Systems neuroscience

Systems neuroscienceis a subdiscipline ofneuroscienceandsystems biologythat studies the structure and function of neural circuits and systems. Systems neuroscience encompasses a number of areas of study concerned with hownerve cellsbehave when connected together to formneural pathways,neural circuits,and largerbrain networks.At this level of analysis, neuroscientists study how different neural circuits analyze sensory information, form perceptions of the external world, make decisions, and execute movements. Researchers in systems neuroscience are concerned with the relation betweenmolecularandcellularapproaches to understanding brain structure and function, as well as with the study of high-level mental functions such aslanguage,memory,andself-awareness(which are the purview ofbehavioralandcognitiveneuroscience). Systems neuroscientists typically employ techniques for understanding networks of neurons as they are seen to function, by way ofelectrophysiologyusing eithersingle-unit recordingor multi-electrode recording,functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI), andPET scans.The term is commonly used in an educational framework: a common sequence of graduate school neuroscience courses consists of cellular/molecular neuroscience for the first semester, then systems neuroscience for the second semester. It is also sometimes used to distinguish a subdivision within a neuroscience department in a university.

See also

Example systems

• Ascending reticular activating system
• Auditory system
• Gustatory system
• Motor system
• Olfactory system
• Reward system
• Sensory system
• Somatosensory system
• Visual system

Related concepts

• Sensory neuroscience
• Neural oscillation
• Neural correlate
• Neural substrate

References

• Bear, M. F. et al. Eds. (1995).Neuroscience: Exploring The Brain.Baltimore, Maryland, Williams and Wilkins.ISBN0-7817-3944-6
• Hemmen J. L., Sejnowski T. J. (2006).23 Problems in Systems Neuroscience.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-514822-3