This authoritative new book details the most recent advances in clinical neuroscience, from neurogenetics to the study of consciousness.

This book covers recent advances in the understanding of brain structure, function and disorders based on the fundamental principles of physics. It covers a broad range of physical phenomena occurring in the brain circuits for perception, cognition, emotion and action, representing the building blocks of the mind. It provides novel insights into the devastating brain disorders of the mind such as schizophrenia, dementia, autism, aging or addictions, as well as into the new devices for brain repair. The book is aimed at basic researchers in the fields of neuroscience, physics, biophysics and clinicians in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery, psychology, psychiatry.

Great advances have been made in recent years toward a better understanding of the healthy brain and the physical basis of psychiatric disorder. This text brings together contributions from leading international authorities to provide a timely and multidisciplinary overview of this fast developing area. This book provides broad coverage ranging from epilepsy and schizophrenia to basal ganglia disorder and brain lesions. In many cases, a clinically oriented chapter is paired with one that describes the basic science that underpins it, and considerable attention is given to the impact of new technologies, such as structural and functional neuroimaging. This book highlights the basic pathophysiological mechanisms of multifaceted clinical manifestations to provide a valuable review of current neuropsychiatry. It will be welcomed by clinicians, researchers, and students alike from neuroscience to neuropsychology and psychiatry.

This textbook gives students of neuroscience, psychology, and related subjects a thorough introduction to this important topic and a foundation for future study. Key concepts are explained clearly and, by bridging the gap between basic and clinical sciences, the book provides a new perspective on brain function and brain disorders. Its unique approach means that it will give researchers new insights into their subject, as well as acting as a concise review and reference text.

Great advances have been made in recent years toward a better understanding of the healthy brain and the physical basis of psychiatric disorder. This text brings together contributions from leading international authorities to provide a timely and multidisciplinary overview of this fast developing area. This book provides broad coverage ranging from epilepsy and schizophrenia to basal ganglia disorder and brain lesions. In many cases, a clinically oriented chapter is paired with one that describes the basic science that underpins it, and considerable attention is given to the impact of new technologies, such as structural and functional neuroimaging. This book highlights the basic pathophysiological mechanisms of multifaceted clinical manifestations to provide a valuable review of current neuropsychiatry. It will be welcomed by clinicians, researchers, and students alike from neuroscience to neuropsychology and psychiatry.

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream, perhaps even why we're so clever at philosophy, music and art. Some of his most notable cases: A woman paralyzed on the left side of her body who believes she is lifting a tray of drinks with both hands offers a unique opportunity to test Freud's theory of denial. A man who insists he is talking with God challenges us to ask: Could we be "wired" for religious experience? A woman who hallucinates cartoon characters illustrates how, in a sense, we are all hallucinating, all the time. Dr. Ramachandran's inspired medical detective work pushes the boundaries of medicine's last great frontier -- the human mind -- yielding new and provocative insights into the "big questions" about consciousness and the self.

One of the key topics for establishing meaningful links between brain sciences and education is the development of reading. How does biology constrain learning to read? How does experience shape the development of reading skills? How does research on biology and behaviour connect to the ways that schools, teachers and parents help children learn to read, particularly in the face of disabilities that interfere with learning? This book addresses these questions and illuminates why reading disorders have been hard to identify, how recent research has established a firm base of knowledge about the cognitive neuroscience of reading problems and the learning tools for overcoming them, and finally, what the future holds for relating mind, brain and education to understanding reading difficulties. Connecting knowledge from neuroscience, genetics, cognitive science, child development, neuropsychology and education, this book will be of interest to both academic researchers and graduate students.