The Neurobiology of an Insect Brain

Abstract
Studies of insect nervous systems have made an immense contribution to our understanding of how a brain works and the way that the connections between constituent neurons are formed during development. This book brings these together. By concentrating largely on one insect, the locust, it unravels the mechanisms by which a brain integrates the vast array of sensory information to generate appropriate movements and behaviour. The book first describes the basic structure of an insect brain and how this complex structure is formed during embryonic development. The cellular properties of the different types of neurons, and the way they are altered by neurosecretions, are then analysed with respect to the integrative actions of these neurons during behaviour. Finally, the various movements that an insect performs are investigated at the cellular level to illustrate particular features of the integrative processing. Throughout, the book emphasises how knowledge of these simpler nervous systems contributes to our understanding of more complex brains, and at the same time provides the functional synthesis into which future molecular and computational studies can be woven.

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