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Progress in the Neural Sciences in the Century after Cajal (and the Mysteries That Remain)
Author(s) -
ALBRIGHT THOMAS D.,
JESSELL THOMAS M.,
KANDEL ERIC R.,
POSNER MICHAEL I.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb05704.x
Subject(s) - neuroscience , biology
A bstract : One hundred years after Santiago Ramón y Cajal provided critical evidence for the “neuron doctrine,” his cellular view of the brain remains the basis of modern neural science. This article begins with a review of how the early work of Ramón y Cajal, Charles Sherrington, and John Eccles and their contemporaries laid the groundwork for our current understanding of the information processing of neural systems and for understanding the task faced by studies of how the brain develops. The visual system is examined in some detail as a model for experimental investigation into the structure, operational mechanisms, and functions of large neural systems. Discussion of the phenomena of visual awareness and consciousness, links between the visual system and other brain systems, and disorders that disrupt voluntary control of cognition and emotion lead to a broader consideration of the problem of consciousness.