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Seeks to demonstrate how the complex processes of the mind - perception, language, memory, feelings - are made possible by the underlying biology of the brain. The text explores the neurological chemistry behind critical diseases and suggest various treatments. A series of interviews with researchers brings the science to life.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Boxes(p. xiii)
• Preface(p. xv)
• Acknowledgments(p. xvii)
• 1 A Brief History of Cognitive Neuroscience(p. 1)
• Pondering the Big Questions(p. 1)
• The Brain Story(p. 2)
• The Twentieth Century(p. 11)
• The Psychological Story(p. 15)
• Cognitive Neuroscience(p. 19)
• The Sudden Rise of Brain Imaging(p. 20)
• Summary(p. 21)
• Key Terms(p. 22)
• Thought Questions(p. 22)
• Suggested Readings(p. 22)
• 2 The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Cognition(p. 23)
• Cells of the Nervous System(p. 24)
• The structure of neurons(p. 25)
• The role of glial cells(p. 28)
• Neuronal Signaling(p. 31)
• Overview of neuronal communication(p. 31)
• Properties of the neuronal membrane and the membrane potential(p. 31)
• Electrical conduction in neurons(p. 35)
• Transmembrane proteins: Ion channels and pumps(p. 50)
• Synaptic Transmission(p. 52)
• Chemical transmission(p. 53)
• Electrical transmission(p. 54)
• Neurotransmitters(p. 56)
• Summary(p. 60)
• Key Terms(p. 61)
• Thought Questions(p. 61)
• Suggested Readings(p. 61)
• 3 Gross and Functional Anatomy of Cognition(p. 62)
• Neuroanatomy(p. 63)
• Methods in neuroanatomy(p. 63)
• Gross and Functional Anatomy of the Nervous System(p. 70)
• Cerebral cortex(p. 70)
• Limbic system, basal ganglia, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and diencephalon(p. 80)
• Brainstem(p. 89)
• Cerebellum(p. 92)
• Spinal cord(p. 92)
• Autonomic nervous system(p. 93)
• Summary(p. 95)
• Key Terms(p. 95)
• Thought Questions(p. 95)
• Suggested Readings(p. 95)
• 4 The Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience(p. 96)
• What is Cognitive Psychology?(p. 97)
• Mental representations and transformations(p. 97)
• Characterizing mental operations(p. 99)
• Constraints on information processing(p. 101)
• Computer Modeling(p. 102)
• Models are explicit(p. 103)
• Representations in computer models(p. 103)
• Models lead to testable predictions(p. 104)
• Limitations with computer models(p. 105)
• Experimental Techniques Used with Animals(p. 106)
• Single-cell recording(p. 106)
• Lesions(p. 111)
• Genetic manipulations(p. 112)
• Neurology(p. 113)
• Structural imaging of neurological damage(p. 114)
• Causes of neurological disorders(p. 115)
• Functional neurosurgery(p. 121)
• Converging Methods(p. 123)
• Cognitive deficits following brain damage(p. 124)
• Virtual lesions: Transcranial magnetic stimulation(p. 127)
• Functional imaging(p. 129)
• Summary(p. 144)
• Key Terms(p. 147)
• Thought Questions(p. 147)
• Suggested Readings(p. 147)
• 5 Perception and Encoding(p. 148)
• Disorders of Perception: A Case Study(p. 148)
• Overview of Neural Pathways(p. 150)
• The eye, retina, and receptors(p. 150)
• From the eye to the central nervous system(p. 152)
• Parallel Processing in the Visual System(p. 153)
• Organization of the lateral geniculate nucleus(p. 153)
• Multiple pathways in the visual cortex(p. 158)
• Cortical Visual Areas(p. 160)
• Cellular correlates of visual features(p. 161)
• Imaging visual areas in humans(p. 163)
• Analysis and representation of visual features(p. 167)
• Deficits in Feature Perception(p. 171)
• Deficits in color perception: Achromatopsia(p. 172)
• Deficits in motion perception: Akinetopsia(p. 175)
• Deficits in other aspects of visual perception(p. 177)
• Independent or Convergent Pathways(p. 177)
• Dissociations of Cortical and Subcortical Visual Pathways(p. 180)
• Spatial orientation and object perception in the hamster(p. 180)
• Blindsight: Evidence of residual visual function following cortical blindness(p. 182)
• Functions of the retino-collicular pathway in humans(p. 184)
• Auditory Perception(p. 185)
• Overview of the auditory pathways(p. 185)
• Computational goals in audition(p. 188)
• Concurrent processing for sound localization(p. 189)
• Summary(p. 191)
• Key Terms(p. 192)
• Thought Questions(p. 192)
• Suggested Readings(p. 192)
• 6 Higher Perceptual Functions(p. 193)
• Agnosia: A Case Study(p. 194)
• Two Cortical Pathways for Visual Perception(p. 195)
• Representational differences between the dorsal and ventral pathways(p. 198)
• Perception for identification versus perception for action(p. 202)
• Computational Problems in Object Recognition(p. 205)
• Variability in sensory information(p. 205)
• View-dependent or view-invariant recognition?(p. 206)
