron Properties.- Modal gating of sodium channels and possible physiological implications on hereditary myopathies.- c-Fos protein and NADPH-Diaphorase detection in rat midbrain and spinal cord after contusion injury.- Fourier analysis applied to the study of the electrical activity of midbrain dopaminergic neurons.- Regulation by intracellular calcium of the activity of GABAA receptors in two different types of neurons.- Dynamics of transmitter release at CA3 hippocampal excitatory synapses.- Responses of isolated olfactory sensory neurons to odorants.- 2 Neuronal Networks.- Long-term changes (LTC) of evoked field potentials in the amygdala: a model of emotional memory.- Role of nitric oxide on emotional and motor behaviour.- Multi-site recording of neural activity using planar electrode arrays.- Optical insights into cerebellar circuitry.- Activity-dependent regulation of neuronal network excitability....- Spatial and temporal regulation of BDNF action in synaptic plasticity.- Map projection rewiring in the adult cerebellum after lesions.- 3 Models and Theoretical Approaches.- Regulatory effects of long term biochemical processes in integrate-and-fire model neurons.- A formal approach to the translation of cortical maps.- From self-organized fluid machines to living liquid crystals.- The metric content of spatial views as represented in the primate hippocampus.