Download or read book The Two Halves of the Brain written by Kenneth Hugdahl and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010-06-04 with total page 717 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State-of-the-art research on brain asymmetry, explained from molecular to clinical levels. Hemispheric asymmetry is one of the basic aspects of perception and cognitive processing. The different functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain have been studied with renewed interest in recent years, as scholars explore applications to new areas, new measuring techniques, and new theoretical approaches. This volume provides a comprehensive view of the latest research in brain asymmetry, offering not only recent empirical and clinical findings but also a coherent theoretical approach to the subject. In chapters that report on the field at levels from the molecular to the clinical, leading researchers address such topics as the evolution and genetics of brain asymmetry; animal models; findings from structural and functional neuroimaging techniques and research; sex differences and hormonal effects; sleep asymmetry; cognitive asymmetry in visual and auditory perception; and auditory laterality and speech perception, memory, and asymmetry in the context of developmental, neurological, and psychiatric disorders. Contributors Katrin Amunts, Ulrike Bayer, Alfredo Brancucci, Vince D. Calhoun, Maria Casagrande, Marco Catani, Michael C. Corballis, Patricia E. Cowell, Timothy J. Crow, Tom Eichele, Stephanie Forkel, Patrick J. Gannon, Isabelle George, Onur Güntürkün, Heikki Hämäläinen, Markus Hausmann, Joseph B. Hellige, Kenneth Hugdahl, Masud Husain, Grégoria Kalpouzos, Bruno Laeng, Martina Manns, Chikashi Michimata, Deborah W. Moncrieff, Lars Nyberg, Godfrey Pearlson, Stefan Pollmann, Victoria Singh-Curry, Iris E.C. Sommer, Tao Sun, Nathan Swanson, Fiia Takio, Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, René Westerhausen

Download or read book Discovering the Brain written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."

Download or read book The Master and His Emissary written by Iain McGilchrist and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new edition of the bestselling classic – published with a special introduction to mark its 10th anniversary This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain – the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the ‘rational’ side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true? Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master. As he shows, it is the right side which is the more reliable and insightful. Without it, our world would be mechanistic – stripped of depth, colour and value.

Download or read book Micro Meso and Macro Connectomics of the Brain written by Henry Kennedy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-03-10 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has brought together leading investigators who work in the new arena of brain connectomics. This includes ‘macro-connectome’ efforts to comprehensively chart long-distance pathways and functional networks; ‘micro-connectome’ efforts to identify every neuron, axon, dendrite, synapse, and glial process within restricted brain regions; and ‘meso-connectome’ efforts to systematically map both local and long-distance connections using anatomical tracers. This book highlights cutting-edge methods that can accelerate progress in elucidating static ‘hard-wired’ circuits of the brain as well as dynamic interactions that are vital for brain function. The power of connectomic approaches in characterizing abnormal circuits in the many brain disorders that afflict humankind is considered. Experts in computational neuroscience and network theory provide perspectives needed for synthesizing across different scales in space and time. Altogether, this book provides an integrated view of the challenges and opportunities in deciphering brain circuits in health and disease.

Download or read book The Two Sides of Perception written by Richard B. Ivry and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anatomically, the central nervous system looks remarkably symmetrical--from the relatively simple structures of the spinal cord to the extensively convoluted folds of the cerebral hemispheres. At the functional level, however, there are striking differences between the left and right hemispheres. Although popular writings attribute language abilities to the left hemisphere and spatial abilities to the right, differences in hemispheric function appear to be more subtle. According to Ivry and Robertson, asymmetries over a wide range of perceptual tasks reflect a difference in strength rather than kind, with both hemispheres contributing to the performance of complex tasks, whether linguistic or spatial. After an historical introduction, the authors offer a cognitive neuroscience perspective on hemispheric specialization in perception. They propose that the two hemispheres differ in how they filter task-relevant sensory information. Building on the idea that the hemispheres construct asymmetric representations, the hypothesis provides a novel account of many laterality effects. A notable feature of the authors' work is their attempt to incorporate hemispheric specialization in vision, audition, music, and language within a common framework. In support of their theory, they review studies involving both healthy and neurologically impaired individuals. They also provide a series of simulations to demonstrate the underlying computational principles of their theory. Their work thus describes both the cognitive and neurological architecture of hemispheric asymmetries in perception.

Download or read book Principles of Psychopathology written by John Cutting and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychopathology is the study of the signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders - delusions, hallucinations, phobias, depression, for example. This book gives an account of the terms currently in use and attempts an in-depth analysis of the nature of each. The matter is examined both from a philosophical perspective and from the point of view of what is known about the function of the hemispheres of the brain.

