The Cognitive Electrophysiology Of Mind And Brain

This book reviews a productive period of research aimed at connecting brain and mind through the use of scalp-recorded brain potentials to chart the temporal course of information processing in the human brain. The book serves as both as a summary of where we have been and as a pointer of the way ahead.

When his beloved donkey becomes ill, a young Italian boy is determined to take her to the crypt of St. Francis in Assisi in hopes of making her well.

MICHAEL S. GAZZANIGA The investigation of the human brain and mind involves a myriad of ap proaches. Cognitive neuroscience has grown out of the appreciation that these approaches have common goals that are separate from other goals in the neural sciences. By identifying cognition as the construct of interest, cognitive neuro science limits the scope of investigation to higher mental functions, while simultaneously tackling the greatest complexity of creation, the human mind. The chapters of this collection have their common thread in cognitive neuroscience. They attack the major cognitive processes using functional stud ies in humans. Indeed, functional measures of human sensation, perception, and cognition are the keystone of much of the neuroscience of cognitive sci ence, and event-related potentials (ERPs) represent a methodological "coming of age" in the study of the intricate temporal characteristics of cognition. Moreover, as the field of cognitive ERPs has matured, the very nature of physiology has undergone a significant revolution. It is no longer sufficient to describe the physiology of non-human primates; one must consider also the detailed knowledge of human brain function and cognition that is now available from functional studies in humans-including the electrophysiological studies in humans described here. Together with functional imaging of the human brain via positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), ERPs fill our quiver with the arrows required to pierce more than the single neuron, but the networks of cognition.

Event-related potential methodology has long been used in neuroscience to measure electrical activity in the brain. It has become clear, however, that it can also be a powerful tool in studying and illuminating central psychological issues relating to attention, information processing, mental dynamics, memory, and language. Linking this technology to newer imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, makes it possible to build up a spatial and temporal picture of the brain during the performance of high-level skills. This volume provides strong evidence that cognitive psychology can benefit from the use of brain electrical activity, and will be of great interest to neuroscientists and psychologists alike.

Cognitive Electrophysiology of Attention explores the fundamental mechanisms of attention and related cognitive functions from cognitive neuroscience perspectives. Attention is an essential cognitive ability that enables humans to process and act upon relevant information while ignoring distracting information, and the capacity to focus attention is at the core of mental functioning. Understanding the neural bases of human attention remains a key challenge for neuroscientists and psychologists, and is essential for translational efforts to treat attentional deficits in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Cognitive electrophysiology is at the center of a multidisciplinary approach that involves the efforts of psychologists, neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists to identify basic brain mechanisms and develop translational approaches to improve mental health. This edited volume is authored by leading investigators in the field and discusses methods focused on electrophysiological recordings in humans, including electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potential (ERP) methods, and also incorporates evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Cognitive Electrophysiology of Attention illuminates specific models about attentional mechanisms in vision, audition, multisensory integration, memory, and semantic processing in humans. Provides an exhaustive overview of attention processes, going from normal functioning to the pathological, and using a combination of methodological tools An important reference for electrophysiology researchers looking at underlying attention processes rather than the methods themselves Enables researchers across a broad range of cognitive-process and methodological specialties to stay current on particular hypotheses, findings, and methods Edited and authored by the worldwide leaders in the field, affording the broadest, most expert coverage available

This book reviews a productive period of research aimed at connecting brain and mind through the use of scalp-recorded brain potentials to chart the temporal course of information processing in the human brain. The book serves as both as a summary of where we have been and as a pointer of the way ahead.

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.

"Nervous systems do not live by the rate code alone. The ceaseless activities of groups of neurons are choregraphed into waves, oscillations, synchronized rhythms, and transient coalitions; it is these that underlie behavior, memory, and conscious perception. This exuberant manifesto masterfully summarizes and reflects upon the relevant evidence of these patterns from all manner of brains, small and large." --