How your brain works

created by Golem

(idea) by Golem (7.4 mon) (print) ? (I like it!) 2 C!s Fri Oct 20 2000 at 18:53:39

Okay, this node/metanode/project started out as a tool to help me study for one of my exams, and has just sort of grown from there. The basic idea is just what the title says, for me to explain to you how your brain works. Well, actually how nervous systems in general work, with a strong slant on vertebrate systems. So not really like the title at all. The vertebrate and mammalian slant is just due to the nature of my program, which kinda sucks, but that's how it is. Most of the general principles are relatively accurate across invertebrates as well, but stuff on specific systems or anatomy is vertebrate, probably mammalian, unless otherwise specified.
Here's a list of the topics I plan to present, and some extra stuff that I'll add on if I have time. Asterisks indicate things which are not yet finished. You should read neuron first if you're not familiar with this stuff at all.

Keep in mind as you read that these nodes are intended to be a sort of beginner's guide to neuroscience. they contain many oversimplifications, and the 'facts' on many of these subjects are constantly in debate. The idea is to provide you with enough information to have a very basic working knowledge, such that you could easily learn more on your own, if so inclined.

The Basics
neuron: fundamental unit of the nervous system.
Electrotonic spread*: dendritic signal integration
synapse: Interneuron communication.
Neurotransmitters and receptors: Types, effects, types of effects.

Neural computation*: Information processing and information coding schemes.

Nervous system organization
Human Neuroanatomy: What's that doohickey called? And where was it again?

The Auditory system
The ear and cochlea: turning sound into impulses.
Auditory tuning: dynamic input modulation
Auditory localization: Where's that noise coming from?

The Visual system
Retina
LGN*
V1 and Visual Cortex*
Object processing*
Position processing*

The Somatosensory system*

Extra stuff/Just for the hell of it:
Human being emulator
Neuromorphic Analog VLSI

Neurological disorders:
agnosia/interpretive agnosia
aphasia/Broca's aphasia/Wernicke's aphasia/Conduction aphasia/Gloabal aphasia/Nominal aphasia/expressive aphasia/receptive aphasia
Parkinson's Disease
Huntington's chorea
Alzheimer's Disease
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Multiple Sclerosis

printable version
chaos

Human being emulator	neuron	Human Neuroanatomy	synapse
neurotransmitter	How your brain codes knowledge	Neuromorphic Analog VLSI	retina
Auditory tuning	auditory localization	I'm so toasty, you could spread jam on me	Is knowledge innate?
ear	Don't touch your brain	agnosia	How the Mind Works
I need a direct neural link to everything.	cochlea	fuck	windowing system
Multiple Sclerosis	SLI: temporal processing disorder	neuroscience	aphasia

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