A key property of neural processing in higher mammals is the ability to focus resources by selectively directing attention to relevant perceptions, thoughts or actions. Research into attention has grown rapidly over the past two decades, as new techniques have become available to study higher brain function in humans, non-human primates, and other mammals. Neurobiology of Attention is the first encyclopedic volume to summarize the latest developments in attention research.An authoritative ...

Since the 1980s, MRI scanners have told us much about brain function and played an important role in the clinical diagnosis of a number of conditions - both in the brain and the rest of the body. Their routine use has made the diagnosis of brain tumours and brain damage both quicker and more accurate. However, some neuroscientific advances, in particular those that relate specifically to the mind have provoked excitement and discussion in a number of disciplines. One of the most thought pr...

The past two decades have seen unparalleled developments in our knowledge of the brain and mind. However, these advances have forced us to confront head-on some significant ethical issues regarding our application of this information in the real world- whether using brain images to establish guilt within a court of law, or developing drugs to enhance cognition. Historically, any consideration of the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies in science and medicine ha...

What is this strange mental world that seems so essential to being human?The conscious mind brings together sensations, perceptions, thoughts and memories to generate the seamless movie of a person's life. It makes us aware of the world around us and our own self. How all this emerges from a kilogram of brain cells is one of the greatest unanswered questions.In Your Conscious Mind leading brain scientists and New Scientist take you on a jou...

'Working Memory, Thought, and Action' is the magnum opus of one of the most influential cognitive psychologists of the past 50 years. This new volume on the model he created (with Graham Hitch) discusses the developments that have occurred within the model in the past twenty years, and places it within a broader context. Working memory is a temporary storage system that underpins our capacity for coherent thought. Some 30 years ago, Baddeley and Hitch proposed a way of thinking about worki...

There has been much recent excitement amongst neuroscientists and ethicists about the possibility of using drugs, as well as other technologies, to enhance cognition in healthy individuals. This excitement has arisen from recent advances in neuroscientific technologies such as drugs that increase alertness and wakefulness in healthy individuals or technologies that can stimulate activity in different parts of the brain - either via the scalp or via electrodes - raising the possibility of p...

This book examines the way in which new discoveries about genetic and neuroscience are influencing our understanding of human behaviour. As scientists unravel more about the ways in which genes and the environment work together to shape the development of our brains, their studies have importance beyond the narrow confines of the laboratory. This emerging knowledge has implications for our notions of morality and criminal responsibility. The extent to which “biological determinism” can be ...

Sensory Neuroscience: Four Laws of Psychophysics organizes part of psychophysics -- a science of quantitative relationships between human sensations and the stimuli that evoke them. Although psychophysics belongs to sensory neuroscience, and is coupled to neurophysiology, it has also branched out to various specialized disciplines, including the disciplines of vision and hearing, ophthalmology, optometry, otology, and audiology. Due to this diversification and fragmentation, psychophysics ...

The discovery of mirror neurons caused a revolution in neuroscience and psychology. Nevertheless, because of their profound impact within life sciences, mirror neuron are still the subject of numerous debates concerning their origins and their functions. With more than 20 years of research in this area, it is timely to synthesise the expanding literature on this topic. 'New frontiers in Mirror Neurons' provides a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in mirror neurons research - ac...

Over the past two decades, electrophysiology has undergone unprecedented changes thanks to technical improvements, which simplify measurement and analysis and allow more compact data storage. This book covers in detail the spectrum of electrophysiology applications in patients with disorders of consciousness. Its content spans from clinical aspects of the management of subjects in the intensive care unit, including EEG, evoked potentials and related implications in terms of prognosis and p...

There are two distinct views about the functions of our brains and their origins. The standard view, taught in most neuroscience texts, has incoming messages about the world sent to the cerebral cortex, with the cortex then producing an appropriate motor output. The interactive view, largely expressed by philosophers and psychologists, stresses the continuous sensorimotor interactions of the brain with the world. The Brain as a Tool focuses on thalamo-cortical interactions on the basis of ...

This "landmark study of child development" examines the devastating effects of early childhood institutionalization (Avshalom Caspi, Duke University).In 1989, the fall of Romania's Ceausescu regime left approximately 170,000 children in impoverished institutions across the country. This crisis prompted the most comprehensive study to date on the effects of institutionalization on a child's brain development, behavior, and psychological functioning. Romania's Aba...