Sensory-Motor Integration in the Nervous System: (9 Experimental Brain Research Series)

Over 200 neuroscientists met at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Biophysikalische Chemie in Gottingen between April 7th-9th 1983 in order to honour a foreign member of the Institute, namely Sir John Carew Eccles, who celebrated his 80th birthday on January 27th 1983. It was a lively scientific gathering of former students, colleagues and friends of Sir John and Lady Helena. We had all come together from different parts of the world to celebrate this occasion, which gave us the wonderful chance to meet the various members of a large family, united by respect and gratitude for Sir John. The lectures were based on the many themes which have been at the centre of John Eccles' scientific zeal throughout his life. Indeed the chapter headings of this book have been taken from the book titles of Sir John's own work. We would also have liked to publish the discussions which took place after every lecture and to each of which John Eccles contributed in his usual lively manner, but editing them would not have conveyed the stimulating atmosphere, which Sir John created.

Table of Contents:
Curriculum Vitae and Bibliography of Sir John Eccles.- I. The Self and Its Brain.- Critical Remarks on the Knowledge of Lower and Higher Organisms, the So-Called Sensory Motor Systems.- Impasses and Fallacies of the Brain-Mind Discussion.- II. Reflex Activity of the Spinal Cord.- Non-invasive Analysis of the Spinal Cord Generators Activated by Somatosensory Input in Man: Near Field and Far Field Potentials.- Organization of Reflexes Evoked by Stimulation of Neck Receptors.- On Neuronal Pathways of Presynaptic Depolarization of Group I Muscle Afferents.- Spinal Integration of the Command for Respiratory Movements.- Segmental Control of Pain.- Central Effects by Ventral Root Nociceptive Afferents.- III. The Cerebellum as a Neuronal Machine.- Purkinje Cells of the Cerebellum: Localization and Function of Multiple Neuroactive Substances.- Integration of Mossy Fiber and Climbing Fiber Inputs to Purkinje Cells.- Cerebrocerebellar Interactions in Premovement Organization of Conditioned Hand Movements in the Monkey.- Cerebellar Plasticity and Motor Learning.- The Cerebellum and Adaptive Tuning of Movements.- Recent Aspects of the Function of the Inferior Olive.- IV. The Physiology of Nerve Cells.- What Central Inhibitory Pathways Tell Us About Mechanisms of Transmitter Release.- Reorganization of Neuronal Membrane Properties Following Axotomy.- Posttetanic Potentiation, Presynaptic Inhibition, and the Modulation of the Free Ca2+ Level in the Presynaptic Terminals.- Mechanosensibility of Joint Receptors with Fine Afferent Fibers.- V. The Physiology of Synapses.- The Form and Function of Synapses.- Norepinephrine and Acetylcholine Block a Calcium-Activated Potassium Hyperpolarization in Hippocampal Pyramidal Cells.- Evidence for Both Pre- and Postsynaptic Mechanisms During Long-Term Potentiation in Hippocampal Slices.- Long-Term Potentiation and Inhibition in CA3 Neurons.- Synaptic Plasticity in the Red Nucleus.- VI. The Understanding of the Brain.- Neocortical Neuron Circuit Models Reconsidered in the Light of the New Techniques.- The Sensorimotor Integration in Area 3a of the Cat.- Neuronal Organization of Cat Motor Cortex.- The Supplementary Motor Area in the Light of Recent Investigations.- Sensorimotor Integration in an Insect’s Brain: The Neurophysiological Basis for the Flashing Dialog in the Firefly Luciola lusitanica (Charp.).- VII. The Neurophysiological Basis of Mind.- Anomalous Contours: A Tool in Studying the Neurophysiology of Vision.- Attention, Readiness for Action, and the Stages of Voluntary Decision — Some Electrophysiological Correlates in Man.- Electrophysiological Cues of the Language-Dominant Hemisphere in Man: Slow Brain Potentials During Language Processing and Writing.