Brain Evolution by Design

Preface.- Part 1 The Origins of Neurons and Networks.- 1 Physical ethology of unicellular organism.- 2 Molecular characteristics of neuron-like functions in single-cell organisms.- 3 Back through time: how cnidarians and basal metazoans shed light on ancient nervous systems.- Part 2 The Rise of Diverse Brain Types.- 4 Functional specification of a primitive bilaterian brain in planarian.- 5 The computation and robustness of the mini-cognitive centers of terrestrial mollusks - an exquisite outcome of brain evolution.- 6 Insect brains - minute structures controlling complex behaviors.- 7 Identifying vertebrate brain prototypes in deuterostomes.- 8 Genome and Transcriptome-wide Researches of Brain Evolution.- Part 3 Cognitive Systems.- 9 The origin of vertebrate brain centers.- 10 Adaptive radiation and vertebrate brain diversity: cases of teleosts.- 11 Molecular profiling reveals insight into avian brain organization and functional columnar commonalities with mammals.- 12 The neocortex and dorsal ventricular ridge: functional convergence and underlying developmental mechanisms.- 13 Molecular investigations of the structure and development of the brain of carnivores.- 14 Evolution of the mammalian brain with a focus on whale olfactory bulbs.- 15 The Evolution and Function of Sleep.- 16 Prefrontal anatomical architecture and top-down behavioral control in human and non-human primates.- Part 4 Models and Designs.- 17 Organisational Principles of Connectomes: Changes during Evolution and Development.- 18 Muscular-Hydrostat Computers: Physical Reservoir Computing for Octopus-Inspired Soft Robots.- 19 Brain Evolution as an Information Flow Designer: the Ground Architecture for Biological and Artificial General Intelligence

"The range of the book is very wide. This actually becomes one of the volume's assets for any researcher or student who aims to achieve a wider, multidisciplinary view on cognitive and neural phenomena." (Fred A. Keijzer, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 93 (2), June, 2018)