An Introduction to Nervous Systems

"An Introduction to Nervous Systems" is a brief introduction to the principles of neurobiology from an evolutionary perspective - from single-celled organisms to complex invertebrates such as flies - ideal for use as supplemental textbook. Greenspan presents the mechanisms that allow behavior to become ever more sophisticated - from simple avoidance behavior of Paramecium through to the complex cognitive behaviors of the honeybee - and shows how these mechanisms produce the increasing neural complexity found in these organisms. The book ends with a discussion of what is universal about nervous systems and what may be required, neurobiologically, to be human. This is a novel and highly accessible approach to the presentation of fundamental principles of neurobiology, in a book designed to be accessible to undergraduate and graduate students not already steeped in the subject.