Book Description

This full color atlas is intended to effectively supplement the A&P laboratory course and aid students in their studies. Eder's high-quality visuals, in combination with its unique tables (terms and definitions; as well as tables describing the origin, insertion, action, and innervation of muscles) make it a valuable supplement in any lab course. It illustrates the dissection structures as they actually exist so that students will be able to easily recognize the parts when they are dissecting or taking an exam. ... Read more

Book Description

Retaining his unique emphasis on function and evolution of vertebrates, complete anatomical detail, and excellent pedagogy, author Kenneth Kardong includes a substantial amount of new, beautifully-illustrated art and updated narrative in this new edition. This one-semester text is designed for your upper-level majors course. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Good improvement from last edition
This is the book that I used to teach comparative vertebrate anatomy. The previous major flaw of the book was the many inaccuracies in the figures. However many of these appear to be changed. All in all this book is a good book to reference to for a variety of questions about vertebrates. Not the easiest of books to wade through for a beginner but Kardong for the most part does a good job in explanations and descriptions for a book of this level

A very good text, but....
I've used Kadong from the first edition and admire much about the text. As another reviewer commented, one has to be deliberate about the organization or the first time reader might feel as if he were going in circles. However, the single greatest shortcoming of this comparative anatomy text is the chapter on muscles which is inadequate and confusing unless one has already studied this subject. Kardong simply fails to provide an arganized description of trunk and appendicular muscles of the primary vertebrate models. The begining student would be well advised to turn to Walker, Kent or Romer for this topic.

I took the Comparative Anatomy class from Kardong.
I took the class from which this book was written for. When I took the comparative anatomy class from Kardong he was giving us photocopies from his work in progress and still had editors notes and omissions on the papers. Just from reading all those photocopies, I couldn't wait for this book to come out. I recieved my B.S. in Zoology before this book ever came out and when I recieved my first copy, I was elated. If your serious about zoology, this is a good book for you. However, this book is not for light reading or the beginning zoology student.

Vertebrate morphology supreme
This university textbook on vertebrate morphology is clearly written and is actually suitable for the general reader with no experience in the subject. Basic concepts such as morphological concepts, phylogeny, paleontology and evolution are discussed at the start of the book. A good overview is presented regarding theories of chordate emergence. Early vertebrates are then presented, starting with a reconstruction of a conodont animal. Chapters on biological design (ie, what adaptations are actually possible) and embryology then follow. Chapters describing and comparing organ systems in various vertebrates then follow, and include the integument (ie, skin), skeletal system, muscular system, respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive system, urogenital system, endocrine system, nervous system and sensory organs.

very good, not so easy to read
a student of vertebrate comparative anatomy will find almost everything he needs in this book. the writings are clear, the drawings excellent, the topics are all very thoroughly covered. it gives not just dry facts but also highly stimulating explanations, within a broad evolutionary context. why "only" 4 stars? well, it is not so easy to navigate through, to the point of being not well organized. you will have to look hard for what you need, especially if you are a novice. it might have been a better book still, where it differently organized, but, all in all, an excellent and important, up to date textbook ... Read more

Book Description

This Second Edition of Human Reproductive Biology is as up-to-date as today's headlines. Everyday we read about issues such as female and male reproductive cancers and other disorders, stress and reproduction, the effects of drugs and pollutants on fetal development and adult reproduction, contraceptives and their side effects, infertility and "high-tech" treatments, sex differences in the brain, and causes and patterns of gender identity and sexual behavior. This book, emphasizing the biological and biomedical aspects of human reproduction, elucidates today's advances in reproductive science as well as the choices and concerns that are part of our lives. Generously illustrated, the text provides current information about human reproductive anatomy and physiology and includes discussion of a myriad of topics, including:
* New treatments for PMS
* Anabolic steroids
* High-tech infertility treatments
* Hormones and brain sex
* Sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS
* Evolution of human mating systems
* Hormone replacement therapies

Key Features
* Contains a new chapter on sex differences in the human brain
* Offers an expanded discussion of reproductive diseases such as breast and prostate cancer; effects of drugs and environmental pollutants on reproduction; human sexual behavior; and AIDS
* Includes new "highlight boxes" dealing with hot topics in human reproduction
* Provides references at the end of each chapter that are divided into Further Reading (at the level of this book) and Advanced Reading (for exploration of specific topics in the advanced scientific literature)
* Contains concise chapter summaries and a detailed table of contents and subject index ... Read more

Book Description

This introductory text provides undergraduate students with the basics of anatomy, physiology, and the applications of kinesiology. It uses a qualitative approach with an easy-to-follow writing style. Theory is balanced with many sport and real-world applications to promote the integrated nature of kinesiology, including the anatomical and biomechanical concepts. New texts now come packaged with Dynamic Human and PowerWeb: Health & Human Performance! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This is a good review for A and P students
This book is a good review for anatomy and physiology. It focuses on the key points and is a necessity for any anatomy and physiology student. It helped me pass my A and P classes. However, I would also recommend the following:
Tortora's Anatomy and Physiology textbook
Anatomy and Physiology Study Guide: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations by Patrick Leonardi
Volume 1 isbn 0971999619, vol 2, isbn 0971999627,
Both Leonardi's books are highly informative and had the same type of questions asked on my college anatomy and physiology exams. You can't go wrong with these four books!

