Neuroscience

1. Humor:
   

   "I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this." —Emo Phillips

   
   • See also the phrenology images on the "Modularity of Mind" webpage.
   

   

   

2. Two good books:
   1. O'Shea, Michael (2005), The Brain: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
      • Ch. 3: "Signalling in the Brain: Getting Connected", pp. 28-41.

   2. Baars, Bernard J.; & Gage, Nicole M. (eds.) (2007), Cognition, Brain, and Consciousness: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (London: Academic Press).

3. The next two items were found on: "Neuroscience and Behavior" (UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Division of Anatomy and Cell Biology).
   1. Stewart, Patricia; Wilson-Pauwels, Linda; & Cameron, Teddy, Neurons: Animated Cellular and Molecular Concepts (University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine).
      See especially:
      1. Ch. 1: Anatomy of a Neuron:
         1. §3: Functional components of neurons
         2. §6: Dendrites (esp.: incoming signals)
         3. §8: Axon (esp.: branch extensively)
         4. §9: (synapse)

      2. Ch. 2, §1: Axonal Transport

      3. Ch. 5, §7: Action Potential

      4. Ch. 7, §1: Postsynaptic Mechanisms

   2. Vilis, T. (2004), "Meds 1 Neurophysiology" (University of Western Ontario Department of Physiology & Pharmacology).

4. Brain lobes
   • Fig. 2.5 from Kolak et al. 2006

5. McCulloch & Pitts neural nets
   • Fig. 1 from McCulloch & Pitts 1943

6. Thagard, Paul (2005), Ch. 9: "Brains", from Paul Thagard, Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science, 2nd Edition (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press):147-160.

7. Is the Brain a Computer?
   • Click on the link above for a list of readings.
   • 
     

8. Fields, R. Douglas (2008), "White Matter Matters", Scientific American (March): 54-61.
   • "Although scientists have long regarded the brain's white matter as passive infrastructure, new work shows that it actively affects learning and mental illness."

   • 
     Fields, R. Douglas (2011), "The Hidden Brain", Scientific American Mind 22(2) (May/June): 52–59.
     • "Flashy neurons may get the attention, but a class of cells called glia are behind most of the brain's work—and many of its diseases."

9. Choi, Charles Q. (2008), "Do You Need Only Half Your Brain?", Scientific American (March): 104.

10. Clabby, Catherine (2010), "Hiding in Plain Sight: New Technology Allows Us to See Neural Networks More Clearly", American Scientist 98(5) (September-October): 420–421.

11. Zuger, Abigail (2010), "An Odyssey through the Brain, Illuminated by a Rainbow", New York Times (30 November): D1, D3.

12. The Enteric Brain (or the brain in the gut):
    1. The "enteric brain" is a cluster of neurons in the gut that has sometimes been considered as a second "brain". Here's an article that makes that argument:
       1. Gershon, Michael D. (1999), "The Enteric Nervous System: A Second Brain", Hospital Practice 34(7) (July 15): 31-52.
          • Here is one quote that I found especially interesting:
            "The vagus nerve [which starts in the brainstem and goes to the abdomen] is normally responsible for commanding gthe vast microcircuits of the E[nteric]N[ervous]S[ystem] to carry out their appointed tasks. What it cannot do...is tell them *how* to carry them out. That is strictly an inside job, and one that the gut is marvelously capable of performing." (p. 32)

            That makes it sound as if the ENS is a "module", which, if Baars is right, also renders it unconscious.

    2. Martone, Robert (2011), "The Neuroscience of the Gut", Scientific American online (19 April).
       • Not about the enteric brain, but about bacteria that live in our gut and that modify our brains.