SERIES EDITOR: Ed Ziff, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Pharmacology, & Neural Science New York University School of Medicine
The human brain is the most complex, and in some ways the most enigmatic, of all biological entities. Our brain enables us to navigate a chaotic and unpredictable world by simplifying and making sense of our environment. Central to this role is the brain’s ability to modify its function in response to its own activity. Through self-modification, the brain creates records of the past, i.e. learning and memory, to which it assigns values, rewarding or aversive. By relating the present to the evaluated past, we can make optimal choices of behavior and understand the behaviors of others. Learning and memory examined at the molecular level will be the unifying theme of this series. Using the basic principles of synaptic plasticity as a starting point, the series will examine different memory formation pathways, such as those that reside in the hippocampus and in components of the brain’s reward system. We will also examine the breakdown of memory formation and the breakdown of social assessment in neurological diseases from Alzheimer’s to Autism Spectrum Disorders. More advanced topics will include the epigenetic pathways of memory formation, memory of substance abuse, and memory of aversive and stressful experiences. This series of books is intended for a broad, diverse readership, from neuroscientists working on various aspects of neurobiology to non-scientists with interests related to the brain, such as artificial intelligence experts and philosophers of mind. Each book will make the topic accessible to persons outside the field and serve as an up-to-date resource for scientists and lay persons alike to learn about recent advances in the neuroscience of memory formation.