NOT RECOMMENDED
This book introduces way too many new terms in such a small space that one can easily lose sight of the entire function of the paragraph. The title make you think it will be a book for beginners, but its written more like a book for advanced Anatomy and Physiology. If you've never studied anatomy and physiology before I would NOT recommend this book, as I dont think a beginners brain could possibly absorb all the new terminology. The authors should have focused on key words, and left the other terms for an advanced editions. For example- this is a summary from a typical paragraph, I will put parenthesis around all the terms that are unfamiliar to a beginner-- Cardiovascular system-
The hear lies beneath the (sternum) in the (mediastinum) surrounded by a sac called the (pericardium) the hearts wall is made up of (myocardium)(endocardium) and (epicardium), 4 chambers( 2 atria) and (2 ventricle)--(2 atrioventicular) and 2 (semilunar) valves. --------- THAT'S 10 UNFAMILIAR TERMS IN 1 PARAGRAPH, LEAVE OUT THE DETAILS PLEASE- unless you are in medical school, we dont need to know EVERY SINGLE part of the heart. Especially your first time learning about the body and its functions- it's entirely too much to absorb at once. And i definitely wouldnt title the book "MADE INCREDIBLY EASY" are yhou kidding me??????????? ... Read more

Book Description

If you are a serious runner, you want to improve your ability to run faster and longer without injury. Many runners have bought better shoes or spent longer hours on the track trying to improve, only to end up frustrated with back and leg pain. But the secret to improving your run is simple--your stride is only as good as your physical abilities allow. Making a few simple changes in strength, flexibility, speed of movement, and technique will help you reach your genetic potential.In Explosive Running, Dr. Michael Yessis, a respected sports fitness expert, demonstrates the method he has used successfully with thousands of runners. His method consists of three overlapping steps all runners should go through in order to improve their performance and make the transition to effective, efficient, and faster running.Included are detailed discussions of the biomechanics of running, special strength exercises, stretching, troubleshooting common problems, nutrition for optimal running, and tips to maintain a running program. This book employs unique sequence photography that captures and analyzes movements that are key to a good running stride. Explosive Running will give you a much greater understanding of the sport and help you improve in a much shorter amount of time than most other books on the subject.Michael Yessis, Ph.D., is president of Sports Training, Inc., a training facility for professional athletes. He is the author of Kinesiology of Exercise and Explosive Golf and has appeared on "Today" and CNN. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

How serious do you want to get about your running?
This book would be great for anyone who is serious about running and desires to find ways to increase performance. The sections that break down the actual mechanics of running are complicated, but I found them to be interesting. The sections on stretching and weightlifting exercises specifically for running are outstanding. The chapter on the effects shoes have on feet and the case for spending more time barefoot is also a highlight.

If you are a casual runner who is happy and not interested in making running a top priority in your life, then I would personally skip this book. If you are "into" running and seeking a deeper understanding of what the mechanics of the run are and how to improve your run, then I cannot see how this book would not help you.

Awesome!
This book is everything the title says it is . . .explosive. I noticed benefits in terms of my speed and endurance from the start of training. I was also gratified to read the authors endorsement of barefoot running! If you are a serious runner seeking to improve your speed, endurance and running economy. This is the book for you.

Tim
Anacortes, Washington

I'm no running pro, but...
...definitely the most informative book I have ever read on running. This book will take away the mystery and supply a healthy dose of reality. Dr. Yessis is both informed and to the point about individual running ability and its application.

Anyone seeking to understand how it should work need only buy this book. Enjoy, I know I have.

Flies in the face of mainstream
I have read this book... and am preparing to read it again.

I have read a lot on running, and have even taken a few courses, and then I read this book - what an eye opener! I quickly realized how biased some people that teach running courses are, and how little actual knowledge is out there on many of the topics that are introduced in this book. A couple of examples:

The section on barefoot running. This is the part of the book that the big shoe companies don't want you reading. I think that it's largely true, though most would have trouble believing, it - I think that the author has done an exceptional job of backing up his theories on this one. As soon as the snow melts, I will be unlacing my shoes for the first time ever ;-)

The book has a great deal of information pertaining to running stride. A lot of what I have learned revolves around the theory that you were born with a certain stride, and you should just "run like you run" - don't worry about your stride. Obviously (if you have an open mind) you can see through that garbage, and get "real" with your running. Tons of pictures to back this up (someone could argue that the quality of the photos used in the book are poor, but I think that they are sufficient, given that they are for illustration purposes - not wall hangings).

