Crustacean Experimental Systems in Neurobiology, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2002

This book represents Part 2 of a venture started by distinguished neuroscientists to visualize and advertise the experimentally advantageous preparations of the crustacean nervous system. The advantage is a combination of ease of dissection of key structures and the possibility of repeatedly accessing identified individual cells to measure the detailed response of the system to the experimentally imposed stimulus program. Of course, the neurosciences have to focus their research on the nervous system of mammals and man in order to understand the principles of function and their regulation if malfunctions occur. This is in line with efforts to investigate nervous systems throughout the animal kingdom. The specific potential of the encountered systems for exploratory research into hitherto unexplained functions of the brain may very well be a key to new insights. The simply organized nervous system of crustaceans performs tasks of vital importance imposed on the organism. Hence this system consists of a complete set of neural circuitry open for inspection and measurement by systematic investigation. The first volume, The Crustacean Nervous System, contains exhaustive reports on experimental work from all sectors of neuroscience using crayfish and lobsters. This second volume, Crustacean Experimental Systems in Neurobiology", contains excellent reviews on significant topics in neurobiology. Each section is introduced by short texts written by the section editors of the Crustacean Nervous System. More, prominent authors explain their approach to understanding the brain using a selection of experiments involving visual orientation, neuromuscular systems and identification of principles of neural processing.

Reviews of Crustacean Neurobiology.- Crayfish Escape Behavior: Lessons Learned.- Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Amine Modulation in Crustacea.- Physiology of the Crustacean Cardiac Ganglion..- Statocysts and Statocyst Control of Motor Pathways in Crayfish and Crabs.- The Abdominal Muscle Receptor Organ of Crayfish and Lobsters: Current Issues.- Neurobiology of Crustacean Walking: from Past to Future.- Introductions to the Crustacean Nervous System.- Serotonin in Crustacean Systems: More than a Half Century of Fundamental Discoveries.- The Study ofNeuromodulators-Opening Pandora’s Box.- The Crustacean Synapse Scene at the End of the Millennium.- Invited special contribution: Synapse Specification for Regenerated Motoneurons in Crayfish Muscle.- Crustaceans as Animal Models for Olfactory Research.- Visual Systems.- Visual systems: Neural Mechanisms and Visual Behavior.- Path Integration in Fiddler Crabs and Its Relation to Habitat and Social Life.- The Sun, the Moon, and the Sandhopper.- Behavioral Evolution.- Synergies Between Disparate Motor Systems: Loci For Behavioral Evolution.- Crustacean Systems in Teaching Principles of Neuroscience.- The Crawdad Project: Crustaceans as Model Systems for Teaching Principles of Neuroscience.- of the volume: The Crustacean Nervous.