Aranzio's seahorse : the search for memory and consciousness / Alan J. McComas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McComas, Alan J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Memory.

Consciousness.

Hippocampus (Brain).

Limbic system.

Amygdaloid body.

Hippocampus.

Neurosciences--history.

Limbic System.

Amygdala.

Medical Subjects:

Hippocampus.

Neurosciences--history.

Memory.

Consciousness.

Limbic System.

Amygdala.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 328 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Search for memory and consciousness

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2023.

Summary:

Alan J. McComas recounts the research that led to recognition of the hippocampus, a structure deep within the brain, as being primarily responsible for memory. This intriguing and exciting account includes observations on patients with memory loss as well as insights from ingenious laboratory experiments.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Note to Reader

Introduction

The Journey that Led to the Book

PART I: MEMORY

1. The Undisturbed Seahorse

2. A Portentous Crossing

3. Graduate Studies at Montreal Neurological Institute

4. Bold Surgeon and Compliant Patient

5. Triumph and an Unprovoked Attack

6. The Path to Psychiatry

7. A Trip to Australia

8. Taking Stock

9. Visual Focus

10. Enter the Giant Sea Slug

11. Human Neurons-Success and Disappointment

12. Understanding Pain

13. Return of the Slug

14. Polish Insights

15. Continuing Excitation in Norway

16. Revelation on Gower Street

17. Mathematics and the Hippocampus

18. 1980: Departures

19. Hidden Faces

20. More than a Headache

21. Unexpectedly, a Grid

22. A Telephone Call

23. Death and Disorder

24. Jennifer Aniston Discovered

25. New Cells or Not?

26. Neurons that Glow

27. Summary

PART II: THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS

A. General Issues

28. Preamble

29. Definition of Consciousness

30. Theories of Consciousness

B. Limbic System as Location of Consciousness

31. Recognition of the 'Limbic System'

32. Anatomy of the Limbic System

33. Clinical Evidence of Hippocampal (Limbic) Involvement in Consciousness

(a) Brain stimulation during surgery

(b) Psychomotor epilepsy (Hughlings Jackson's 'dreamy states')

(c) EEG recordings during psychomotor epilepsy

(d) Concept cell activity during thought

34. Animal Evidence Consistent with Consciousness Generation in Limbic System (rather than Cortex)

35. Additional Evidence against the Cerebral Cortex as Alternative

(a) 'Voluntary' movements

(b) Sensory deprivation

(c) Children with cortical agenesis

(d) Cortical structure and 'time-chunking'.

C. Short-Term Memory as the Mechanism of Consciousness

36. The Evolutionary Argument

37. The 'Minimum Time' Argument for Consciousness

D. Neural Mechanisms Involved

38. Clive Wearing and Henry Molaison Reconsidered

39. Role of the Amygdala

40. Role of the Non-Hippocampal Cortex

41. Back to the Hippocampus

42. The Numbers Game

43. Speculations on Spatial Maps and Other Issues

44. Final Note: The Multi-Tasking Hippocampus

E. Recapitulation, Synthesis, and Epilogue

45. Recapitulation and Synthesis

46. Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Index.

Notes:

This edition also issued in print: 2023.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on November 2, 2022).

Other Format:

Print version: McComas, Alan J. Aranzio's Seahorse

ISBN:

9780191960291

0191960292

9780192694362

0192694367

9780192694355

0192694359