Neurobiology and neural systems

Neurobiology is the study and functional organization of the cells that make up the nervous system. The central nervous system (CNS) begins as a simple neural plate that folds to form a groove and then a tube. Then stem cells within the neural tube are directed toward glia and neurons under the influence of various neural developing signaling processes. It is these cells including, but not limited to, neurons, microglia, astrocytes, endothelial cells, their communication and circuitry, one with the other, that lead to our abilities to sense and respond to the environment, think, ambulate, and behave. Neurobiology is at the very interface of biology and neuroscience but is significantly different from each of the fields. Biology is that of all building blocks of cell organization and function regardless of tissue origin. It is broad and without limits. Neuroscience is by its very integration includes works in computation and cognition that are linked to the clinical disciplines of psychiatry and neurology. Each alone or together relate to cell and system analyses and disease. Nonetheless, the disciplines of neuroscience and biology overlap to generate the field of neurobiology. Here there is a central focus on the cell and its functional outcomes. This chapter seeks to describe the discipline of neurobiology starting from the cell and its function to system organization to function. Such processes underlie both nerve cell communication and function as well as the role glial cells can affect the process overall.