Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems (A Bradford Book)

Prete, Frederick R.

ISBN 10: 0262661748 / ISBN 13: 9780262661744

Published by Bradford Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 2004

About this Item

This copy has some light rubbing of the covers, wear at corners. Book plate verso of the front cover. Interior text is clean and tight in binding. Numerous illustrations, center section in full color.

Seller Inventory # 606776

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems (A Bradford Book)
• Publisher: Bradford Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262661748
• ISBN 13: 9780262661744
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: various
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

About this title

Synopsis

The authors of Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems explain how animals with small, often minuscule, nervous systems—jumping spiders, bees, praying mantids, toads, and others—are not the simple "reflex machines" they were once thought to be. Because these animals live in the same world as do much larger species, they must meet the same environmental challenges. They do so by constructing complex perceptual worlds within which they can weigh options, make decisions, integrate unique experiences, apply complex algorithms, and execute plans—and they must do this with thousands rather than the billions of neurons necessary for their larger counterparts. The authors of each chapter, leading neuroscientists and animal behaviorists, present their research in ways that allow the reader to understand this process from the animal's perspective. The first of the book's three parts, "Creating Visual Worlds: Using Abstract Representations and Algorithms," examines the visual worlds of jumping spiders, honeybees, praying mantids, and toads. Part II, "Enhancing the Visual Basics: Using Color and Polarization," explores color vision and light polarization perception in honeybees, butterflies, crayfish, mantis shrimps, and octopuses. The final part, "Out of Sight: Creating Extravisual Worlds," examines the complex integration of visual and mechanosensory information in the cockroach and the unique auditory world of the unusual bladder grasshopper. All of these fascinating stories can be read both for what they teach us about the perceptual worlds of little animals, and for what they suggest about the general organizing principles of all central nervous systems, both "simple" and complex.

About the Author

Frederick R. Prete, Ph.D. is founder and President of VisuoTechnologies, LLC, which develops visual prostheses for blind and visually impaired children. He is an instructor of Biological Psychology at DePaul University, and both lead editor and a contributor to The Praying Mantids.