Stretching. Believe that most everyone who is stretching today isn't doing it properly, or could certainly be doing it better. The author gets into active stretching, versus passive stretching. Very mind altering stuff... with a lot of facts to back up why this is the way to do it. I have not incorporated these stretches into my training yet, but will be doing shortly (takes a bit of work to alter what I have learned over the years). At a seminar that I attended, I asked a physiotherapist about active stretching, and why they still push static stretches... she says that while active stretches are better, it's too difficult to learn or do correctly. Doesn't look that tough, but I will soon see ;-)

Bottom line... for the price, I don't know that you can find a better book out there. So ends my two cents.

For the Competitive Runner
This is the book that the competition does not want you to find out about because it has the information you need to become a better competitive runner. The biomechanical aspects of the running stride is dissected and explained in terms that are useful for the layman. Once you understand what an efficient running stride consists of, you can begin to work on a more efficient way of running.

The chapter on barefoot running is a real eye-opener. It reveals the truth about the effects of shoes and how they may be the cause of many foot ailments; not to mention the weakening effects of wearing them.

Chapter 3 and 4 alone are worth the price of the book. This is a must-read for all competitive runners--the elites, weekend warriors, and dreamers. Read it but don't let the competion know about it. ... Read more

Book Description

Theoretical neuroscience provides a quantitative basis for describing what nervous systems do, determining how they function, and uncovering the general principles by which they operate. This text introduces the basic mathematical and computational methods of theoretical neuroscience and presents applications in a variety of areas including vision, sensory-motor integration, development, learning, and memory.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses the relationship between sensory stimuli and neural responses, focusing on the representation of information by the spiking activity of neurons. Part II discusses the modeling of neurons and neural circuits on the basis of cellular and synaptic biophysics. Part III analyzes the role of plasticity in development and learning. An appendix covers the mathematical methods used, and exercises are available on the book's Web site. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Theoretical Neurosciences from a Computational Perspective
This text will become a standard course book for Graduate Schools in Computational Neurosciences. You need to know advanced engineering mathematics & probability theory to be able to understand this book. Because I am primarily an applied experimental neurophysiologist, I do not read it much.

Great textbook and reference
This book is certainly the most thorough textbook currently available
on many aspects of computational neuroscience. It works very carefully
through the fundamental assumptions and equations underlying large
tracts of contemporary quantitative analysis in neuroscience. It is
an ideal introductory book for those with a quantitative background,
and is destined to become a standard course book in the field.

Good overview
This book is a detailed overview of the computational modeling of nervous systems from the molecular and cellular level and from the standpoint of human psychophysics and psychology. They divide their conception of modeling into descriptive, mechanistic, and interpretive models. My sole interest was in Part 3, which covers the mathematical modeling of adaptation and learning, so my review will be confined to these chapters. The virtue of this book, and others like it, is the insistence on empirical validation of the models, and not their justification by "thought experiments" and arm-chair reasoning, as is typically done in philosophy.

Part 3 begins with a discussion of synaptic plasticity and to what degree it explains learning and memory. The goal here is to develop mathematical models to understand how experience and training modify the neuronal synapses and how these changes effect the neuronal patterns and the eventual behavior. The Hebb model of neuronal firing is ubiquitous in this area of research, and the authors discuss it as a rule that synapses change in proportion to the correlation of the activities of pre- and postsynaptic neurons. Experimental data is immediately given that illustrates long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). The authors concentrate mostly on models based on unsupervised learning in this chapter. The rules for synaptic modification are given as differential equations and describe the rate of change of the synaptic weights with respect to the pre- and postsynaptic activity. The covariance and BCM rules are discussed, the first separately requiring postsynaptic and presynaptic activity, the second requiring both simultaneously. The authors consider ocular dominance in the context of unsupervised learning and study the effect of plasticity on multiple neurons. The last section of the chapter covers supervised learning, in which a set of inputs and the desired outputs are imposed during training.

In the next chapter, the authors consider the area of reinforcement learning, beginning with a discussion of the mathematical models for classical conditioning, and introducing the temporal difference learning algorithm. The authors discuss the Rescorla-Wagner rule , which is a trial-by-trial learning rule for the weight adjustments, in terms of the reward, the prediction, and the learning rate. They then discuss more realistic policies such as static action choice, where the reward/punishment immediately follows the action taken, and sequential action choice, where rewards may be delayed. The authors discuss foraging behavior of bees as an example of static action choice, reducing it to a stochastic two-armed bandit problem. The maze task for rats is discussed as an example of sequential action choice, and the authors reduce it to the "actor-critic algorithm." A generalized reinforcement learning algorithm is then discussed, with the rat water maze problem given as an example.

