This book gives an up to date and comprehensive overview of the developing nervous system, with particular emphasis on the vertebrate brain. The past two decades have witnessed dramatic advances in our understanding of neural development in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Recent advances in the molecular genetic basis of developmental mechanisms are integrated with a synthesis of the classical literature to provide coverage of the key events, from the first appearance of the nervous system in the early embryo through postnatal and later stages. This book is intended for final year undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs doing courses in developmental neurobiology. The extensive reference list will also make it a useful source book for teachers and researchers in the field.
1. Model systems and review of early morphogenesis; 2. Origins of the nervous system: neural induction; 3. Patterning the central nervous system; 4. The emergence of neural fate; 5. The neural crest; 6. Glia and myelination; 7. Development of cerebral cortex and cerebellar cortex; 8. Development of sense organs; 9. Growth and guidance of axons and dendrites; 10. The formation of topographic maps; 11. Synapse formation; 12. Neurotrophic factors and their receptors; 13. Nerve cell death; 14. Rearrangement and stabilisation of synaptic connections; 15. The synaptic basis of learning; 16. Trophic interactions between neurons in the adult nervous system; 17. Repair and plasticity in the adult vertebrate nervous system