Download or read book Tales from Both Sides of the Brain Enhanced Edition written by Michael S. Gazzaniga and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-02-24 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With extensive video footage of his trailblazing cognitive experiments, Michael Gazzaniga—the “father of cognitive neuroscience”—illuminates the discoveries behind his groundbreaking work in this enhanced digital edition of Tales from Both Sides of the Brain. Michael S. Gazzaniga, one of the most important neuroscientists of the twentieth century, gives us an exciting behind-the-scenes look at his seminal work on that unlikely couple, the right and left brain. Foreword by Steven Pinker. In the mid-twentieth century, Michael S. Gazzaniga, “the father of cognitive neuroscience,” was part of a team of pioneering neuroscientists who developed the now foundational split-brain brain theory: the notion that the right and left hemispheres of the brain can act independently from one another and have different strengths. In Tales from Both Sides of the Brain, Gazzaniga tells the impassioned story of his life in science and his decades-long journey to understand how the separate spheres of our brains communicate and miscommunicate with their separate agendas. By turns humorous and moving, Tales from Both Sides of the Brain interweaves Gazzaniga’s scientific achievements with his reflections on the challenges and thrills of working as a scientist. In his engaging and accessible style, he paints a vivid portrait not only of his discovery of split-brain theory, but also of his comrades in arms—the many patients, friends, and family who have accompanied him on this wild ride of intellectual discovery.

Download or read book The Parietal Lobe written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Parietal Lobe, Volume 151, the latest release from the Handbook of Clinical Neurology series, provides a foundation on the neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and clinical neurology/neuropsychology of the parietal lobe that is not only applicable to both basic researchers and clinicians, but also to students and specialists who are interested in learning more about disorders brought on by damage or dysfunction. Topics encompass the evolution, anatomy, connections, and neurophysiology, the major neurological and neuropsychological deficits and syndromes caused by damage, the potential for improvement via transcranial stimulation, and the role of the parietal in the cerebral networks for perception and action. - Provides a broad overview of the neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and clinical neurology of this region of the cortex - Offers additional insights regarding the role of the parietal in the cerebral networks for perception and action - Addresses the most frequent complications associated with damage, including somatosensory, perceptual, language, and memory, deficits, pain, optic ataxia, spatial neglect, apraxia, and more - Edited work with chapters authored by global leaders in the field - Presents the broadest, most expert coverage available

Download or read book Mayo Clinic Medical Neurosciences written by Eduardo E. Benarroch and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-11-06 with total page 850 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fully updated and revised according to student feedback, the sixth edition of Mayo Clinic Medical Neurosciences: Organized by Neurologic System and Level provides a systematic approach to anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the nervous system inspired by the neurologist's approach to solving clinical problems. This volume has 4 sections: 1) an overview of the neurosciences necessary for understanding anatomical localization and pathophysiologic characterization of neurologic disorders; 2) an approach to localizing lesions in the 7 longitudinal systems of the nervous system; 3) an approach to localizing lesions in the 4 horizontal levels of the nervous system; and 4) a collection of clinical problems. This book provides the neuroscience framework to support the neurologist in a clinical setting and is also a great resource for neurology and psychiatry board certifications. This is the perfect guide for all medical students and neurology, psychiatry, and physical medicine residents at early stages of training. New to This Edition - A chapter devoted to multiple-choice questions for self-assessment - Discussion of emerging concepts in molecular, cellular, and system neurosciences - New chapters on emotion and consciousness systems - Incorporation of new discoveries in neuroimaging and an appendix for tables of medications commonly used to treat neurologic disorders

Download or read book Self Consciousness and Split Brains written by Elizabeth Schechter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-23 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Could a single human being ever have multiple conscious minds? Some human beings do. The corpus callosum is a large pathway connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. In the second half of the twentieth century a number of people had this pathway cut through as a treatment for epilepsy. They became colloquially known as split-brain subjects. After the two hemispheres of the brain are cortically separated in this way, they begin to operate unusually independently of each other in the realm of thought, action, and conscious experience, almost as if each hemisphere now had a mind of its own. Philosophical discussion of the split-brain cases has overwhelmingly focused on questions of psychological identity in split-brain subjects, questions like: how many subjects of experience is a split-brain subject? How many intentional agents? How many persons? On the one hand, under experimental conditions, split-brain subjects often act in ways difficult to understand except in terms of each of them having two distinct streams or centers of consciousness. Split-brain subjects thus evoke the duality intuition: that a single split-brain human being is somehow composed of two thinking, experiencing, and acting things. On the other hand, a split-brain subject nonetheless seems like one of us, at the end of the day, rather than like two people sharing one body. In other words, split-brain subjects also evoke the unity intuition: that a split-brain subject is one person. Elizabeth Schechter argues that there are in fact two minds, subjects of experience, and intentional agents inside each split-brain human being: right and left. On the other hand, each split-brain subject is nonetheless one of us. The key to reconciling these two claims is to understand the ways in which each of us is transformed by self-consciousness.