Chapter 10 is an overview of what the authors call "representational learning", which, as they explain, is a study of neural representations from a computational point of view. The goal is to begin with sensory input and find out how representations are generated on the basis of these inputs. That such representations are necessary is based on for example the consideration of the visual system, since, argue the authors, what is presented at the retina is too crude for an accurate representation of the visual world. The main strategy in the chapter is to begin with a deterministic or probabilistic input and construct a recognition algorithm that gives an estimate of the input. The algorithms constructed are all based on unsupervised learning, and hence the existence and nature of the causes must be computed using heuristics and the statistics of the input data. These two requirements are met via the construction of first a generative model and then a recognition model in the chapter. The familiar 'expectation maximization' is discussed as a method of optimization between real and synthetic data in generative models. A detailed overview of expectation maximization is given in the context of 'density estimation'. The authors then move on to discuss causal models for density estimation, such as Gaussian mixtures, the K-means algorithm, factor analysis, and principal components analysis. They then discuss sparse coding, as a technique to deal with the fact that the cortical activity is not Gaussian. They illustrate an experimental sample, showing the activity follows an exponential distribution in a neuron in the inferotemporal area of the macaque brain. The reader will recognize 'sparse' probability distributions as being 'heavy-tailed', i.e. having values close to zero usually, but ones far from zero sometimes. The authors emphasize the difficulties in the computation of the recognition distribution explicitly. The Olshausen/Field model is used to give a deterministic approximate recognition model for this purpose. The authors then give a fairly detailed overview of a two-layer, nonlinear 'Helmholtz machine' with binary inputs. They illustrate how to obtain the expectation maximization in terms of the Kullback-Leibler divergence. The learning in this model takes place via stochastic sampling and occurs in two phases, the so-called "wake and sleep" algorithm. The last section of the chapter gives a general discussion of how recent interest in coding, transmitting, and decoding images has led to much more research into representational learning algorithms. They discuss multi-resolution decomposition and its relationship to the coding algorithms available. ... Read more

Book Description

The Laboratory Manual, written by Terry R. Martin, has been thoroughly revised. The new edition of this effective manual is organized into units that correlate directly with the Hole's Anatomy and Physiology text. ... Read more

Book Description

"[A] well-written, often amusing and always fascinating exposé." (Scientific American)

DO MEN AND WOMEN LAUGH AT THE SAME THINGS?
IS LAUGHTER CONTAGIOUS?
HAS ANYONE EVER REALLY DIED LAUGHING?
IS LAUGHING GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH?

Drawing upon ten years of research into this most common-yet complex and often puzzling-human phenomenon, Dr. Robert Provine, the world's leading scientific expert on laughter, investigates such aspects of his subject as its evolution, its role in social relationships, its contagiousness, its neural mechanisms, and its health benefits. This is an erudite, wide-ranging, witty, and long-overdue exploration of a frequently surprising subject. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Disappointing
IMHO, this doesn't yield any valuable conceptual insights into humor.

If you're interested in the cognitive patterns behind jokes, comedy etc. you might want to check out Arthur Koestler's "Act of Creation" instead. He sets out to discover common patterns behind creative acts in humor, art and science and comes up with very broad original insights that I found very enlightening.

Another interesting (and more formalized) attempt to conceptualize creative thinking (including humor) is being developed by some cognitive linguists (Gilles Fauconnier, Mark Turner). Their concepts seem to go along very well with Koestler's findings. You might want to check out their book "The Way We Think".

Laughter is caused by a stuttering brain
Yes, yes, I know. Provine studied thousands of people but, what he failed to grasp is that laughter is the result of a "stuttering" brain. A person is confronted with anxiety and, the brain "stutters" and releases the vocalizations we call laughter. This brings the brain (rather mind) back into equilibrium and "solves" the dilemma . . .the anxiety.

Fascinating, but probably not the book for everyone
I thought this book was fantastic--but I probably approached it in a way different than the average reader would.

I'm a psychologist, like Provine, and humor has been a side interest for me during all of my 20 years in the field. I thought about studying humor when I was in graduate school, but chose to study memory instead, basically because I chickened out; I thought that humor was too hard. Indeed, I read most of the important works on humor and laughter and was not that impressed with the status of the field.

This is the best book on the subject I have ever read.

Provine takes the brilliantly simple approach of questioning whether or not we really know _when_ people laugh, instead of assuming that we know when and asking _why_. I (AND every psychologist and philosopher who has written on the subject) had assumed that we know when people laugh. Provine shows that we don't by doing observational studies of when people laugh. That alone would be worth following the author for a couple of hundred pages. Provine shows very clearly that laughter (1) has a social, communicative function, thus explaining the common (and this time correct) observation that you seldom laugh alone; (2) that laughter is usually NOT related to humor because it is not uttered in humorous situations; (3) that the person making a laugh-worthy comments laughs MORE than the person hearing that comment;

In addition Provine has some interesting speculation on the continuity of laughter from the great apes to humans.

