edited by H Gutfreund (Hebrew Univ., Israel) & G Toulouse (ENS, France)

This book provides a comprehensive review of the works in the rapidly evolving field of neural networks and brain studies. Its purpose is two-fold: to help physicists entering this field to get a broader view of the context of the domain, and to help scientists of other disciplines to reach a better understanding of the physicists' contributions within a context of perspectives they can relate to.

Included in the volume are 68 carefully selected, high quality reprints to provide the volume with both breadth and depth. It is organized into 5 sections and 22 chapters, both the sections and chapters being preceded by introductory comments by the editors.

• Setting the Stage:
  • Forewords
  • Introductory Warnings
  • Physics, Biology, Computation
  • Computer and Brain
  • Logic and Statistics
  • Some Perceptual Facts and Issues
• Biological Concepts and Methods
• • Computational Goals and Means:
  • Mental Representations
  • Information Theory and Perception
  • Neuroanatomy
  • Aspects of Biocomputation
• Modes of Computation
  • Processing and Learning:
  • Neural Networks
  • Parallel Algorithms
  • Generalization
  • Learning a Rule
  • Early Sensory Processing
  • Neural Codes
• Brain Areas, Circuits and Dynamics:
  • Sensory and Motor Pathways
  • Bridges between Psychophysics and Physiology
  • Structures and Functions of Various Brain Areas
  • Representations of Space in the Brain
  • Oscillations and Synchrony
• Debates and Speculations:
  • Theory-Experiment Interplay
  • Roles of Retroactivation
  • Computational Strategies
  • Language and Consciousness