Preface

It is ‘the brain’ that stops functioning at the end of the journey of a living entity. The brain is a complex system. It is made up of many subsystems. A complex system means ‘whole’ is not a sum of the parts. It is characterized by emergent behavior. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand it as it is. Reductionism of basic sciences does not apply to the human brain. The book is prepared for undergraduate students and instructors working at that level. It is organized as follows:

The first chapter describes the subsystems mentioned in the first paragraph. The central nervous system, sympathetic nervous system, and parasympathetic nervous system are discussed first, as these are the most crucial for the functioning of the brain. Concepts such as cerebrospinal fluid, blood-brain barrier, and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier are presented in such a way that even a novice in neurosciences would be able to grasp the fundamentals easily. Neurons and glial cells are discussed next (Chapter 2). Imaging techniques that are employed in the diagnostics of brain disorders and neurodegenerative diseases are also presented in this chapter.

The subsystems of the brain are made of neurons and glial cells. These cells participate in cellular signaling. Thus, cross-talk between different subsystems becomes a reality. This happens either electrically or chemically. The information transport in the brain is discussed in Chapter 3. Spatial navigation is an essential part of life. A living entity executes it for different purposes, e.g., to search for food or better habitat. Therefore, a complete chapter (chapter 4) is devoted to this topic.

Chapter 5 presents a mathematical theory of Alzheimer’s disease. This theory posits amyloid β in a new light. It introduces femto particles for the first time. Femto particles are proton–antiproton entangled pairs. It has been shown that these particles have the potential to revolutionize research on Alzheimer’s disease, both with respect to detecting the disease at an early stage and discovering drug molecules that could cure the disease. At the end of this chapter, a set of parameters is given that a clinician can use to detect Alzheimer’s disease, which is known to be a silent, deadly disease. The last chapter presents the neuroscience of romanticism, a literary movement that has influenced the literature of almost all languages. It resolves to define and refine the idea of beauty for Homo sapiens.

I hope the book fulfills its purpose.