Introduction 1
Part 1: Introducing the Nervous System 5
Chapter 1: A Quick Trip through the Nervous System 7
Chapter 2: All about the Brain and Spinal Cord 23
Chapter 3: Understanding How Neurons Work 51
Part 2: Translating the Internal and External Worlds through Your Senses 69
Chapter 4: Feeling Your Way: The Skin Senses 71
Chapter 5: Looking at Vision 87
Chapter 6: Sounding Off: The Auditory System 109
Chapter 7: Odors and Taste 127
Part 3: Moving Right Along: Motor Systems 143
Chapter 8: Movement Basics 145
Chapter 9: Coordinating Things More: The Spinal Cord and Pathways 159
Chapter 10: Planning and Executing Actions 173
Chapter 11: Unconscious Actions with Big Implications 191
Part 4: Intelligence: The Thinking Brain and Consciousness 211
Chapter 12: Understanding Intelligence, Consciousness, and Emotions 213
Chapter 13: How the Brain Processes Thoughts 239
Chapter 14: The Executive Brain 259
Chapter 15: Learning and Memory 275
Chapter 16: Developing and Modifying Brain Circuits: Plasticity 299
Chapter 17: Neural Dysfunctions, Mental Illness, and Drugs That Affect the Brain 325
Part 5: The Part of Tens 339
Chapter 18: Ten (or So) Crucial Brain Structures 341
Chapter 19: Ten Tricks of Neurons That Make Them Do What They Do 349
Chapter 20: Ten Promising Treatments for the Future 357
Glossary 367
Index 383
