Foundations of Neural Development is a textbook written with a conversational writing style and topics appropriate for an undergraduate audience. Each chapter begins with a thought-provoking vignette, or a "real-life story," that the subsequent material illuminates. The "Researchers at Work" feature, available in every chapter, describes a classic study in detail, taking the reader through the hypothesis, test, result, and conclusion of an experiment. A marginal glossary, review questions, and bulleted summary are a few of the other features in the book. Chapters 1-7 unfold in the order of ontogeny, covering induction, the establishment of a body plan, neural migration, differentiation, axonal pathfinding, synapse formation, and apoptosis. Chapters 8-10 address activity-guided, experience-guided, and socially guided neural development--mechanisms that were crucial for the evolution of the human brain. Lively and engaging, with the finest illustrations, Foundations of Neural
Development is the perfect book to help any undergraduate student understand how a single microscopic cell, a human zygote, can develop into the most complex machine on earth, the brain.
For the Student
Companion Website
The Foundations of Neural Development Companion Website contains a range of media and review resources to help students learn the material presented in each chapter of the textbook and to visualize some of the key processes discussed. The site includes the following resources:
* Chapter outlines
* Chapter summaries
* Animations: Detailed animations that cover some of the key processes presented in the textbook.
* Videos: Links to fascinating videos that demonstrate the processes and concepts of neural development.
* Flashcards: An easy way for students to learn and review the key terms introduced in each chapter.
* Glossary
* News Feed: A continuously-updated feed of links to science news articles relevant to neural developmental.