Brain imaging has revolutionised the field of Psychology, yet it can be a minefield whichever discipline you approach it from. This book shows how brain imaging can advance a true neuroscience of human cognition. It is accessible for those starting out in imaging, whilst also informative for those who have already acquired some expertise
Most people find colorful brain scans highly compelling—and yet, many experts don't. This discrepancy begs the question: What can we learn from neuroimaging? Is brain information useful in fields such as psychiatry, law, or education? How do neuroscientists create brain activation maps and why do we admire them? Casting Light on The Dark Side of Brain Imaging tackles these questions through a critical and constructive lens—separating fruitful science from misleading neuro-babble. In a breezy writing style accessible to a wide readership, experts from across the brain sciences offer their uncensored thoughts to help advance brain research and debunk the craze for reductionist, headline-grabbing neuroscience. This collection of short, enlightening essays is suitable for anyone interested in brain science, from students to professionals. Together, we take a hard look at the science behind brain imaging and outline why this technique remains promising despite its seldom-discussed shortcomings. - Challenges the tendency toward neuro-reductionism - Deconstructs hype through a critical yet constructive lens - Unveils the nature of brain imaging data - Explores emerging brain technologies and future directions - Features a non-technical and accessible writing style
This Very Short Introduction describes the new field of cognitive neuroscience - the study of what happens in the brain when we perceive, think, reason, remember, and act. Focusing on the human brain, Passingham looks at the most recent research in the field, the modern brain imaging technologies, and what the images can and can't tell us.
Modern neuroscience research is inherently multidisciplinary, with a wide variety of cutting edge new techniques to explore multiple levels of investigation. This Third Edition of Guide to Research Techniques in Neuroscience provides a comprehensive overview of classical and cutting edge methods including their utility, limitations, and how data are presented in the literature. This book can be used as an introduction to neuroscience techniques for anyone new to the field or as a reference for any neuroscientist while reading papers or attending talks. - Nearly 200 updated full-color illustrations to clearly convey the theory and practice of neuroscience methods - Expands on techniques from previous editions and covers many new techniques including in vivo calcium imaging, fiber photometry, RNA-Seq, brain spheroids, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, and more - Clear, straightforward explanations of each technique for anyone new to the field - A broad scope of methods, from noninvasive brain imaging in human subjects, to electrophysiology in animal models, to recombinant DNA technology in test tubes, to transfection of neurons in cell culture - Detailed recommendations on where to find protocols and other resources for specific techniques - "Walk-through" boxes that guide readers through experiments step-by-step
Thinking on 20 watts -- The visible mind -- fMRI grows up -- Can fMRI read minds? -- How do brains change over time? -- Crimes and lies -- Decision neuroscience -- Is mental illness just a brain disease? -- The future of neuroimaging.
"This chapter explains why this book is organized as it is. Each neocortical area has a unique pattern of inputs and outputs. This means that the challenge is to understand the transformation that each of the prefrontal areas performs from input to output. Functional brain imaging allows us to visualize the human brain at work, but it does not have the spatial resolution to identify the mechanisms that support the transformations that the brain performs. It is neurophysiological recordings from cells that tell us how these are achieved. Chapters 3-8 are therefore mainly devoted to studies that have been carried out on the prefrontal cortex of macaque monkeys because the methods are necessarily invasive. Apart from recording, the methods include making selective lesions in an area; it is these that identify the contribution that is unique to that area. The book ends by reviewing the evolution of the human prefrontal cortex; and the final two chapters discuss the ways in which the human prefrontal cortex is specialized in terms of function. In doing so, they attempt to account for the intellectual gap between humans and other primates"--
John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives. In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.
In an age where the amount of data collected from brain imaging is increasing constantly, it is of critical importance to analyse those data within an accepted framework to ensure proper integration and comparison of the information collected. This book describes the ideas and procedures that underlie the analysis of signals produced by the brain. The aim is to understand how the brain works, in terms of its functional architecture and dynamics. This book provides the background and methodology for the analysis of all types of brain imaging data, from functional magnetic resonance imaging to magnetoencephalography. Critically, Statistical Parametric Mapping provides a widely accepted conceptual framework which allows treatment of all these different modalities. This rests on an understanding of the brain's functional anatomy and the way that measured signals are caused experimentally. The book takes the reader from the basic concepts underlying the analysis of neuroimaging data to cutting edge approaches that would be difficult to find in any other source. Critically, the material is presented in an incremental way so that the reader can understand the precedents for each new development. This book will be particularly useful to neuroscientists engaged in any form of brain mapping; who have to contend with the real-world problems of data analysis and understanding the techniques they are using. It is primarily a scientific treatment and a didactic introduction to the analysis of brain imaging data. It can be used as both a textbook for students and scientists starting to use the techniques, as well as a reference for practicing neuroscientists. The book also serves as a companion to the software packages that have been developed for brain imaging data analysis. - An essential reference and companion for users of the SPM software - Provides a complete description of the concepts and procedures entailed by the analysis of brain images - Offers full didactic treatment of the basic mathematics behind the analysis of brain imaging data - Stands as a compendium of all the advances in neuroimaging data analysis over the past decade - Adopts an easy to understand and incremental approach that takes the reader from basic statistics to state of the art approaches such as Variational Bayes - Structured treatment of data analysis issues that links different modalities and models - Includes a series of appendices and tutorial-style chapters that makes even the most sophisticated approaches accessible
This book gives an exhaustive account of the classification and management of epileptic disorders. It provides clear didactic guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of epileptic syndromes and seizures through thirteen chapters, complemented by a pharmacopoeia and CD ROM of video-EEGs.
