Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience

Behavioral Neuroscientists study the behavior of animals and humans and the neurobiological and physiological processes that control it. Behavior is the ultimate function of the nervous system, and the study of it is very multidisciplinary. Disorders of behavior in humans touch millions of people’s lives significantly, and it is of paramount importance to understand pathological conditions such as addictions, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, autism among others, in order to be able to develop new treatment possibilities. Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience is the first and only multi-volume reference to comprehensively cover the foundation knowledge in the field. This three volume work is edited by world renowned behavioral neuroscientists George F. Koob, The Scripps Research Institute, Michel Le Moal, Université Bordeaux, and Richard F. Thompson, University of Southern California and written by a premier selection of the leading scientists in their respective fields. Each section is edited by a specialist in the relevant area. The important research in all areas of Behavioral Neuroscience is covered in a total of 210 chapters on topics ranging from neuroethology and learning and memory, to behavioral disorders and psychiatric diseases.

Table of Contents:
The Encyclopedia includes 210 chapters in total across several sections of Behavioral Neuroscience. Sections include: Animal models of Behavior – Edited by Dai Stephens Behavioral Genetics - Edited by Diana Woodruf-Pak Brain Aging – Edited by Diana Woodruf-Pak Brain Disorders – Edited by Francis Eustache Cognitive Neuroscience – Edited by Russell Poldrack Drugs of Abuse – Edited by Freidbert Weiss Emotional Behavior – Edited by Robert Blanchard Ethology and Neuroethology – Edited by Bernard Thierry Learning and Memory – Edited by Jeansok Kim Motivation – Edited by Rick Bevins Non-Drug Addiction – Edited by Marc Potenza Psychoneuroendocrinology – Edited by Robert Dantzer Reproductive Behavior – Edited by Elizabeth Adkins-Regan Sensation/Perception – Edited by Andre Nieoullon Sleep and Waking – Edited by Allan Hobson Stress – Edited by Tracy L Bale Synaptic Plasticity – Edited by Tracey Shors

