Brain/Bibliography

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• Bohland JW, Wu C, Barbas H, Bokil H, Bota M, Breiter HC et al. (2009). "A proposal for a coordinated effort for the determination of brainwide neuroanatomical connectivity in model organisms at a mesoscopic scale". PLoS Comput Biol 5 (3): e1000334. DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000334. PMID 19325892. PMC PMC2655718. Research Blogging. ^[e]

Suggests a framework for the study of the brain in model organisms at a mesoscopic scale, i.e. at length scales between the microscopic (≤ 100μm) and macroscopic (≥ several mm) levels. Based on the experience with the impact of wide-spread data sharing in other scientific disciplines (e.g. genomics), the criteria for a centralized knowledge repository on mesoscopic aspects of the brain in the rat, the macaque and humans are laid out.

• Buckner, R.L.; J.R. Andrews-Hanna & D.L. Schacter (2008), "The brain's default network: anatomy, function, and relevance to disease", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1124: 1-38, DOI:10.1196/annals.1440.011 ^[e]
• Vallender, E.J.; N. Mekel-Bobrov & B.T. Lahn (2008), "Genetic basis of human brain evolution", Trends in Neurosciences 31: 637, DOI:10.1016/j.tins.2008.08.010 ^[e]

A brief and balanced overview over the genetic mechanisms currently deemed relevant for the evolution of the human brain, along with pointers to some related methodological issues.

• Crespi, B. & C. Badcock (2008), "Psychosis and autism as diametrical disorders of the social brain", Behav Brain Sci 31 (3): 241–261, DOI:10.1017/S0140525X08004214 ^[e]
• Lein, Ed S.; Michael J. Hawrylycz & Nancy Ao et al. (2007), "Genome-wide atlas of gene expression in the adult mouse brain", Nature 445 (7124): 168–176, DOI:10.1038/nature05453 ^[e]

Provides a brief description of The Allen Brain Atlas of the adult mouse brain (strain C57BL/6J) - "a genome-scale collection of cellular resolution gene expression profiles using in situ hybridization" of over 20,000 genes (i.e. most mouse genes then known to encode proteins). Also reports that "approximately 80% of total genes assayed display some cellular expression above background in the brain."

• Braitenberg, Valentino (2007), "Brain", Scholarpedia 2 (11): 2918
• Cosgrove, K.P.; C.M. Mazure & J.K. Staley (2007), "Evolving Knowledge of Sex Differences in Brain Structure, Function, and Chemistry", Biological Psychiatry 62 (8): 847–855, DOI:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.001 ^[e]
• Molnár, Z.; C. Métin & A. Stoykova et al. (2006), "Comparative aspects of cerebral cortical development", Eur J Neurosci 23 (4): 921–934, DOI:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04611.x ^[e]
• Raz, N. & K.M. Rodrigue (2006), "Differential aging of the brain: patterns, cognitive correlates and modifiers", Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 30 (6): 730-748, DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2006.07.001 ^[e]

Abstract:

Deciphering the secret of successful aging depends on understanding the patterns and biological underpinnings of cognitive and behavioral changes throughout adulthood. That task is inseparable from comprehending the workings of the brain, the physical substrate of behavior. In this review, we summarize the extant literature on age-related differences and changes in brain structure, including postmortem and noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. Among the latter, we survey the evidence from volumetry, diffusion-tensor imaging, and evaluations of white matter hyperintensities (WMH). Further, we review the attempts to elucidate the mechanisms of age-related structural changes by measuring metabolic markers of aging through NMR spectroscopy (MRS). We discuss the putative links between the pattern of brain aging and the pattern of cognitive decline and stability. We then present examples of activities and conditions (hypertension, hormone deficiency, aerobic fitness) that may influence the course of normal aging in a positive or negative fashion. Lastly, we speculate on several proposed mechanisms of differential brain aging, including neurotransmitter systems, stress and corticosteroids, microvascular changes, calcium homeostasis, and demyelination.

• Toga, A.W.; Thompson, P.M. (2005). "Genetics of brain structure and intelligence". Annual Review of Neuroscience 28: 1-23. DOI:10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.061604.135655. Research Blogging.

• Gomez, J.C. (2005), "Species comparative studies and cognitive development", Trends Cogn Sci 9 (3): 118–125, DOI:10.1016/j.tics.2005.01.004 ^[e]
• Sporns, O.; D.R. Chialvo & M. Kaiser et al. (2004), "Organization, development and function of complex brain networks", Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8 (9): 418–425, DOI:10.1016/j.tics.2004.07.008 ^[e]
• Pakkenberg, B.; D. Pelvig & L. Marner et al. (2003), "Aging and the human neocortex", Experimental gerontology 38 (1-2): 95–99, DOI:10.1016/S0531-5565(02)00151-1 ^[e]

Provides an overview over histological findings on the number of neurons and glia cells in the human neocortex and how they relate to age and gender.

• Linden DE (2002). "Five hundred years of brain images". Arch Neurol 59 (2): 308-13. PMID 11843706. ^[e]

• Clark, D.A.; P.P. Mitra & S.S. Wang (2001), "Scalable architecture in mammalian brains", Nature 411 (6834): 189–93, DOI:10.1038/35075564 ^[e]
• Gilbert, P.F.C. (2001), "An outline of brain function", Cognitive Brain Research 12 (1): 61–74, DOI:10.1016/S0926-6410(01)00035-0
• Chiel, H.J. & R.D. Beer (1997), "The brain has a body: adaptive behavior emerges from interactions of nervous system, body and environment", Trends in Neurosciences 20 (12): 553–557, DOI:10.1016/S0166-2236(97)01149-1 ^[e]
• Aiello, L.C. & P. Wheeler (1995), "The Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis: the Brain and the Digestive System in Human and Primate Evolution", Current Anthropology 36 (2): 199-221, DOI:10.1086/204350 ^[e]

Proposed that the energetic costs of the resting metabolism of different organs within the body have to be balanced. Specifically, such a trade-off is hypothesized to have governed the increasing brain size during primate and human evolution, in concert with a decrease in the amount of digestive tissue. For a critique, see Hladik et al. (1999).

• Frank, E. & P. Wenner (1993), "Environmental specification of neuronal connectivity", Neuron 10 (5): 779–785, DOI:10.1016/0896-6273(93)90194-V ^[e]
• Braitenberg, Valentino (1987), Vehicles, Experiments in synthetic psychology, Cambridge, Mass., [etc.]: The MIT Press, ISBN 0262521121, OCLC 18269344 67485950
• Snell, Otto (1892), "Die Abhängigkeit des Hirngewichtes von dem Körpergewicht und den geistigen Fähigkeiten", Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten 23: 436-446, DOI:10.1007/BF01843462
• Baillarger, J. (1845), "De l’étendue de la surface du cerveau", Gazette des Hôpitaux 18: 179