Main description:

The way you perceive the world, plan, make decisions and communicate your thoughts and feelings depends on the function and hierarchical arrangement of cortical modules. The ability to both provide adaptive responses to our ever-changing environment and to pursue a useful role in society is the most important problem faced by present day neuroscientists. In essence, the workings of cortical modules define the nature of our soul, making each of us who we are. This book provides a breath-taking view of different perspectives by world renowned authorities as to the workings of these cortical modules both in the normal state and in mental disorders.

Contents:

Introduction
Manuel F. Casanova and Ioan Opris

Vernon Benjamin Mountcastle
Manuel F. Casanova

Modular organization of the prefrontal cortex: the legacy of Patricia Goldman-Rakic
Lynn D. Selemon

The types of functional and structural subdivisions of cortical areas
Jon H. Kaas and Pooja Balaram

The types of functional and structural subdivisions of cortical areas
Jon H. Kaas and Pooja Balaram

The minicolumn in comparative context
Muhammad A. Spocter, Mary Ann Raghanti, Camilla Butti, Patrick Hof, and Chet C. Sherwood

Unusual cortical lamination patterns in the sengis (elephant shrews) do not appear to influence the presence of cortical minicolumns
Paul Manger, Nina Patzke, Nadine Gravett, Katarina Medger, Consolate Kaswera, Emmanuel Gilissen, and Nigel Bennett

Active inference, predictive coding and cortical architecture
Rick A. Adams, Karl J. Friston, and Andre M. Bastos

Columnar organization of the motor cortex: direction of movement
Apostolos P. Georgopoulos

Discrete, place-defined macrocolumns in somatosensory cortex: lessons for modular organization of the cerebral cortex
Oleg V. Favorov, Barry L. Whitsel, and Mark Tommerdahl

Prefrontal cortical microcircuits for executive control of behavior
Ioan Opris, Ioana L. Popa, and Manuel F. Casanova

Cytoarchitectural modules: functional specialisation and disruption in neuropsychiatric disorders
Steven Chance

The relevance of subplate modifications to connectivity in the cerebral cortex of individuals with autism spectrum disorders
Jeffrey J. Hutsler and Thomas Avino

The minicolumnopathy of autism
Manuel F. Casanova

Clinical applications of electrophysiological approaches based on cortical modularity in autism
Estate M. Sokhadze, Lonnie Sears, Ayman S. El-Baz, Allan Tasman, and Manuel F. Casanova

Index