PHILOSOPHICAL INSIGHTS ABOUTMODERN SCIENCE -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- SCIENCE ON THE PATH TOWARDSNEW HORIZONS AND BEYOND -- SYNOPSIS -- 1. RUSSELL'S SKEPSIS ON THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE -- 2. ON THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS BOOK -- 3. GROWTH OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, DEVELOPMENTOF HUMAN POTENTIAL AND ETHICAL SENSITIVITY -- 4. CRITERIA FOR SCIENCE -- 5. CONFLICTS ON THE STATUS OF SCIENCE -- 6. THE CAPACITY OF BEING FALSIFIED -- 7. CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- PART A. CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE:NEW DEVELOPMENTS -- NEUROPLASTICITY, OR THE IMPORTANCEOF HAVING A PLASTIC BRAIN -- 1. SYNOPSIS -- 2. INTRODUCTION: THE MIND EVOLVES IN THE PLASTIC BRAIN -- 3. THE BASICS OF PLASTICITY -- 4. DEVELOPMENTAL PLASTICITY OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM -- 4.1. Science Immitating Art: Modelling a Developing Visual System in Silico -- 4.2. Experience-Driven Neuroplasticity in the Development of the Nervous System -- 5. ADULT NERVOUS SYSTEM PLASTICITY -- 5.1. Synaptic Plasticity, Learning and Memory -- 5.2. Maps in the Brain -- 5.3. Adult Neurogenesis -- 6. LESIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM:CHALLENGE TO NEURAL PLASTICITY -- 6.1. Sprouting, Regeneration and Rewiring in an Injured Mammalian Brain -- 6.2. Neurogenesis in the Context of Injury or Disease of the Nervous System -- 6.3. Maladaptive Plasticity -- 7. THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME:HARNESSING NEURAL PLASTICITY? -- 7.1. Manipulating Neuroplasticity for Treatment of Neurological and PsychiatricDisorders -- 7.2. Brain-Machine Interface -- 7. 3. Brain Enhancement -- REFERENCES -- THE GENES AND THE JUNK: RECENT ADVANCESIN THE STUDIES OF GENE REGULATION -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION -- TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION AND ORGANISMAL COMPLEXITY -- Basics of Transcriptional Regulation -- Expanding the Complexity of Transcriptional Regulation -- Rewiring the Transcription Network -- Technology Shifts Gears -- GENOMIC PARASITES -- Usefulness of Junk.

Ultraconserved Sequences -- Our Mosaic Genome -- Control of Transposition -- HIDE AND SEEK OF THE HIV -- Problem of the Latent HIV -- Viral Pathway towards Latency -- Maintenance of the Latent Provirus -- How to Eradicate the Latent Viral Reservoir? -- New Hope for HIV Eradication -- The Importance of Being Alternative -- Splicing for the Brain -- RNA and Memory -- RNA and the Synapse -- Protein Synthesis at the Synapse -- RNA Therapy -- EVOLUTION OF GENOMES -- Evolution Is Driven by Gene Regulation -- Transposable Elements in Evolution -- A PERSONAL GENOME SEQUENCE -- The 1000 Genome -- Genetics and Privacy -- PERSPECTIVES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENT -- REFERENCES -- UNDERSTANDING MOLECULAR BACKGROUND OFALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: IN SEARCH FOR A CURE -- SYNOPSIS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- 1. DIAGNOSIS OPTIONS -- Diagnosing Alzheimer's -- 2. RISK FACTORS -- Risk factors for Alzheimer's -- Genes Responsible for Early Onset AD -- Genes Responsible for Late-Onset Disease -- 3. Preventive Measures and Symptomatic Treatments -- 4. ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR STUDIES -- Hypotheses for the Molecular Origin of AD -- Protein Aggregation Studies -- 5. FUTURE PERSPECTIVES -- Emerging Therapies for AD -- 6. ETHICAL CONCERNS -- Philosophical Questions on Longevity -- Concerns About Confidentiality of Genetic Testing -- REFERENCES -- ADVANCES IN STEM CELL RESEARCH -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION -- ADULT STEM CELLS AND TISSUE PROGENITOR CELLS -- Embryonic Stem Cells -- Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer -- Single Cell Embryo Biopsy -- Arrested Embryos -- Altered Nuclear Transfer -- Reprogramming -- Stem Cells Derived from the Amniotic Fluid and Placenta -- The Future of Stem Cells -- CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- REFERENCES -- REFLECTIONS ON THE USE OF STEM CELLS FORRESTORING NEURODEGENERATIVE DAMAGE -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION.

PARKINSON'S DISEASE AS A PROTOTYPEFOR CLINICAL STEM CELL THERAPIES -- PRECLINICAL DISEASE MODELS -- STEM CELL SOURCES -- DIFFERENTIATION -- From Bench to Bedside -- THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, THE PUBLIC AND STEM CELL POLICIES -- PERSPECTIVE -- REFERENCES -- HOW INTELLIGENT CAN ROBOTS BECOME:IMPLICATIONS AND CONCERNS -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION: BASIC DILEMMAS ABOUT ROBOTS -- COMMON POPULAR QUESTIONS ON ROBOTS -- Will Robots Be Slaves/Machines? -- Will Robots Be Mentally or Physically Superior to Humans? -- Will Robots Have Legal Rights Like Humans? -- Which Is the Coolest Current Commercial Robot? -- Will There Be Varieties of Varieties of Robots? -- How Will Robots Be Created? -- Will There Be Male and Female Robots? -- Will There Be Robotic Sex? -- Will Robots Marry, Fall in Love and Have Children? Will Robots Have Feelings? -- Will Robots Have Different Lives to Humans? -- Will Robots Think Like Humans? -- Will Robots Lie or Cheat? -- Will Robots Die / Get Dumped? -- SUPERCOMPUTING MECHANISMS -- FORM OF ROBOTIC KNOWLEDGE -- Can Knowledge Be Stored in a Robot/Computer? -- Will Intelligent Robotic Knowledge Be Predictable? -- Will Robotic Knowledge Be Understandable? -- What Will Be the Form of Robotic Knowledge? -- DISCUSSION -- REFERENCES -- THE CONCEPT OF FREE WILL ENTERINGTHE FIELD OF NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES -- SYNOPSIS -- 1. THE IDEA OF FREE WILL -- 2. NEUROLOGICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERSAFFECTING DECISION MAKING & FREE CHOICE -- Conversive Disorder ('Hysteria') -- Abulia -- Apraxia -- Alien Hand Syndrome -- Chorea -- Myoclonus -- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) -- Tourette Syndrome -- Parkinson's Disease -- 3. INSTRUMENTAL METHODS -- 3.1. Functional Imaging -- 3.2. Electrophysiology -- 4. FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY OF VOLITION -- 5. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS -- REFERENCES -- NEUROSCIENCE AND THE IMAGE OF THE MIND -- SYNOPSIS.