This book is very different than the typical science trade book, as one might read by Steve Pinker, or James Gleick. It's not the type of book where a competent guide leads you through a simplified version of a very complex literature where great strides have been made. Rather, Laughter is a book of science in the making. It's not quite an academic treatise--you don't need much background to pick it up and read it. But be warned that it is not the kind of book where, once you finish it you'll say "Cool. So that's what laughter is all about." But if you are interested in humor or laughter, you may well find it rewarding.

A Waste Of Time
I'm currently taking psychology at my school. I chose, for a project, to do a study on humor. As a book resource, I found this, and had high hopes for good scientific and correlational information. Provine has failed to write anything worth taking notes over in this book. He comes up with good questions but doesn't explain any answers, simply stating what other psychologists have done wrong in the quest for the answer. In the end, the book leaves us empty and full of questions and hopes that are never fulfilled. Also, he spends a lot of time placing gender stereotypes that have and never will be proven true in any context. This book was a waste of time for him to write, and a waste of time for us to read. There is nothing scientific about "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation".

I laughed once while reading it
I guess his idea was that there were no studies on laughter so he wrote a book telling someone else to do one. I'm not sure what the point was or why anyone would have published this book, it went no where, accomplished nothing and was thuroughly dissapointing. He raised good quesitons and never came close to answering any of them. I don't get it. The one thing he actually did that was interesting was when he studied when men and women laugh, I thought that was very insightful and now that I know the facts, I've watched it be true. Women laugh when they talk or when they hear, men don't think women are funny. I thought that was an interesting study. Otherwise, the book didn't quite tell me anything. After another ten years of study he could write a much better book. ... Read more

Book Description

This reference discusses the important role of steroids and neuropeptides in the regulation of behavior.The guiding principle behind the discussion is the concept of using good model animal systems to help us to understand how hormones influence the brain. The book emphasizes that steroids and peptides or neuropeptides affect behavior by acting directly on the brain, and that common neural circuits underlie a variety of different central motive states.The first chapter focuses on developmental periods and sexually dimorphic behaviors; the second discusses sodium and water appetite, and ingestion; the third deals with appetite, food selection and ingestion. The fourth chapter examines how hormones influence parental behavior; the fifth is on fear and stress. The last chapter deals with biological clocks and endogenous rhythms. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

it is all about hormones
Interesting book about the effect of hormons on the brain. Experiments mostly done on animals due moral reasons are sometimes extrapolated to human beings. There is very little technical explanations, mostly statistical results confirming the test results, so from that point of view it is a collection of experimental results with. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

excellent book
While I used John West's books in school(respiratory physiology; pulmonary pathophysiology)and I did not think that those books were any good(I had to use Levitzky's pulmonary physiology to better understand the material) I must say though that this book is great. The way he combined the most important material from those 2 books and incoorporate it with case studies is excellent. I recommend this book for respiratorist and medical students.

Concise and Easy
This is really a lovely book for clearing up concepts in pulmonary physiology. Dr West, one of the globally famous physiology author, integrated pulmonary pathology with the underlining physiology in this thin book. He tried to help students understand what goes wrong in numerous common lung and airway problems with the interesting cases he presented. As he pointed out in the preface, he intended to make this book as concise as possible in order to fit the modern cirriculum by sparing more time for students to deal with the expanding syllabus in molecular science!! ... Read more

Book Description

In this book, J. Allan Hobson offers a new understanding of altered states of consciousness based on knowledge of how our brain chemistry is balanced when we are awake and how that balance shifts when we fall asleep and dream. He draws on recent research that enables us to explain how psychedelic drugs work to disturb that balance and how similar imbalances may cause depression and schizophrenia. He also draws on work that expands our understanding of how certain drugs can correct imbalances and restore the brain's natural equilibrium.

