Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology

Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology, Volume 9 reviews developments in the fields of psychobiology and physiological psychology, with emphasis on selected areas of research relating brain mechanisms and behavior. Topics covered range from sensory-perceptual systems in mammals to behavioral modulation of visual responses in monkeys. Brain pathways for vocal learning in birds are also examined, along with neural mechanisms in taste aversion learning.

Comprised of seven chapters, this volume begins with an insightful account of the evolution of concepts regarding cortical organization relevant to perception in mammals. Studies of single unit activity in awake, behaving monkeys are then presented, followed by a discussion on the neural control of song in birds. In particular, the brain pathways involved in vocal learning in birds are defined anatomically and physiologically, including the presence of hemispheric dominance and the sensitivity to steroid hormones. Subsequent chapters focus on the response characteristics of the cells in the forebrain that give stimuli their significance for associative learning; the neuropsychological mechanisms of taste aversion learning; and the psychobiology of thirst. The final chapter is devoted to the pineal gland and its anatomical connection to the eyes, together with pineal hormones, polypeptides, and proteins.

This book should appeal to biologists, psychologists, and physiologists.

List of Contributors

Preface

Contents of Previous Volumes

Principles of Organization of Sensory-Perceptual Systems in Mammals

I. Introduction

II. Some Traditional Concepts of Forebrain Organization Relevant to the Genesis of Perception

III. Summary of Some Recent Studies of Forebrain Organization

IV. General Conclusions

References

Behavioral Modulation of Visual Responses in the Monkey: Stimulus Selection for Attention and Movement

I. Introduction

II. Superior Colliculus

III. Striate and Prestriate Cortices

IV. Parietal and Frontal Association Cortices

V. Functional Implications

VI. Conclusion

References

Brain Pathways for Vocal Learning in Birds: A Review of the First 10 Years

I. Introduction

II. Hypoglossal Dominance

III. Brain Pathways for Vocal Control

IV. Relations between Song Ontogeny and the Ontogeny of Song Control Pathways

V. Relation of Testosterone to Vocal Behavior

VI. The Evolution of Song Learning and of Its Anatomical Correlates

VII. Overview and Summary

References

Neuronal Activity of Cingulate Cortex, Anteroventral Thalamus, and Hippocampal Formation in Discriminative Conditioning: Encoding and Extraction of the Significance of Conditional Stimuli

I. Introduction

II. Neuronal Activity of Limbic Structures in Relation to Discriminative Avoidance Learning and Performance in the Rabbit

III. Functional Interpretation of Discriminative Neuronal Activity in Cingulate Cortex and in the AV Thalamus

IV. Role of the Hippocampal Formation in the Encoding of Stimulus Significance

V. Summary

References

Neural Mechanisms in Taste Aversion