Neurobiologie

Pragmatist Neurophilosophy:American Philosophy and the Brain explains why the broad tradition of pragmatism is needed now more than ever. Bringing pragmatist philosophers together with cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists, this volume explores topics of urgent interest across neuroscience and philosophy from the perspective of pragmatism. Discussing how Charles Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Mead benefited from their laboratory-knowledge, contributors treat America's first-generation pragmatists as America's first cognitive scientists. They explain why scientists today should participate in pragmatic judgments, just as the classical pragmatists did, and how current scientists can benefit from their earlier philosophical explorations across the same territory. Looking at recent neuroscientific discoveries in relation to classical pragmatists, they explore emerging pragmatic views supported directly from the behavioral and brain sciences and describe how "neuropragmatism" engages larger cultural questions by adequately dealing with meaningful values and ethical ideals. Pragmatist Neurophilosophy is an important contribution to scholars of both pragmatism and neuroscience and a timely reminder that America's first generation of pragmatists did not stumble onto its principles, but designed them in light of biology's new discoveries.

Tight junctions between epithelial and endothelial cells form selective barriers and paracellular channels and regulate paracellular transport of solutes, immune cells, and drugs. More specifically, tight junctions consist of proteins that laterally interconnect neighboring cells of epithelia and endothelia. Certain proteins seal the tight junction, so that a nearly impermeable barrier develops, whereas others form channels that allow for permeation between the cells. Recent investigations have focused on tight junction proteins, belonging to the claudin family (claudins-1 to -27 in humans) and the newly defined group of TAMP (three proteins: occludin, Marvel-D2, and tricellulin).  Barriers and Channels Formed by Tight Junction Proteins I showcases work in this area clustered around three major themes: the molecular properties of tight junctions, for example, the role of the claudin family of proteins and the formation of ion and charge-selective channels; the regulation of tight junction and barrier functions via genetic mechanisms and scaffold protein mediation; and the functional role of the tight junction in various tissues, such as the skin, lungs, endothelia, and nervous system NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For informatio.n on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit http://ordering.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/subs.asp?ref=1749-6632&doi=10.111/(ISSN)1749-6632. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx for more information about becoming a member.  

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects millions of patients worldwide and arises from the concurrent action of multiple pathophysiological processes. The power of mathematical analysis and computational modeling is increasingly utilized in basic and clinical epilepsy research to better understand the relative importance of the multi-faceted, seizure-related changes taking place in the brain during an epileptic seizure. This groundbreaking book is designed to synthesize the current ideas and future directions of the emerging discipline of computational epilepsy research. Chapters address relevant basic questions (e.g., neuronal gain control) as well as long-standing, critically important clinical challenges (e.g., seizure prediction). Computational Neuroscience in Epilepsy should be of high interest to a wide range of readers, including undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty working in the fields of basic or clinical neuroscience, epilepsy research, computational modeling and bioengineering.