1. THE HUMANISTIC AND THE SCIENTIFIC IMAGE -- 2. THE TRADITIONAL PROBLEM OF DETERMINISM AND FREE WILL -- 3. NEUROSCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES TO FREE WILLAND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY -- 3.1. Wegner's Illusion of Conscious Will -- PART B. BEYOND THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE:A MORE HOLISTIC VIEW -- WAYS TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOURCES -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND -- LAW OF ENERGY CONSERVATION -- MODERN FORMS OF ENERGY CONVERSION -- LIMITS TO GROWTH OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION -- FOSSIL FUELS -- KNOWN ALTERNATIVES TO CLASSICAL FUELS:NUCLEAR ENERGY -- KNOWN ALTERNATIVES TO CLASSICAL FUELS:RENEWABLE SOURCES -- (A) Hydro Power and Wind Power -- (B) Solar Power -- (C) Biomass -- (D) Hydrogen Economy -- LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE -- SAVING ENERGY -- PERSPECTIVE FOR NEW OUTBREAKS: NUCLEAR FUSION -- EXOTIC ENERGY SOURCES: FREE ENERGY? -- CONCLUSION -- ACKNOWLEDGMENT -- REFERENCES -- EVIDENCE FOR BIOFIELD -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION -- VARIOUS CONCEPTS OF BIOFIELD -- Electric and Electromagnetic Fields -- Beyond the EM Field and the Mainstream Physics -- The Dual Nature of the Biofield -- Measurements of the Biofield -- Possible Biological Implications of the Biofield -- Possible Connection of the Biofield to Intelligence and Consciousness -- Biofield and Inanimate Nature -- CONCLUSION -- Biofield and Quantum World -- Biofield and Life -- Philosophy Behind Present Day Natural Sciences: Question of Formative Causation -- REFERENCES -- HOW TO RESEARCH EXPERIENCE? -- SYNOPSIS -- WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS? -- A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF EXPERIENCE? -- IS IT SUFFICIENT MERELY TO EXPLAIN THE CONNECTIONBETWEEN PHYSIOLOGY AND EXPERIENCE? -- PHENOMENOLOGY - THE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS -- PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH -- THE CHART -- 1. Research perspective -- 2. Intersubjectivity or the "scope" of theory -- 3. Emphasis on... -- FIRST-PERSON RESEARCH -- REFERENCES.

CONSCIOUSNESS AND VISION -- 1. SYNOPSIS -- 2. INTRODUCTION TO CONSCIOUSNESS -- Holistic Aspects of Consciousness -- Neural Correlates of Consciousness -- 3. THEORIES OF CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE -- 3.1. Focuses -- 3.2. Special Cases and Problems -- 4. VISUAL CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE -- Visual Pathway -- Neural Correlates of Conscious Vision -- Clinical Data on Selective Loss -- Blindsight -- Visual Consciousness -- 5. PROCESSES ACCOMPANYING CONSCIOUSNESS -- Systems of Visual Attention -- Attention Windows -- Figure/Ground Segmentation -- Pictorial Experience -- Imagery -- 6. COLOR QUALIA? -- Wavelength- and Color-Responsive Neurons -- Color as Secondary Quality -- Basic Characteristics of Color -- Theory of Color Qualia? -- 7. NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR -- Origins of Color -- Three-Cones System -- (Double) Opponency -- Color Constancy -- Color Perception of Edges -- Color Helps in Contour-Integration -- 8. LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD -- 9. CONCLUSION -- 10. ETHICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- REFERENCES -- NATURAL AND MACHINE LEARNING,INTELLIGENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION -- LEARNING IN HUMANS -- Human Memory -- Types of Learning -- FROM INTELLIGENCE TO CONSCIOUSNESS -- Types of Intelligence -- Consciousness as a Mode of Being -- Computability -- Important Steps towards ArtiFIcial Intelligence -- Potentials for ArtiFIcial Intelligence -- ArtiFIcial Consciousness? -- CONCLUSIONS OF PART I -- PART II. OBJECTIVE SCIENCE AND SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUALITYARE COMPLEMENTARY -- CONCLUSIONS OF PART II -- REFERENCES -- PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONSON THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OFSCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY -- SYNOPSIS -- INTRODUCTION -- 1. INDIAN SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY -- 2. CHINESE SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY -- 3. CLASSICAL EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY,SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY -- 4. EGYPTIAN, SUMERIAN, BABYLONIAN AND PERSIAN SCIENCEAND SPIRITUALITY.

5. JEWISH AND HEBREW CONTRIBUTIONSTO SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY.