Neurobiology of Attention [Hardcover]

Laurent Itti (Editor), Geraint Rees (Editor), John K. Tsotsos (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0123757312 | ISBN-13: 978-0123757319 | Edition: 1

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 collection of over 100 chapters organized into thematic sections provides both broad coverage and access to focused, up-to-date research findings. This book presents a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary perspective on psychological, physiological and computational approaches to understanding the neurobiology of attention. Ideal for students, as a reference handbook or for rapid browsing, the book has a wide appeal to anybody intereseted in attention research.

* Contains numerous quick-reference articles covering the breadth of investigation into the subject of attention
* Provides extensive introductory commentary to orient and guide the reader
* Includes the most recent research results in this field of study

Editorial Reviews

Review

"4 STARS! - If there is one book to own on the topic of attention, this is it. Although it is not difficult to find books written on more specific attention topics, this is probably the most complete single volume on the market dedicated to attention."
--Christopher J. Graver, PhD, University of Michigan Health SysteM, in DOODY'S (2005)

"This book will be a standard reference for some time to come in this fascinating and important field."
--Donlin M. Long, in NEUROSURGERY QUARTERLY (2005)

"... this volume would be a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any laboratory concerned with perception and attentional issues. The extensive index also ensures the book is an excellent reference volume, showing once again how issues are represented across each section of the book, from their historical foundations to their standing in computational neuroscience and all of the human neuroscience that transpired in-between. Owing to the immense coverage and depth of this book, it should grab the attention of researchers concerned with neurobiology,experienced and naive alike."
Amanda Ellison, Department of Psychology, Oxford in PERCEPTION, Vol 35 (2006)

Book Description

Definitive reference handbook on the topic of neurobiology of attention.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 744 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (March 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0123757312
• ISBN-13: 978-0123757319
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,984,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Probably not worth the price for me, November 22, 2006

By 

Nick M. Bentley (Winston Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neurobiology of Attention (Hardcover)

This volume gets most of its points for being comprehensive. The idea is nice: 109 (!) short chapters, each briefly summarizing a different research program related to attention. A great way to quickly get a bird's eye view of current attention research. It has some shortcomings, however, and they are hard for me to forgive, given the book's phenomenal cost. Some of the chapters, I feel, are a bit too brief, almost tossed off. Part of the problem may be that I read the book cover-to-cover, when really it's supposed be used as a kind of reference manual/ jumping-off-point-into-the-literature. Used this way, I imagine that the incompleteness of some chapters might be less bothersome.

A more personal criticism is that there are too many fMRI papers. I find it difficult to use fMRI data to constrain or arrive at mechanistic hypotheses about how brains actually work. I can't hold this against the editors (much), because the book's purpose is to represent current research comprehensively, and fMRI is big. Still, if you have as much trouble interpreting fMRI data as I do, it's another reason the book may afford you less than $150 dollars worth of enlightenment.

Finally, it may not be an ideal choice for students, despite a claim to the contrary on the back cover-- the papers can be very terse, and many assume background knowledge that initiates won't have. Still, there probably is not a more complete, up-to-date sampling of current attention research available between two covers, so it MAY be worth having despite it's flaws if you're a neurobiologist/psychologist working in a related field, and you can get someone else to pay for it.