Hobson explains the chemical balance concept in terms of what we know about the regulation of normal states of consciousness over the course of the day by brain chemicals called neuromodulators. He presents striking confirmation of the principle that every drug that has transformative effects on consciousness interacts with the brain's own consciousness-altering chemicals. In the section called "The Medical Drugstore," Hobson describes drugs used to counteract anxiety and insomnia, to raise and lower mood, and to eliminate or diminish the hallucinations and delusions of schizophrenia. He discusses the risks involved in their administration, including the possibility of new disorders caused by indiscriminate long-term use. In "The Recreational Drugstore," Hobson discusses psychedelic drugs, narcotic analgesia, and natural drugs. He also considers the distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate drug use. In the concluding "Psychological Drugstore," he discusses the mind as an agent, not just the mediator, of change, and corrects many erroneous assumptions and practices that hinder the progress of psychoanalysis. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Very Big Bite
Having completed my honors thesis on the structure and function of REM sleep, I feel that I know a bit about the subject of dreams. I have read myriad scientific articles by J.A. Hobson and even another of his books, entitled Sleep. I got about 50 pages into this one and realized I still may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew. The audience Hobson was aiming at here must be the scientific community because I found myself skipping paragraphs at a time because of the tedious detail of neuro-pathways and receptor information that Hobson plows through with an expectation that the reader will need little or no introduction or explanation of the complex neuroanatomy and chemistry that he discusses. He is a great writer, but unless you are a neurochemist, I would recommend one of his other books on the topic of dreams and sleep.

Great
Hobson has written yet another very good book on the neurochemical mechanisms of conscious states. Certainly, there is not very much one has not read before on his books like Consciousness, Dream as Delirium or The Chemistry of Consicous States. But still, the book should be read because it cuts into some very deep issues regarding consicousness and neurochemistry, specially with regards to dreaming and sleep research. Now the thing is this book is supposed to be about the action of prescription and recreational drugs, but one gets Hobsons model of conscious states, and only then a little of how it explains the actions of those drugs. THis is not necessarily a bad thing, for models are good foundations for such explorations, but maybe a lot more space should have been given to drugs and their actions in the brain.

Hobsons well known model of conscious states, AIM, standing for activation (high-low), Input output grating (internal or external information sources) and modulation (aminergic or cholinergic) is presented in the book, and is supposed to do the lot of the explanatory work. The model is useful in this sense, but I have doubts about its power to actually explain what consicousness is. Activation seems to determine waking, not consciousness per se, Input determines content, not consicousness per se, and modulation seems to be in the level of processing mode, and not processing itself. IN other words, it is not clear to me neurochemistry is the right level where one can find really interesting causal links, like neural correlates of consciousness. But the reality is that the model is grounded on firm evidence and good science, and does explain many things ABOUT consicousness. It certainly adds important things to the debate.

Another very interesting issue Hobson takes on is on the inadequacy of psychotherapeutic frameworks, of how these are mostly incompatible with modern brain sicence. I must agree almost completely here with him. Hobson also mainly concentrates on nonrephinephrine, serotonin and acetycholine as main players, the first two associated with waking and the last with dreaming. This move seems premature, for there are coutless of neurochemicals that may play also important roles. Nonetheless, these serve as the basis of his dream as delirium hypothesis: that psychosis is similar phenomenally and chemically with normal dreaming states, and thus involves alteration in the aminergic or cholinergic systems of the brain. Dreaming involves chcolinergic activity but in sleep. When such activity is present in waking, psychosis ensues. THis is one of the most plausible and defendable views on psychosis out there. By extension, drugs that cause psychosis, or aleviate it, must affect in some way the aminergic and cholinergic systems of the brain. In this way, Hobson explains the action of drugs, both recreational and clinical. (of course im simplifying. I omit the interactions of the other aspects of the AIM model, I and A. Dreaming and psychosis involve high activation and internal or hallucinatory imputs, for example). So in this ellegant framework Hobson frames the rest of his discussion.

Now if one thing can be said about the style of writing, usually good in HObsons books, is that there seems to be way too small a bibliography. For a book of such lenght and scope, one would expect extensive support in references and evidence coming from various diciplines and labs. In fact, Hobson lists about 10 references and onnly seems to present evidence either compatible with his views and coming from his own lab. This is to me a very bad thing for his book, otherwise a brilliant exposition of a promising thesis. The book is nevertheless a valuable addition to the consicousness litterature, and HObson is one of the main players in the game.

Free your brain-mind
This is an intriguing but ultimately frustrating book from one of the leading luminaries of dream/sleep science. With the central thesis being that altered states of consciousness from psychosis to psychedelic intoxication result from the disintegration of boundaries between normally separate brain-mind states (sleeping and waking), this book itself cannot decide what book-state it wishes to occupy. Too cursory to be a book about the neuro-chemistry of dreaming and consciousness in general, too anecdotal to be an adequate discussion of the multifarious effects of various psycho-active drugs (from Prozac to LSD), and too preliminary to be a manifesto for a neuro-dynamic psychiatry, Hobson would like his book to be all these things. While reading it did inspire me to learn more about the actual mechanics of the brain, I felt again and again that what this book really cried out for was a strong editorial hand. There are too many asides, too little sustained argumentation, and in fact, too many goals for this book to cohere and succeed. Succeed at one, you might ask? Hobson is a standard-bearer for an enlightened, scientific realism, who strives to demystify human experience by demonstrating that all transcendent states (from dreaming to tripping) are grounded in the physical chemistry of the brain and, therefore, do not refer to any metaphysical reality. Although science is a long way from isolating or producing the super-specific consciousness effects that we each experience phenomenologically, Hobson believes, and I concur, that it is only a matter of time. However, while Hobson would like to dissuade people from turning to drugs (either from the pharmacy or from the street) in the pursuit of "personal satisfaction and social success," he fails to make a strong case against psychonautical explorations. The pragmatic utilitarianism that might convince people to avoid risky behaviors like taking cocaine or prozac, itself lacks, by definition, a metaphysical ground that would proscibe such activities absolutely. ... Read more