• Shape encoding(p. 207)
• Grandmother cells and ensemble coding(p. 210)
• Summary of computational issues(p. 212)
• Failures of Object Recognition(p. 213)
• Subtypes of agnosia(p. 215)
• Integrating parts into wholes(p. 219)
• Category specificity in agnosia(p. 221)
• Computational account of category-specific deficits(p. 224)
• Prosopagnosia(p. 226)
• Are faces special?(p. 227)
• Neural mechanisms for face perception(p. 227)
• Dissociations of face and object perception(p. 231)
• Two systems for object recognition(p. 235)
• The Relationship Between Visual Perception, Imagery, and Memory(p. 237)
• Summary(p. 242)
• Key Terms(p. 242)
• Thought Questions(p. 242)
• Suggested Readings(p. 243)
• 7 Selective Attention and Orienting(p. 244)
• Theoretical Models of Attention(p. 245)
• The cocktail party effect(p. 248)
• Early- versus late-selection theories(p. 250)
• Quantifying attention in perception(p. 251)
• Neural Systems in Attention and Selective Perception(p. 255)
• Neurophysiology of human attention(p. 258)
• Animal studies of attentional mechanisms(p. 280)
• Neurology and Neuropsychology of Attention(p. 289)
• Extinction and neglect(p. 289)
• Summary(p. 299)
• Key Terms(p. 299)
• Thought Questions(p. 299)
• Suggested Readings(p. 300)
• 8 Learning and Memory(p. 301)
• Theories of Memory(p. 302)
• Sensory and short-term memory mechanisms(p. 302)
• Models of short-term memory(p. 309)
• Models of long-term memory(p. 313)
• Summary of theories of memory(p. 315)
• Memory and Brain(p. 315)
• Human memory, brain damage, and amnesia(p. 317)
• Summary of amnesia and long-term memory systems(p. 332)
• Animal models of memory(p. 332)
• Imaging the human brain and memory(p. 337)
• Cellular Bases of Learning and Memory(p. 345)
• Long-term potentiation and the hippocampus(p. 346)
• Summary(p. 349)
• Key Terms(p. 350)
• Thought Questions(p. 350)
• Suggested Readings(p. 350)
• 9 Language and the Brain(p. 351)
• Theories of Language(p. 352)
• The storage of words and concepts: The mental lexicon(p. 352)
• Perceptual analyses of the linguistic input(p. 358)
• The recognition of words(p. 368)
• Integration of words in sentences(p. 373)
• Speech production(p. 378)
• Neuropsychology of Language and Language Disorders(p. 381)
• Aphasia(p. 381)
• Neurophysiology of Language(p. 391)
• Functional neuroimaging of language(p. 391)
• Electrophysiology of language(p. 392)
• Summary(p. 398)
• Key Terms(p. 399)
• Thought Questions(p. 399)
• Suggested Readings(p. 399)
• 10 Cerebral Lateralization and Specialization(p. 400)
• Dividing the Mind(p. 400)
• Principles of Cerebral Organization(p. 402)
• Anatomical correlates of hemispheric specialization(p. 402)
• Microanatomical investigations of anatomical asymmetries(p. 404)
• How the Two Hemispheres Communicate(p. 405)
• Cortical disconnection(p. 406)
• Functional consequences of the split-brain procedure(p. 408)
• Specificity of callosal function(p. 409)
• Hemispheric Specialization(p. 410)
• Language and speech(p. 410)
• Visuospatial processing(p. 414)
• Attention and perception(p. 415)
• Converging Evidence of Hemispheric Specialization(p. 419)
• Functional asymmetries in patients with unilateral cortical lesions(p. 419)
• Functional asymmetries in the normal brain(p. 420)
• What Is Lateralized?(p. 423)
• Asymmetries in perceptual representations(p. 426)
• Asymmetries in representing spatial relations(p. 431)
• Recent theoretical developments concerning hemispheric specialization(p. 436)
• Variations in Hemispheric Specialization(p. 438)
• The relation between handedness and left-hemisphere language dominance(p. 438)
• Hemispheric specialization in nonhumans(p. 440)
• Summary(p. 443)
• Key Terms(p. 443)
• Thought Questions(p. 443)
• Suggested Readings(p. 444)
• 11 The Control of Action(p. 445)
• Motor Structures(p. 447)
• Muscles, motor neurons, and the spinal cord(p. 447)
• Subcortical motor structures(p. 449)
• Cortical regions involved in motor control(p. 451)
• The organization of motor areas(p. 451)
• Computational Issues in Motor Control(p. 452)
• Peripheral control of movement and the role of feedback(p. 453)
• The representation of movement plans(p. 455)
• Physiological Analysis of Motor Pathways(p. 461)
• The neural representation of movement(p. 461)
• Comparison of Motor Planning and Execution(p. 469)
• Internal versus external guidance of movement(p. 470)
• Shift in cortical control with learning(p. 472)
• Functional Analysis of the Motor System and Movement Disorders(p. 476)
• Cortical areas(p. 477)
• Subcortical areas: The cerebellum and basal ganglia(p. 485)
• Summary(p. 496)
• Key Terms(p. 498)
• Thought Questions(p. 498)
• Suggested Readings(p. 498)
• 12 Executive Functions and Frontal Lobes(p. 499)
