Brain Leitmotifs: The Structure and Activity Patterns of Neuronal Networks

這本書探討了為什麼大腦如此難以完全理解的問題。在神經科學中，使用驚人的技術獲取和分析數據，並且這些數據迅速累積。然而，試圖解釋一個人如何思考或為什麼會有精神分裂症這樣的狀況時，我們似乎真的知之甚少。為了應對這些困難，作者首先提出了一些案例研究，其中詳細解釋了神經回路的運作方式，同時也理解了這些運作的功能意義。這些例子在生物學細節上很複雜，但在概念上很直觀。希望這些例子能引起對神經科學成就的欣賞。然後，作者們提出了一些思考，關於如何應對這些問題——不是考慮整體認知，而是選擇一個適合形式描述的認知子集。

Roger D. Traub, M.D. is a Principal Research Scientist at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He studied pure mathematics at Princeton University and M.I.T., obtained his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and became a board-certified neurologist after training at the Neurological Institute of New York/Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He has worked in computational neuroscience since the 1970s with major interests in epilepsy and cortical oscillations. Much of his collaborative work was with the late Miles A. Whittington, to whom this book is dedicated. Dr. Traub additionally began collaborating with Andreas Draguhn in 1997, in research leading (among other things) to novel studies of the mechanisms of very fast neuronal oscillations. As well as other honors, Dr. Traub has served as a Wellcome Trust PrincipalResearch Fellow in the U.K., a visitor at the University of Heidelberg as a Humboldt Prize winner, and has been an Einstein Visiting Fellow at the Berlin Charité/Humboldt University.

Andreas Draguhn, M.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurophysiology at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University. He studied medicine, physics and philosophy at Bonn University. His dissertation work with Bert Sakmann and Peter Seeburg (Max Planck Institutes Göttingen /Heidelberg) dealt with biophysical and pharmacological properties of GABA_A receptor subtypes. He then joined the laboratory of Uwe Heinemann where he worked on physiological and pathological activity in hippocampal networks. Following his habilitation at the Charité (Berlin) he moved to Heidelberg where he continues to work on the phenomenology and mechanisms underlying neuronal network oscillations. A second field of interest is the theory of sciences, especially the conceptual framework and validity of concepts in neuroscientific statements. Besides his scientific work, Andreas Draguhn served in different administrative functions at universities, scientific societies and funding institutions. Since their first encounter in the department of Prof. John G.R. Jefferys at Birmingham University, UK, his work is strongly influenced by the ongoing cooperation with Roger Traub.

Roger D. Traub博士是IBM T.J. Watson研究中心的首席研究科學家，也是賓夕法尼亞大學佩雷爾曼醫學院神經科學的兼職教授。他在普林斯頓大學和麻省理工學院學習純數學，在賓夕法尼亞大學醫學院獲得醫學學位，在紐約神經學研究所/哥倫比亞長老會醫療中心接受培訓後成為經過認證的神經學家。自20世紀70年代以來，他一直從事計算神經科學的研究，主要關注癲癇和皮質振盪。他與已故的Miles A. Whittington合作的許多工作都是為了紀念他而寫的這本書。Traub博士於1997年開始與Andreas Draguhn合作，這項研究（除其他方面外）還導致了對非常快速的神經振盪機制的新研究。除其他榮譽外，Traub博士還曾擔任英國威康信託基金會的首席研究員，作為洪堡獎得主在海德堡大學擔任訪問學者，並曾擔任柏林夏里特/洪堡大學的愛因斯坦訪問學者。

Andreas Draguhn博士是海德堡大學醫學院神經生理學系的教授和主任。他在波恩大學學習醫學、物理學和哲學。他在Bert Sakmann和Peter Seeburg（高廷根/海德堡的馬克斯·普朗克研究所）的指導下進行的博士論文研究涉及GABA_A受體亞型的生物物理和藥理特性。然後他加入了Uwe Heinemann的實驗室，在那裡他研究了海馬網絡中的生理和病理活動。在柏林夏里特（Charité）完成他的博士後，他轉到海德堡，繼續研究神經網絡振盪的現象學和機制。他對科學理論，尤其是神經科學陳述中概念的框架和有效性的興趣是他的第二個研究領域。除了科學研究外，Andreas Draguhn還在大學、科學社團和資助機構擔任不同的行政職務。自從他們在英國伯明翰大學Jefferys教授的部門首次相遇以來，他的工作受到與Roger Traub的持續合作的強烈影響。