Book Description

This definitive atlas views normal anatomy through the complete range of imaging modalities. The 3rd edition has been updated to reflect advances in imaging technology, particularly in terms of CT, MR and ultrasound imaging. In all, 200 new diagnostic images have been added, and in response to user feedback, 25 new line diagrams have been added to aid interpretation of certain key images. The book therefore now includes over 700 photographs of outstanding clarity, as well as 35 interpretative artworks. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Best for MRI and CT
I highly reccomend this for MRI and CT images viewing. The images are very clear and capture the area of interest very well. Medical professionals will sure can rely on this atlas for normal images.

Comprehensive
It is a good atlas for a trainee. It includes difficult part of body with a precise label. However, it is not easy to find the one that you want since there are plenty of labels. In addition, I think it is much better if there are few sentences to elicit the information concerning the radiological imaging like certain common normal variants that one could see in the radiological imaging ... Read more

Book Description

Consciousness is at the very core of the human condition. Yet only in recent decades has it become a major focus in the brain and behavioral sciences. Scientists now know that consciousness involves many levels of brain functioning, from brainstem to cortex. The almost seventy articles in this book reflect the breadth and depth of this burgeoning field. The many topics covered include consciousness in vision and inner speech, immediate memory and attention, waking, dreaming, coma, the effects of brain damage, fringe consciousness, hypnosis, and dissociation.

Underlying all the selections are the questions, What difference does consciousness make? What are its properties? What role does it play in the nervous system? How do conscious brain functions differ from unconscious ones? The focus of the book is on scientific evidence and theory. The editors have also chosen introductory articles by leading scientists to allow a wide variety of new readers to gain insight into the field. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A fascinating collection of articles
If thought about in retrospect, it is perhaps flabbergasting that the study of consciousness was not considered, and could not be considered, part of science. The impact of the behavioral school of psychology was no doubt both a symptom and a cause of this exclusion. The reasons though for excluding the study of consciousness from science are now properly given to historians, for, as this book is an indication of, extensive scientific research is now being done in this area, and this research is a fascinating story. Once thought to be the domain of mysticism and philosophy, research into consciousness has, finally, entered the domain of the laboratory. The arm-chair speculations of Edmund Husserll are now replaced by the fMRI scan and careful observations. In the words of Francis Crick and Christof Koch, who have written an article for this book, "the time to start the scientific attack is now."

The book is a collection of articles written by active researchers in the field. The preface and the introductory article are excellent and not only introduce the reasons for the book but also put the articles in historical perspective. The author addresses the skepticism of some scientists on whether there is any evidence of conscious experience as such. The articles in the book were selected according to their approach as treating "consciousness as a variable", similar to any other topic of scientific inquiry. He is aware of the problems associated with such a view though, since consciousness, he says, cannot be varied "from the inside". Decreasing it will cause us to lose the ability to observe anything, and the consciousness of others is not accessible directly. The author stresses though that contrary to the assertions of some philosophers, consciousness is not beyond scientific study. We need not depend on "plausible intuitions, thought experiments, or rhetorical brilliance", but can instead rely on experiments and testable hypotheses. He calls this a "verifiable phenomenology" in contrast with the philosophical movement of the last century.

The article by George Mandler also expresses this attitude, asserting that the study of consciousness has been plagued with "philosophical, theological, and pedestrian semantic debris". For Mandler, the "mind" refers to the "totality of theoretical processes ascribed to the individual", and this viewpoint, he believes, will avoid the collapse into solipsism and sophistry that so often accompanies the philosophical view of the mind. Mandler gives an excellent overview of some of the approaches taken in the scientific study of consciousness. He also outlines his personal views on the subject, asserting that for him, consciousness is tied to a system of limited capacity, this limitation referring to the number of "functional units" that can be kept in consciousness at a particular point in time. Mandler does believe though that psychologists and philosophers are correct in their assertion that the content of consciousness is not directly available, and so other strategies must be invented to deal with this content. Most interesting though is that the author does not view consciousness as primary, but instead views it merely as one particular mode of processing. Conscious processing of information cannot therefore be said to have more status than processing that does not.

