Название: Neurobiology For Dummies
Автор: Frank Amthor
Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited
Жанр: Медицина
isbn: 9781118691618
isbn:
329 327
330 328
331 329
332 330
333 331
334 332
335 333
336 334
337 335
338 336
339 337
340 338
341 339
342 340
343 341
344 342
345 343
346 344
347 345
348 346
349 347
350 348
351 349
352 350
353 351
354 352
355 353
356 354
357 355
358 356
359 357
360 358
361 359
362 360
363 361
364 362
365 363
366 364
367 365
368 366
369 367
370 368
371 369
372 370
373 371
374 372
375 373
376 374
377 375
378 376
379 377
380 378
381 379
382 380
383 381
384 382
385 383
386 384
387 385
388 386
389 387
390 388
391 389
392 390
393 391
394 392
395 393
Introduction
Life existed for a long time on earth before human intelligence. Does our planet just happen to be the only one whose conditions make life possible? Or are we one of billions of planets that sustain life? If little green men in flying saucers showed up, we could ask them the answer. But failing that, and without any conclusive evidence, we don’t really know.
The data we do have that we can examine is that life originated at least once here on earth very shortly after conditions appeared to be suitable to support it. More than three billion years after that, we humans appeared as a result of an almost uncountable number of life cycles, mutations, and reproductions.
This book is about the essential essence of humans as an intelligent life form — the nervous system. We can and do ask many questions about the nervous system, but here are three of the big ones:
What does our nervous system have in common with that of other animals?
How is our nervous system different from that of other animals?
What differences between humans are associated with differences in their nervous systems?
Neurobiologists have some answers to all three of these questions. We know that neurons are specialized cells with some functions specific to neurons, and others similar to most other cells on earth. We also know that nervous systems have similar organizational themes and methods of communication across all animal species. On the other hand, the nervous systems of mammals and primates are vastly more complicated than those of invertebrates and even of cold-blooded vertebrates. СКАЧАТЬ