Disorder versus order in brain function essays in theoretical neurobiology (World Scientific Pub., 2000)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Disorder versus order in brain function : an introduction / Peter Århem, Clas Blomberg, Hans Liljenström -- A primer on noise and chaos / Clas Blomberg -- Molecular background to neural fluctuations : an introduction to ion channel kinetics / Peter Århem -- What causes ion channel proteins to open and close? / Larry Liebovitch & Angelo Todorov -- Noise in neural computation / Diana Smetters -- Do neurons recognize patterns or rates? : one example / Frank Moss & Hans Braun -- A physicist's view of brain functioning : coherence, chaos, pattern formation, noise / Hermann Haken -- Fluctuations in the coordination dynamics of brain and behavior / Scott Kelso -- Brains create macroscopic order from microscopic disorder by neurodynamics in perception / Walter Freeman -- Some randomness benefits a model of hippocampal function / William Levy & Xiangbao Wu -- Consciousness, Schemata and language / Rodney Cotterill
The main aim of this book is to raise and clear up the intriguing problems of noise and chaos in the nervous system. What functional role do fluctuations in neural systems play? Are there chaotic processes in the brain? What is the neural code, and how robust is it towards noise? Are there mechanisms that can control noise and chaos? The book provides an introduction to this new and hot field of research, and at the same time brings the reader to the forefront of scientific inquiry. It is intended primarily for biologists involved in theoretical treatment and for physicists with an interest in biology, but the overview character of the articles makes it also well suited for a broader readership