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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016933973 ISBN 978-1-119-22489-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-22491-4 (ebk); ISBN 978- 1-119-22490-7 (ebk) Neuroscience For Dummies® To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Neuroscience For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box. Table of Contents Cover Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond This Book Where to Go from Here Part 1: Introducing the Nervous System Chapter 1: A Quick Trip through the Nervous System Understanding the Evolution of the Nervous System Looking at How the Nervous System Works Looking at the Basic Functions of the Nervous System When Things Go Wrong: Neurological and Mental Illness Revolutionizing the Future: Advancements in Various Fields Chapter 2: All about the Brain and Spinal Cord Looking Inside the Skull: The Brain and Its Parts The Spinal Cord: The Intermediary between Nervous Systems Fighting or Fleeing: The Autonomic Nervous System How We Know What We Know about Neural Activity Chapter 3: Understanding How Neurons Work Neuron Basics: Not Just Another Cell in the Body How Shocking! Neurons as Electrical Signaling Devices Moving Around with Motor Neurons Non-neuronal Cells: Glial Cells Recording Techniques Part 2: Translating the Internal and External World through Your Senses Chapter 4: Feeling Your Way: The Skin Senses How Do You Feel? The Lowdown on the Skin and Its Sensory Neurons Skin Receptors, Local Spinal Circuits, and Projections to the Brain Understanding the Complex Aspects of Pain Chapter 5: Looking at Vision The Eyes Have It: A Quick Glance at Your Eyes From the Eyes to the Vision Centers of the Brain Impaired Vision and Visual Illusions Chapter 6: Sounding Off: The Auditory System The Ear: Capturing and Decoding Sound Waves Making Sense of Sounds: Central Auditory Projections Locating Sound I Can’t Hear You: Deafness and Tinnitus Chapter 7: Odors and Taste What’s That Smell? Having Good Taste The Role of Learning and Memory in Taste and Smell Lacking Taste and Smelling Badly Part 3: Moving Right Along: Motor Systems Chapter 8: Movement Basics Identifying Types of Movement Controlling Movement: Central Planning and Hierarchical Execution Pulling the Load: Muscle Cells and Their Action Potentials Muscle and Muscle Motor Neuron Disorders Chapter 9: Coordinating Things More: The Spinal Cord and Pathways The Withdrawal Reflex: An Open-Loop Response Hold Your Position! Closed-Loop Reflexes The Modulating Reflexes: Balance and Locomotion Correcting Errors without Feedback: The Cerebellum Chapter 10: Planning and Executing Actions Making the Move from Reflexes to Conscious or Goal- Generated Action Where Are the Free Will Neurons? Discovering New (and Strange) Neurons When the Wheels Come Off: Motor Disorders Chapter 11: Unconscious Actions with Big Implications Working behind the Scenes: The Autonomic Nervous System Sweet Dreams: Sleep and Circadian Rhythms Part 4: Intelligence: The Thinking Brain and Consciousness Chapter 12: Understanding Intelligence, Consciousness, and Emotions Defining Intelligence Intelligence about Emotions Understanding Consciousness Chapter 13: How the Brain Processes Thoughts The Brain: Taking Command at Multiple Levels All about the Neocortex Controlling the Content of Thought: Sensory Pathways and Hierarchies Dividing and Conquering: Language, Vision, and the Brain Hemispheres Where Consciousness Resides Chapter 14: The Executive Brain Getting the Brain You Have Today: The Neocortex versus Your Reptilian Brain Working Memory, Problem-Solving, and the Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Making Up and Changing Your Mind: The Orbitofrontal Cortex Are We There Yet? The Anterior Cingulate Cortex Chapter 15: Learning and Memory Learning and Memory: One More Way to Adapt to the Environment Sending More or Fewer Signals: Adaptation versus Facilitation Exploring What Happens during Learning: Changing Synapses The Role of the Hippocampus in Learning and Memory Losing Your Memory: Forgetting, Amnesia, and Other Disorders Getting Brainier: Improving your Learning Chapter 16: Developing and Modifying Brain Circuits: Plasticity Developing from Conception Learning from Experience: Plasticity and the Development of Cortical Maps Taking the Wrong Path: Nervous System Disorders of Development The Aging Brain Chapter 17: Neural Dysfunctions, Mental Illness, and Drugs That Affect the Brain Looking at the Causes and Types of Mental Illness The Promise of Pharmaceuticals Part 5: The Part of Tens Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) Crucial Brain Structures The Neocortex The Thalamus, Gateway to the Neocortex The Pulvinar The Cerebellum The Hippocampus Wernicke’s and Broca’s Areas The Fusiform Face Area The Amygdala The Lateral Prefrontal Cortex The Substantia Nigra (Basal Ganglia) The Anterior Cingulate Cortex Chapter 19: Ten Tricks of Neurons That Make Them Do What They Do Overcoming Neurons’ Size Limit Getting the Biggest Bang for the Buck with Dendritic Spines Ligand-Gated Receptors: Enabling Neurons to Communicate Chemically Getting Specialized for the Senses Computing with Ion Channel Currents Keeping the Signal Strong across Long Distances The Axon: Sending Signals from Head to Toe Speeding Things Up with Myelination Neural Homeostasis Changing Synaptic Weights to Adapt and Learn Chapter 20: Ten Amazing Facts about the Brain It Has 100 Billion Cells and a Quadrillion Synapses Consciousness Doesn’t Reside in Any Specific Area of the Brain It Has No Pain Receptors Cutting the Largest Fiber Tract in the Brain Produces Few Side Effects Einstein’s Brain Was Smaller than Average Adults Lose Several Hundred Thousand Neurons a Day with No Noticeable Effect Pound for Pound, It Takes a Lot of Energy It’s a Myth That We Use Only 10 Percent of Our Brains Brain Injuries Have Resulted in Savant Skills Adult Brains Can Grow New Neurons Chapter 21: Ten Promising Treatments for the Future Correcting Developmental Disorders through Gene Therapy Augmenting the Brain with Genetic Manipulation Correcting Brain Injury with Stem Cells Using Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat Neurological Disorders Stimulating the Brain Externally through TMS and tDCS Using Neuroprostheses for Sensory Loss Addressing Paralysis with Neuroprostheses