Nerve Cells, Neuromental Diseases and the Mind Functions

This book reviews the current knowledge provided by basic and clinical neuroscience on the brain-mind relationship. The submicroscopic organization of the neuron, the transductional function of the neuronal plasma membrane and the genesis of cognition at the subcellular level are described. The role of macromolecules, especially RNA and DNA in memory coding, the probable role of microtubules according to the quantum hypothesis of Penrose and Hameroff are analyzed. The role of myelin axons, dendrites and dendritic spines in nerve impulse conduction and their relationship with alterations in neurological and mental diseases is highlighted. Excitatory and inhibitory chemical synapses, the formation of circuits and neuronal networks, synaptic plasticity at the submicroscopic level and the changes observed in trauma, tumors and congenital brain malformations are described. Learning and memory according to Kandel, the mystery of consciousness according to Beck and Eccles, Crick and Cock, Edelman and Damasio, and the theories about the mind of Eccles, Crick, Searle, Edelman, Llinás and Damasio are briefly sketched.