About the Author :
George F. Koob, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair of the Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders at The Scripps Research Institute and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, and Adjunct Professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Koob received his Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. in Behavioral Physiology from The Johns Hopkins University. An authority on addiction and stress, Dr. Koob has published over 670 scientific papers and has received continuous funding for his research from the National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). He is Director of the NIAAA Alcohol Research Center at The Scripps Research Institute, Consortium Coordinator for NIAAA's multi-center Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism, and Co-Director of the Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research. Dr. Koob is Editor-in-Chief USA for the journal Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior and Editor-in-Chief for Journal of Addiction Medicine. He won the Daniel Efron Award for excellence in research from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, was honored as a Highly Cited Researcher from the Institute for Scientific Information, was presented with the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism, and won the Mark Keller Award from NIAAA. He received an honorary doctorate from Pennsylvania State University in 2009. Dr. Koob's research interests have been directed at the neurobiology of emotion, with a focus on the theoretical constructs of reward and stress. He has made contributions to our understanding of the anatomical connections of the emotional systems and the neurochemistry of emotional function. Dr. Koob has identified afferent and efferent connections of the basal forebrain (extended amygdala) in the region of the nucleus accumbens, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and central nucleus of the amygdala in motor activation, reinforcement mechanisms, behavioral responses to stress, drug self-administration, and the neuroadaptation associated with drug dependence. Dr. Koob also is one of the world's authorities on the neurobiology of drug addiction. He has contributed to our understanding of the neurocircuitry associated with the acute reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse and more recently on the neuroadaptations of these reward circuits associated with the transition to dependence. He has validated key animal models for dependence associated with drugs of abuse and has begun to explore a key role of anti-reward systems in the development of dependence. Dr. Koob's work with the neurobiology of stress includes the characterization of behavioral functions in the central nervous system for catecholamines, opioid peptides, and corticotropin-releasing factor. Corticotropin-releasing factor, in addition to its classical hormonal functions in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, is also located in extrahypothalamic brain structures and may have an important role in brain emotional function. Recent use of specific corticotropin-releasing factor antagonists suggests that endogenous brain corticotropin-releasing factor may be involved in specific behavioral responses to stress, the psychopathology of anxiety and affective disorders, and drug addiction. Dr. Koob also has characterized functional roles for other stress-related neurotransmitters/neuroregulators such as norepinephrine, vasopressin, hypocretin (orexin), neuropeptide Y, and neuroactive steroids. Michel Le Moal, M.D., Ph.D, earned his degrees from the University of Bordeaux and University of Grenoble. He was a student at the French school for military physicians and surgeons and then as a navy practitioner he pursued in parallel, his internship and residency in internal medicine, neurology and psychiatry at the Bordeaux Medical School (1954-1968). He earned his medical degree in 1964 and his certification as a child neuropsychiatrist in 1968. He also earned a masters degree in philosophy and psychology (1961, University of Grenoble and Bordeaux) and a masters degree in biological sciences (1962, University of Bordeaux) and finally a Doctorate of Science in 1974 (University of Bordeaux). His academic career developed entirely in Bordeaux, first in child neuropsychiatry (medical school) then in Neuroscience as assistant, associate, full professor (from 1964 to 2004). He was the chairman of the Neurosciences Department (1976-2004), a member of the University Institute of France, and chair of experimental psychopathology. He has been a visiting associate and research fellow at the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH, Pasadena) (1974-1977, Pr J. Olds), The Salk Institute, San Diego (1978-1984, Pr F. E. Bloom, and The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego (1984- present) (Pr F. E. Bloom and Pr G. F. Koob). His research includes the neurobiological bases of stress, addiction, and of adaptive behaviors in general using animal models of psychopathology and experimental psychopathology. He created the Francois Magendie Neuroscience Institute (1996) in Bordeaux and is still a member of this institution. He is emeritus Professor (University of Bordeaux) and Member of the French Academy of Sciences. Richard F. Thompson is Keck Professor of Psychology and Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California and was founding Director of the Neuroscience Program at USC (1989-2001). Prior to this he held tenured professorships at the University of Oregon Medical School; University of California, Irvine; Harvard and Stanford. He received his BA degree at Reed College in Portland, OR, his BS and Ph.D. degrees in at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and did postdoctoral research in Neurophysiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine (with Clinton Woolsey) and the University of Goteburg School of Medicine in Sweden (with Anders Ludberg). His research has focused on neuronal substrates of learning and memory in the mammalian brain; most notably, he (1) elucidated the defining behavioral properties of habituation and sensitization and analyzed the underlying brain processes, and (2) localized and analyzed the essential memory trace for a basic form of association learning and memory in the mammalian brain (to a region in the cerebellum). He has written several texts, published some 470 research papers to date and has received many honors, including election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, the Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists and the Karl Spencer Lashley Award from the American Philosophical Society.

Review :
"An excellent resource providing detailed information on specific behavioral neuroscience topics. Some 200 articles are alphabetically presented within 24 subject areas. From the list of subject areas, readers may select an article and look at either a preview with an abstract and the article outline, or the full-text PDF. All articles, written by authorities in the field, begin with a helpful glossary that defines key terms. Headings and subheadings clearly show the structure of the articles, wich combine technical information with content that nonexperts can grasp. Articles conclude with a list of resources for further reading. Reader who choose the preview may link to specific subsections in the HTML version of an article. Researchers may also click on links to related journal articles or to articles from reference works: these come from a variety of publications within ScienceDirect (CH, Sep'06, 44-0034). Clicking on an article's title brings up an HTML version that includes internatl and external hyperlinks for terms and references. A search box finds all encyclopedia articles that relate to a given term. This ScienceDirect Web site is logically organized, consistent in functionality, loads quickly and features links that work. A look a the table of contents and some sample content from the Oxford Handbook of Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience, edited by M.S. Blumberg, J.H. Freeman, and S.R. Robinson (CH, Jul'10, 47-6563) reveals articles that are very physiologically oriented, compared to the more behavioral/psychological/physiological blend in EBN. This encyclopedia, which is also available in print, will be extremely useful for a wide range of readers. Summing up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners; general readers."--CHOICE 2011