Source: amazon
Author: Michael Gazzaniga, Richard B. Ivry, George R. Mangun
Michael S. Gazzaniga is the Director of the Sage Center for the study of Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, where he worked with Roger Sperry, and had primary responsibility for initiating human split-brain research. He has established Centers for Cognitive Neuroscience at Cornell Medical School, the University of California, Davis, and at Dartmouth. He is founder of the Cognitive Neuroscience Institute and founding editor of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. He was a member of the President's Council on Bioethics from 2001–2009. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.
Richard B. Ivry is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His research focuses on the relationship of cognition and action, using the many methods of cognitive neuroscience. Dr. Ivry is a senior editor for the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and serves on the editorial boards of a number of other journals. Among his many honors, Dr. Ivry received the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, and was elected a fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists in 2003 and the Association for Psychological Science in 2006.
George R. Mangun is Professor of Psychology and Neurology in the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. He was the founding director of the Center for Mind and Brain, and also of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. In 1992, with Michael S. Gazzaniga and others, he founded the Cognitive Neuroscience Society. Dr. Mangun serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, and is Editor-in-Chief of the series The Neuroscience of Attention, published by Oxford University Press. He uses cognitive neuroscience tools in the study of brain attention mechanisms. He is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Hardcover: 752 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Third Edition edition (July 23, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393927954
ISBN-13: 978-0393927955
Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
Introduction
Three leading figures in the field of cognitive neuroscience provide an engaging, narrative driven overview of this path-breaking field.
Taking a highly interdisciplinary approach, the authors balance cognitive theory, with neuroscientific and neuropsychological evidence to reveal what we currently know about how the human mind works and to encourage students to think like cognitive neuroscientists. The text has been reorganized to move more seamlessly from micro to macro level topics, and its underlying pedagogy strengthened in order to make it an even more effective teaching tool. Maintaining its commitment to highlight the most cutting-edge trends in the field, the third edition includes the first ever standalone chapter of its kind on social neuroscience.
Amazon Customer Reviews
60 of 62 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent narrative-style textbook May 22, 2009
By Egor Ananev
Format:Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I would recommend this textbook to anyone who is interested in learning cognitive neuroscience. This textbook was recommended to me by a professor. Since this course is not taught at my university, I decided to cover it on my own. And, by far, this is the best textbook I've had on the subject. Reasons:
1) Gazzaniga along with his colleagues is very well-known in cognitive psychology, and is actively pursuing further research in the field, so I was happy to see that the research is up-to-date featuring the frontiers of cognitive neuroscience.
2) The explanations are very clear and narrative-style. That means that the author includes the stories of origin of different ideas within neuroscience, competition between different researchers in a psychological debate, descriptions of where the researchers come from (the feature that I really liked and that no other textbook has), extended examples on the subjects. This is the first textbook I read like a novel.
3) Enormous amount of illustrations, which are also very clear. They include all aspects that are needed to support the text.
4) The textbook covers most of the material that can be covered by some textbooks on biopsychology when it comes to cognitive functions. However, it advances well beyond this level. There are separate chapters on attentions, on hemisphericality, etc. However, since the book contains almost everything you need to know, you don't even have to take biopsych in advance. In fact, it describes synapses in more detail than in both of my biopsych textbooks.
5) The book provides a perfect amount of both cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology. The authors assume that you have already taken cognitive psychology course. However, due to the nature of the topic, it is pretty much impossible to discuss neuroscience without the underlying behavior. Other books strive to achieve the balance between the two, while this textbook has just the right amount of both.
6) The cover picture of the brain makes you want to open the textbook and read.
As for the price - I wish I would buy this textbook earlier not to waste my money on anything else. This is definitely a worthy investment.