Frank Amthor, PhD is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University at Alabama. He was an NIH-supported researcher for more than 20 years and published more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and conference abstracts. Anne B. Theibert, PhD is Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She directed an NIH-funded research laboratory for 18 years and has published numerous research articles and book chapters with a focus on cellular, molecular, and developmental neurobiology.

Introduction 1

Part 1: Getting Started with Neurobiology 5

Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of Neurobiology 7

Chapter 2: Meeting the Building Blocks 23

Chapter 3: Constructing the Nervous System 43

Chapter 4: Modulating Membrane Potentials 61

Chapter 5: Transmitting to Targets 81

Chapter 6: Communicating through Chemicals 101

Part 2: Controlling Muscles, Movement, and Survival 117

Chapter 7: Moving Muscles with Motor Neurons 119

Chapter 8: Controlling Movement through Brain Pathways 135

Chapter 9: Focusing On the Spinal Cord and Brain Stem 153

Chapter 10: Maintaining the Internal Environment 175

Chapter 11: Topping It Off: The Neocortex 195

Chapter 12: Delving into Motor Systems Disorders 215

Part 3: Understanding Perception and Cognition 231

Chapter 13: Looking At Vision and Hearing 233

Chapter 14: Feeling, Smelling, and Tasting 261

Chapter 15: Learning to Remember 285

Chapter 16: The Frontal Lobes and Executive Motor Control 307

Chapter 17: Thinking About Intelligence, Language, and Lateralization 321

Chapter 18: Brain Dysfunction in Developmental and Mental Disorders 339

Part 4: The Part of Tens 361

Chapter 19: Ten Most Important Neural Circuits 363

Chapter 20: Ten Technologies Revolutionizing Brain Science 371

Index 381