What is Neuroscience?

Theoretical, mathematical, and computational approaches to queries in neuroscience are now recognized as valid by experimental physiologists. The main neuroscience journals (Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology, and Neuron) now publish serious modelling papers. Neurobiologists have been quick to recognize which frequently the sum is greater than the parts and that theoretical approaches are essential to make the jump across scales (for example from channels to spiking or from neuronal connectivity to behaviour.) Courses in the subject are becoming more popular as the requirement to train a new generation of theoreticians increases. The tools from dynamical systems, information theory, and pattern formation (Ermentrout, 1998) will continue to play a role in our considerate of the nervous system.