Overrall Perspective

During the sencond half of the 20th century,the central focus of biology has shifted to neural science
and specifically to the biology of the mind.We
need to understand the processes by which we perceive,act,learn,and remember.How does the
brain- an organ weighing only three pounds conceive of the infinite,discover new knowledge,and produce the remarkable individuality of human thoughts,fellings,and actions?How
are these extraordinary mental capabilities distributed within the organ?How are different
mental processes localized to specific combinations of regions in the brain?What rules relate
the anatomical organization and the cellular physiology of a region the its specific role in mentation? To
what extent are mental processes hardwired into the neural architecture of the brain?What
do genes contribute to behavior,and how is gene expression in nerve cells regulated by developmental and learning processes?How
does experience alter the way the brain processes subsequent events,an to what degree is that processing unconscious?Finally,what
is the neural basis underlying neurological and psychiatric disease?In the introductory section
of Principles of Neural Science,we attempt to address these questions.In so doing,we describe
how neural science is attempting to link the logic of neural circuitry to the mind-how the activities of nerve cells within defined,neural circuits are related to the complexity of mental processes.