Roland Kalb

The Pathways of Mind

A Neural Theory of Mental Processing Mathematical Principles, Empirical Evidence, and Clinical Applications

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This book offers a synoptic view of comparative anatomical, ultrastructural, cell and molecular biological investigations of the pineal organ. It considers morphological, immunocytochemical and functional features of pineal photoreceptors and neuroendocrine pinealocytes as well as the afferent and efferent innervation of the pineal organ. Special emphasis is placed on receptor mechanisms, second messenger systems (Ca2+ and cyclic AMP), transcription factors (e.g. cyclic AMP response element binding protein, CREB, and inducible cyclic AMP early repressor, ICER) and their roles for regulation of melatonin biosynthesis. Finally, the action, targets and receptors of melatonin are dealt with. The data presented stress the functional significance of the pineal organ and its hormoe melatonin as important components of the photoneuroendocrine system which allows man and animals to measure and keep the time. They also prove the pineal organ as a very suitable model to study signal transduction mechanisms in both photoreceptors and neuroendocrine cells by means of a variety of modern techniques.

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The model for this work was the description of the physical world by mathemati cal laws. It were always the simplest phenomena which were treated by this scientific method. Physicists studied simple motions inorder to find the mathematical laws. Astronomists observed the orbits of planets in order to find the laws of gravity. One of the simplest measurable phenomenon in the brain is the stimulus response task. Suchtasks have beenknown since the lastcentury bypsychiatrists and psycholo gists (v. Helmholtz). There existsa vast literature about the measurement and theory of simple reaction tasks and various choice reaction tasks, visualor auditory. They have beenmeasured and havebeendescribedmathematically.One of the firstmodels for the reaction times used a logarithmic function. But many intriguing questions remained open aboutreaction tasks especiallythe neural explanation ofthe findings. The new tool to investigate the neural structure of stimulus-response sequences was the computer. Now it was possible to measure the reaction times by using spe cial programs, to compute the elementary times and the pathway structures from these reaction times, to evaluate the results statistically, to simulate the results, and to write this text. It was this instrument which permitted to save large amounts of data and evaluate them by special software written for this purpose. Thus it was possible to compute the time quanta and the pathways and to understand each re action time as an integer multiple of this time quantum (plus a constant value).

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Produktdetails

• SpringerMedicine
• Verlag: Springer / Springer Vienna / Springer, Wien
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 978-3-211-83565-4
• Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2001
• Seitenzahl: 380
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. Februar 2001
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 235mm x 155mm x 21mm
• Gewicht: 710g
• ISBN-13: 9783211835654
• ISBN-10: 3211835652
• Artikelnr.: 09670042

Inhaltsangabe

The time measurement of stimulus-response pathways: Measurement of reaction times in healthy subjects: Bihemispheric visual reaction tasks, The bihemispheric visual median finger reaction tasks, Monohemispheric visual reaction tasks, Monohemispheric auditory reaction tasks, The intra-individual variability of reaction time; Measurement of reaction times in patients: The reaction times of patients with monohemispheric brain lesions, The reaction times of patients with schizophrenia; The event-related potentials of reaction tasks: The ERP of auditory reaction tasks.- The spatiotemporal structure of stimulus-response pathways: Measurement of elementary time: The procedure 'NESTLE" in a computer program called 'FPM31e", The Chronophoresis of x11y, x22y, and x33y, Attributes of elementary times; Measurement of pathway structure: The linear and cyclical part of the pathway (FPM31e), The variability of the linear part of the pathway, The variability of the cyclical part of the pathway; Discussion: Critical considerations.- Applications of stimulus-response pathways in neurology and psychiatry: The pathways of healthy subjects: Convergence tables, Collection of Equations, Symmetries and Statistics; The pathways of patients with monohemispheric brain lesions: Convergence tables, Collection of equations, Deviations from normal pathways in patients with monohemispheric brain lesion; The pathways of patients with schizophrenia: Convergence tables, Collection of Equations, Deviations from normal pathways of healthy subjects; Critical considerations.- Critical evaluation of the results and the model: Confirmation of elementary times and pathway structure by event-related potentials: The correspondence between reaction time data (ET, linEN) and event-related potentials (latencies)in the a22y pathways of healthy subjects, The correspondence of reaction time data with event-related potentials in patients with schizophrenia; Modells of the xNNy pathways: Memory sets and setsystems, The Simulation of Set Systems; Discussion: Unsolved problems, Discussion of References.- References, Summary.