The Human Nervous System: Edition 4

Professor Paxinos is the author of almost 50 books on the structure of the brain of humans and experimental animals, including The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates, now in its 7th Edition, which is ranked by Thomson ISI as one of the 50 most cited items in the Web of Science. Dr. Paxinos paved the way for future neuroscience research by being the first to produce a three-dimensional (stereotaxic) framework for placement of electrodes and injections in the brain of experimental animals, which is now used as an international standard. He was a member of the first International Consortium for Brain Mapping, a UCLA based consortium that received the top ranking and was funded by the NIMH led Human Brain Project. Dr. Paxinos has been honored with more than nine distinguished awards throughout his years of research, including: The Warner Brown Memorial Prize (University of California at Berkeley, 1968), The Walter Burfitt Prize (1992), The Award for Excellence in Publishing in Medical Science (Assoc Amer Publishers, 1999), The Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2001), The Alexander von Humbolt Foundation Prize (Germany 2004), and more

Professor Mai studied medicine in Freiburg, Germany, Vienna and UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, U.S.A. Student and Medical practices in Freiburg (Clinic for Neurosurgery), Berlin and Düsseldorf. Dissertation ("summa cum laude") and habilitation were awarded by the University of Düsseldorf: After a period as GP in private practice (Titisee-Neustadt) he became scientific assistant and senior assistant at the C. and O. Vogt-Institute for Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf (1972 - 1983) and Professor of Neuroanatomy at the Institute of Neuroanatomy, H.-Heine-University of Düsseldorf. He served as director of the Department of the Institute of Anatomy 1 until retirement in 2011. His main research interests are (i) the structural and molecular anatomy of the mammalian brain and (ii) expression patterns and regulation of terminal carbohydrates in development, cell activation and disease (III) operation planning in stereotactic neurosurgery. He works on a "Digital Brain Atlas for Planning and Interindividual Registration of Targets in Deep Brain Stimulation" and on a "Spatial Information Management Resource for the Human Brain". J. K. Mai has edited the catalogue of human brain sections from the Vogt collection; he is author and editor of several books, e.g. the awarded "Atlas of the Human Brain" (Academic Press/Elsevier, San Diego), "The Human Nervous System" (Academic Press/Elsevier, San Diego, Amsterdam, 3rd ed. 2012), Human Brain in Standard MNI Space: A Comprehensive Pocket Atlas (Academic Press/Elsevier, San Diego, 2017; with M. Majtanik), Funktionelle Anatomie für Zahnmediziner (Quintessenz, Berlin, 2nd. ed. 2008; Sensi Divini (ital., engl., ger, russ. eds). J. K. Mai is founder and CEO of MR-X-Brain GmbH.

Dr Steve Kassem completed his BSc at the University of Sydney in Neuroscience and Psychology. He then went on to complete his honors year at the Brain and Mind Research Institute, looking into the morphological changes of chronic stress on neurons, glia and gray matter. At the Brain and Mind he published work revealing the composition of gray matter represented by its cellular components, and how changes to these components resulted in concomitant changes in gray matter volume. Subsequently, he went on to complete his PhD, in a dual supervision, at the University of Sydney and the University of NSW, looking into the effects chronic stress and its morphological changes had on learning behaviors and their neural circuits. Kassem was appointed a postdoctoral fellowship to work with Scientia Professor George Paxinos AO, bringing his novel histological and MRI skills to Prof Paxinos’ work on visualizing and defining the brain. He has recently completed two books, “Atlas of the Developing Mouse Brain and “Chemoarchitectonic Atlas of the Rat Brain, works completed with Prof Paxinos.