• Subdivisions of the Frontal Lobes(p. 500)
• The Lateral Prefrontal Cortex and Working Memory(p. 502)
• Distinguishing between stored knowledge and activated information(p. 502)
• Working memory versus associative memory(p. 504)
• The Prefrontal Cortex Participates in Other Memory Domains(p. 511)
• The frontal lobes and the temporal organization of memory(p. 511)
• Source memory(p. 512)
• Component Analysis of Prefrontal Cortex(p. 514)
• Content-based accounts of functional specialization within lateral prefrontal function(p. 514)
• Process-based accounts of functional specialization within lateral prefrontal function(p. 515)
• The selection of task-relevant information(p. 519)
• Goal-Oriented Behavior(p. 524)
• Planning and selecting an action(p. 525)
• The anterior cingulate as a monitoring system(p. 530)
• Summary(p. 535)
• Key Terms(p. 536)
• Thought Questions(p. 536)
• Suggested Readings(p. 536)
• 13 Emotion(p. 537)
• Issues in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion(p. 539)
• Defining emotion(p. 539)
• Manipulating and measuring emotion(p. 540)
• Emotion and cognition(p. 544)
• Neural Systems in Emotional Processing(p. 545)
• Early concepts: The limbic system(p. 545)
• Orbitofrontal cortex(p. 546)
• Amygdala(p. 553)
• Laterality(p. 572)
• Emotional communication(p. 572)
• Affective style(p. 574)
• Summary(p. 575)
• Key Terms(p. 576)
• Thought Questions(p. 576)
• Suggested Readings(p. 576)
• 14 Evolutionary Perspectives(p. 577)
• Evolution of the Brain(p. 578)
• The historical underpinning of contemporary evolutionary neurobiology(p. 578)
• Modern evolutionary neurobiology: Assumptions and aims(p. 582)
• First Principles(p. 586)
• Evolutionary mechanisms(p. 589)
• The Comparative Approach(p. 590)
• The scale of nature revisited(p. 593)
• Adaptation and the Brain(p. 596)
• Adaptations at multiple brain levels(p. 597)
• Sexual selection and evolutionary pressures on behavior(p. 600)
• Sexual abilities and spatial abilities(p. 600)
• Evolution and physiology(p. 602)
• Adaptive specializations and learning mechanisms(p. 604)
• Evolutionary Insights into Human Brain Organization(p. 607)
• Summary(p. 609)
• Key Terms(p. 610)
• Thought Questions(p. 610)
• Suggested Readings(p. 610)
• 15 Development and Plasticity(p. 611)
• The Shaping of the Brain(p. 611)
• Perceptual and Cognitive Development(p. 613)
• A classic theory of cognitive development(p. 613)
• Development of visual cognition--Object recognition(p. 619)
• Development of the human attention system(p. 620)
• Language acquisition during development(p. 623)
• Summary of cognitive development(p. 628)
• Development of the Nervous System(p. 628)
• Overview of gross development(p. 629)
• Genesis of the cerebral cortex(p. 630)
• Birth of new neurons throughout life(p. 640)
• Postnatal brain development(p. 642)
• Summary of cortical development(p. 643)
• Plasticity in the Nervous System(p. 644)
• Plasticity in the normal adult brain(p. 647)
• Reorganization in human cortex(p. 649)
• Summary(p. 652)
• Key Terms(p. 652)
• Thought Questions(p. 652)
• Suggested Readings(p. 653)
• 16 The Problem of Consciousness(p. 654)
• Philosophical Perspectives(p. 656)
• Conscious Versus Unconscious Processing(p. 660)
• The extent of subconscious processing(p. 663)
• Gaining access to consciousness(p. 667)
• Neurons, Neuronal Groups, and Conscious Experience(p. 669)
• The Emergence of the Brain Interpreter in the Human Species(p. 672)
• Is consciousness a uniquely human experience?(p. 676)
• Left- and right-hemisphere consciousness(p. 679)
• Summary(p. 680)
• Key Terms(p. 681)
• Thought Questions(p. 681)
• Suggested Readings(p. 681)
• Glossary(p. 1)
• References(p. 1)
• Acknowledgments and Credits(p. 1)
• Index(p. 1)

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Michael S. Gazzaniga, one of the premiere doctors of neuroscience, was born on December 12, 1939 in Los Angeles. Educated at Dartmouth College and California Institute of Technology, he has been on the faculty of the Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis.

His early research examined the subject of epileptics who had undergone surgery to control seizures. He has also studied Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients and reveals important findings in books such as Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind.

While many of his writings are technical, he also educates and stimulates readers with discussions about the fascinating and mysterious workings of the brain. Books such as The Social Brain and The Mind's Past bring forth new information and theories regarding how the brain functions, interacts, and responds with the body and the environment.

(Bowker Author Biography)