ISBN : 9780198820345
The aim of this book is to provide insight into the principles of operation of the cerebral cortex. These principles are key to understanding how we, as humans, function. The book includes Appendices on the operation of many of the neuronal networks described in the book, together with simulation software written in Matlab. The book will be valuable to all those interested in understanding our cerebral cortex and how it operates to account for many aspects of brain function and cognitive function in health and disease. The book is relevant to those in the areas of neuroscience, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, computational neuroscience, biology, and philosophy.
1 Introduction; 2 Hierarchical Organization; 3 Localization of Function; 4 Recurrent Collateral Connections and Attractor Networks; 5 The Noisy Cortex: Stochastic dynamics, decisions, and memory; 6 Attention, Short-term Memory, and Biased Competition; 7 Diluted Connectivity; 8 Coding Principles; 9 Synaptic Modification for Learning; 10 Synaptic and Neuronal Adaptation and Facilitation; 11 Backprojections in the Neocortex; 12 Memory and the Hippocampus; 13 Limited Neurogenesis in the Adult Cortex; 14 Invariance Learning and Vision; 15 Emotion, Motivation, Reward Value, Pleasure, and their Mechanisms; 16 Noise in the Cortex, Stability, Psychiatric Disease, and Aging; 17 Syntax and Language; 18 Evolutionary Trends in Cortical Design and Principles of Operation; 19 Genetics and Self-Organization Build the Cortex; 20 Cortex versus Basal Ganglia Design for Selection; 21 Sleep and Dreaming; 22 Which Cortical Computations Underlie Consciousness?; 23 Cerebellar Cortex; 24 The Hippocampus and Memory; 25 Invariant Visual Object Recognition Learning; 26 Synthesis; Introduction to Linear Algebra for Neural Networks; Neural Network Models; Information Theory and Neuronal Encoding; Simulation Software for Neuronal Network Models; References; Index