'Anna Huttenlocher has written a fascinating book and an important biography of her father. [It] poses some deep questions about where science comes from, and provides some useful suggestions about how we might promote a healthier scientific society in the future.' Christopher Walsh, Lancet Neurology
How do the billions of connections between neurons in our brain change as we learn and remember? This is the story of the discovery and the discoverer of synaptic pruning, the process of synapse elimination central to making us who we are. Taking the reader from Professor Peter Huttenlocher's childhood in wartime and post-war Germany to his emigration to the US to reunite with his mother and the launch and progress of a career in medicine and research, we uncover the motivations and process of scientific discovery that led to an unexpected leap in our understanding of the human brain. Decades after the discovery, the importance of synaptic pruning to early learning, autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions are now in the process of being uncovered.
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Acknowledgments; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Discovering Synaptic Pruning; 3. Else, Peter's Mother; 4. Richard, Peter's Father, and Peter's Uncle Fritz; 5. Greiz: Kriegskinder (Children of War); 6. In Braubach, after the War; 7. University of Buffalo and Philosophy; 8. Harvard Medical School; 9. Understanding Sleep and Consciousness: Research at NIH; 10. Entering the Cognitive Revolution: Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology; 11. Physician First, Scientist Second?; 12. Comparative Brain Regions and Synapse Formation; 13. Stimulating Progress on Developmental Brain Disorders; 14. Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Schizophrenia: A Role for Synaptic Pruning?; 15. Early Childhood Education; 16. Peter and Janellen's Collaboration; 17. Microglia and the Mechanisms of Synaptic Pruning; 18. Looking Forward: Being a Physician and a Scientist; 19. Parkinson's Disease and Berlin; 20. Auf Deutsch; Reflections at the End; Glossary; Index.
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Riveting biography of scientist Peter Huttenlocher taking reader from his childhood in war-torn Germany to his discovery of synaptic pruning.
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781009267069
Publisert
2024-09-12
Utgiver
Vendor
Cambridge University Press
Vekt
256 gr
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
9 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
161
Forfatter