There are many interesting articles in this book, and space constraints do not permit a detailed review here. Some of articles that this reviewer found interesting or exceptionally well written are: 1. "Consciousness and Isomorphism" by Stephen E. Palmer, which addresses the "inverted spectrum argument". This has been a source of philosophical argumentation ever since John Locke first proposed it in 1690, and asks for a demonstration that the visual experience of colors between two individuals are the same, or whether they are spectrally inverted. The author discusses his reasons for rejecting Locke's assertion that there is no way to tell whether the spectrums are indeed inverted without the two persons "getting into each others heads." 2. "Strategies and Models of Selective Attention" by Anne M. Treisman. The author outlines her strategies for classifying attention tasks and experimental procedures to study them. She restricts herself to tasks that require immediate perception and response, wherein the experimental subjects are subjected to information overload. Her goal is to find out to what extent the mechanisms of selective attention can be encapsulated into a single mechanism. 3. "Aspects of the Theory of Comprehension, Memory, and Attention" by Donald G. MacKay, which attempts to provide evidence for a "modern" version of Wundt's theory, the latter of which asserted that the processing of sentences takes place at two distinct levels, one involving preattentive processes and the other attentive ones. The "modern" version asserts that the perceptual mechanism consists of two distinct and interrelated levels of components, with the first involving limited capacity short-term memory, and the second a large long-term memory. 4. The article "Conscioussness and Complexity" by Giulio Tononi and Gerald M. Edelman. This article, like all the rest in the last part of the book, called "Theory" is fascinating, again because of its attempt to respect the role of experiments. The authors attempt to identify the types of neural processes that account for the key properties of conscious experience, emphasizing that conscious experience is integrated but simultaneously also highly differentiated in that one can experience a large number of different conscious states within a short time. The authors discuss tools for measuring integration, which they call 'functional clustering' and for measuring differentiation, which they call 'neural complexity'. Then they give criteria for determining whether in fact a group of active neurons can contribute to conscious experience. These criteria are encapsulated into the 'dynamic core hypothesis', which they claim is a testable hypothesis on neural contributions to conscious experience. Recent experimental findings are discussed that, in the author's view, show that this hypothesis is viable. These measurements of neural activity shed light on what kind of neural circuits are needed to perform different types of tasks, these tasks sometimes needing conscious control, and sometimes not.

it is finally here
What can somebody who is a science of consicousness freak say about a 1000 pages book about the psychological, cognitive, theorethical, neurological, and historical bases of consciousness? ......well, maybe "finally". This is THE definitive collection of papers on the science of consicousness, something that could only be said before about all three volumes of Towards a Science of Consicousness, edited by Hameroff.

Everything one needs to know to START an inquiry into this interesting field is here. Represented are those papers that started the whole cognitive revolution, all the way to the most recent theoretical investigations on consicousness. The only thing one who is familiar with the literature can disagree with is witht he inclusion and omission of certain key papers, but I am sure the editors had their hands full in making the books size acceptable and at the same time representative of the field. That said, it is impossible to ignore that Baars seems to have chosen some contributions on the basis of how much they are supportive of his global workspace model. I doubt this was made on purpose, however. Another objection could come from the absence of a neurochemistry of consicousness chapter, or a consicousness in quantum physics chapter. The former seems to me impardonable to have been left out, and the latter probably should have been there simply because of the popular attention paid to it, if not because of its shaky scientific foundations.

It is a custom of mine to declare a book on consicousness a must-have, but this one has the most merits to deserve such title. No one who has pronounced the word consicousness in a scientific context can do without this volume...it could also work quite well as a textbook for graduate level consicousness courses. One only hopes that many more editions are published, and that it can be someday extended to various volumes. ... Read more

Book Description

Investigation of the functional architecture of the human brain using modern noninvasive imaging techniques is a rapidly expanding area of research. A proper knowledge of methodology is needed to appreciate the burgeoning literature in the field. This timely publication provides an excellent catalogue of the main techniques.

The authors offer an invaluable analysis of mapping strategies and techniques, providing everything from the foundations to the major pitfalls and practical applications of the modern techniques used in neuroimaging. Contains over 1000 full color pages with more than 200 color figures.

Spanning the methodological gamut from the molecular level to the whole brain while discussing anatomy, physiology, and pathology, as well as their integration, Brain Mapping: The Methods, 2e, brings the reader a comprehensive, well-illustrated and entirely readable description of the methods for brain mapping. Drs. Toga and Mazziotta provide everything from the foundations to the major pitfalls and practical applications of the technique by assembling an impressive group of experts, all widely known in their field, who contribute an outstanding set of chapters. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

excellent book for beginners
I read the first edition twice and still decided to buy the second edition . Case study approach is the best way to learn .
You will never get tired of exploring the cases. You will have gross view of the vertiginous patients and learn differential diagnosis. Must read for beginners. ... Read more