Download or read book North and South written by Sandra Morris and published by . This book was released on 2022-03-02 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This beautiful non-fiction picture book contrasts, month-by-month, some of the world's most-loved Northern and Southern Hemisphere animals and the ways the climates in those regions affect the way they breed, feed, adapt, hide and survive. In the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, animals deal with changing seasons in various ways. Whichever hemisphere they live in, they need to be able to read the sign of the changing seasons to survive. This beautiful non-fiction picture book tells the tale of life for some of the planet's most-loved animals and what they're up to throughout the year. North and South marks a beautiful and engaging introduction to the natural world and conservation for young readers, with in-depth facts throughout and a full index and glossary adding interest for older readers.

Download or read book The Asymmetrical Brain written by Kenneth Hugdahl and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 828 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research on brain asymmetry, with particular emphasis on findings made possible by recent advances in neuroimaging.

Download or read book The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning written by Iain McGilchrist and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-15 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this 10,000-word essay, written to complement Iain McGilchrist's acclaimed The Master and His Emissary, the author asks why - despite the vast increase in material well-being - people are less happy today than they were half a century ago, and suggests that the division between the two hemispheres of the brain has a critical effect on how we see and understand the world around us. In particular, McGilchrist suggests, the left hemisphere's obsession with reducing everything it sees to the level of minute, mechanistic detail is robbing modern society of the ability to understand and appreciate deeper human values. Accessible to readers who haven't yet read The Master and His Emissary as well as those who have, this is a fascinating, immensely thought-provoking essay that delves to the very heart of what it means to be human.

Download or read book Atlas of Human Brain Connections written by Marco Catani and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012-06-14 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the major challenges of modern neuroscience is to define the complex pattern of neural connections that underlie cognition and behaviour. This atlas capitalises on novel diffusion MRI tractography methods to provide a comprehensive overview of connections derived from virtual in vivo tractography dissections of the human brain.

Download or read book How We Think and Learn written by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-13 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces readers to principles and research findings about human learning and cognition in an engaging, conversational manner.

Download or read book The Right Cerebral Hemisphere and Psychiatric Disorders written by John Cutting and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1990 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume deals with the functions of the right hemisphere of the brain, providing full information on how damage to this hemisphere can cause certain neurological and psychiatric syndromes. It brings together the latest ideas and approaches, including information which has, until now, been excluded from any psychological analysis of this kind. In this interdisciplinary work, readers will find a fully integrated approach to psychiatry, psychology, and neurology.

Download or read book The Cerebral Circulation written by Marilyn J. Cipolla and published by Biota Publishing. This book was released on 2016-07-28 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This e-book will review special features of the cerebral circulation and how they contribute to the physiology of the brain. It describes structural and functional properties of the cerebral circulation that are unique to the brain, an organ with high metabolic demands and the need for tight water and ion homeostasis. Autoregulation is pronounced in the brain, with myogenic, metabolic and neurogenic mechanisms contributing to maintain relatively constant blood flow during both increases and decreases in pressure. In addition, unlike peripheral organs where the majority of vascular resistance resides in small arteries and arterioles, large extracranial and intracranial arteries contribute significantly to vascular resistance in the brain. The prominent role of large arteries in cerebrovascular resistance helps maintain blood flow and protect downstream vessels during changes in perfusion pressure. The cerebral endothelium is also unique in that its barrier properties are in some way more like epithelium than endothelium in the periphery. The cerebral endothelium, known as the blood-brain barrier, has specialized tight junctions that do not allow ions to pass freely and has very low hydraulic conductivity and transcellular transport. This special configuration modifies Starling's forces in the brain microcirculation such that ions retained in the vascular lumen oppose water movement due to hydrostatic pressure. Tight water regulation is necessary in the brain because it has limited capacity for expansion within the skull. Increased intracranial pressure due to vasogenic edema can cause severe neurologic complications and death.