Jean-Pierre Changeux - Neuronal Man: The Biology of Mind

This book made available by the Internet Archive.

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012

http://archive.org/details/neuronalmanbioloOOchan

Figure 1. Engraving showing location of faculties in brain (1520). 9

Figure 2. Illustration of brain by Vesalius (1543). 10

Figure 3. Section of brain between two hemispheres by Willis (1672). 12

Figure 4. Fanciful representation of Gall's phrenology (1836). 15

Figure 5. Nineteenth-century engraving of cortical convolutions. 18

Figure 6. Brodmann's map of cortical areas in man and

monkey. 20

Figure 7. Early drawing of nerve fibers by van Leeuwenhoek

(1718). 23

Figure 8. Early drawing of neuron by Deiters (1865). 25

Figure 9. Synapse between motor nerve and human skeletal

muscle. 27

Figure 10. Galvani's laboratory for experiments on animal

electricity (1791). 30

Figure 11. Neurons of locus coeruleus in rat with "chemical

map" of noradrenaline neurons. 35

Figure 12 Variation of brain weight with body weight in

insectivores and primates. 41

Figure 13. Schematic diagram of brain common to all vertebrates. 44

Figure 14. Expansion of neocortex from reptiles to man. 45

Figure 15. Main cell categories in cerebral cortex. 47

Figure 16. Meynert's view of cellular architecture in sensory

and motor cortices (1884). 49

Figure 17. Section of cerebral cortex of mouse, with detail of

asymmetrical synapse. 53

Figure 18. Principal input and output pathways of cerebral

cortex. 5 5 Figure 19. "Vertical" organization of cerebral cortex shown

by Powell and Mountcastle. 59 Figure 20. Bird's-eye view of macaque's visual cortex. 60 Figure 21. Organization of Purkinje cells in cerebellar cortex. 63 Figure 22. Distribution of "alpha-ON" ganglion cells in retina. 64 Figure 23. Electroencephalographic recordings. 69 Figure 24. Electrical response to stimulation of skin of rat's

paw. 71 Figure 25. Nerve signal in squid giant axon. 73 Figure 26. Abdominal ganglion of sea slug. 78 Figure 27. Spontaneous activity of neurons in sea slug. 79 Figure 28. Operation of a basic oscillator. 81 Figure 29. Electrical response to neurotransmitter in postsynaptic membrane. 87 Figure 30. Postsynpatic electrical wave in relation to opening

of molecule channels. 88 Figure 31. Acetylcholine receptors in torpedo fish. 92 Figure 32. Reconstruction of active membrane from chemically defined components. 94 Figure 33. Cricket's song. 99 Figure 34. Firing of Mauthner cell and flight of fish. 102 Figure 35. Formulas of levorphanol and dextrorphan. 105 Figure 36. Structural analogy between "endogenous morphine" and opiate. 106 Figure 37. Limbic system. 111 Figure 38. Map of area involving touch in macaque. 116 Figure 39. Figurines in rat, rabbit, and owl monkey. 118 Figure 40. Lesions of the cerebral cortex and language disturbances. 121 Figure 41. Activity of cortical neurons related to eye and

hand movements in macaque. 123 Figure 42. Task involving rotation of cubes to show physical

reality of mental images. 128

Figure 43. Ambiguous figure. 130

Figure 44. Reticular formation with dopaminergic neurons. 149

Figure 45. Effect of waking on activity of single neurons in

cat's visual cortex. 150

Figure 46. Effects of attention on single neurons in monkey

and man. 155

Figure 47. PET scans. 164

Figure 48. Differences in cerebral blood flow in normal and

schizophrenic subjects. 165

Figure 49. Drawings of human fetus by Leonardo da Vinci

(c. 1510). 171

Figure 50. Effect of albino mutation on lateral geniculate

nucleus. 172

Figure 51. Effect of genetic mutations on cerebellum of

mouse. 174

Figure 52. Heredity of cricket's song. 177

Figure 53. Stages in development of human egg and embryo. 187

Figure ?4 Nineteenth-century engraving of development of

human brain. 196

Figure 55. Five stages in embryonic development of cerebral

cortex. 197

Figure 56. Growth of dendritic trees in human cerebral cortex. 199

Figure 57. Projection of whiskers in mouse. 201

Figure 58. Variability in neuronal organization in identical

twins. 208

Figure 59. Mouse chimera. 211

Figure 60. Growth cones. 214

Figure 61. Cell death in spinal cord of chick embryo. 216

Figure 62. Regression during synapse development. 219

Figure 63. Graphs of spines and synapses in human visual

cortex at various ages. 220

Figure 64. Spontaneous activity in chick embryo's nervous

system. 222

Figure 65. Formation of synapse in rat embryo and after

birth. 225

Figure 66. Hypothesis of epigenesis by selective stabilization. 228

Figure 67. Cell death in chick embryo and elimination of

multiple innervations of muscle fiber in rat. 232

Figure 68. Effect of closing an eye on ocular-dominance columns in macaque. 234 Figure 69. Inverted viscera mutation. 238 Figure 70. Anatomical differences between right and left

hemispheres in man. 239

Figure 71. Syllabic attrition in swamp sparrow. 243

Figure 72. "Neuronal man," written in Kanji and Kana. 245

Figure 73. Comparison of chromosomes in humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. 252 Figure 74. Genealogical tree. 253 Figure 75. Skull casts of man's ancestors. 257 Figure 76. Embryonic cerebral vesicles in four vertebrate species. 260 Figure 77. Comparison of skulls of chimpanzee and modern

man. 262

Figure 78. Phylogenetic and ontogenetic evolution of the

pyramidal cell. 267

Figure 79. Alphabetical signs and ideograms on Egyptian inscription (c. 2300 b.c). 280 Figure 80. "Neuronal apocalypse." 283

Preface to the Oxford Edition

Neuronal Man was written in 1982 and has been regularly revised in subsequent printings and also for its English translation. Although the most up-to-date neurobiological data were, of course, taken into account during the initial editing of the work, it was not intended simply to be fashionable and, as such, doomed to becoming rapidly outdated. It represents, rather, an attempt to reflect in depth upon the neurosciences and their implications for mankind, based as much on the history of ideas and the evolution of knowledge as on the most recent discoveries. The examples used to illustrate the arguments put forward in the book were necessarily limited in number and presentation at the outset, but they were chosen with sufficient care to ensure that they still remain valid.

New facts have, of course, emerged to enrich our knowledge. There is room here for no more than a brief resume of these data, so I will mention just those which are especially remarkable either for their originality or for the results they bring about.

Among the latter, I will refer first, in the chapter on "Animal Spirits," to the fact that, contrary to a frequently held belief, one neurone synthesizes not just one neurotransmitter but in reality several at the same time. 1 This coexistence of several chemical messengers dramatically increases the range of signals available to the nerve cell with which to communicate with its neighbors. Similarly, neurone chemistry has been constantly developing, in particular as a result of the identification of the structure of receptors for various neuronal "messengers" and, more especially, of the ionic channel specific to the sodium ions responsible for the propagation of the nerve impulse. 2