Customer Reviews

The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience

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This book is an accessible source for information in one of the hottest areas in science -- cognitive neuroscience. The book is not intended for experts (it won't give you any new ideas), nor for the reader who is not interested in putting forth a little effort. It is a student's guide and students study. But the effort is not great and the reward exceeds the effort if ou have any interest in the brain or the mind.

Mostly due to the experimental techniques that are now available to study brain activity, the field of cognitive neuroscience is exploding, generating great excitement not only among professional neuroscientists but also from those curious about advances in the field. New areas of research and new perspectives on ethics, legal philosophy, sociology, and artificial intelligence have been generated by the advances in cognitive neuroscience, and this entails that accurate documentation and tutorials be developed to detail these advances.

This book fills that need, and could be read not only by students who are entering the field of cognitive neuroscience but by those, who, like this reviewer, are very interested in the field. The small size of the book already dictates that much of it will read like a literature review, with pointers to many references, but the author gives enough detail to allow the reader to appreciate the subject matter. Readers who crave more in-depth coverage can consult the many references that are given in the book.

Everything about cognitive neuroscience is fascinating, and there are new surprises coming out of the laboratories on a daily basis. Some of the more recent ones, particularly those that make use of functional MRI and TMS are discussed in this book. The author also includes an historical introduction that puts the field in its proper context, and also serves to distinguish it from more speculative approaches that one finds in philosophy departments around the world. Particularly interesting because of its importance in artificial intelligence is the discussion in this introduction of domain specificity and modularity.

But the functions of the brain, whether they are localized or modularized, are characterized in cognitive neuroscience by studying individuals who show impairment of these functions. The author characterizes this strategy as being a compromise between that of (classical) neuro-psychology, which favors group studies, and cognitive neuro-psychology that favors single case studies. Typically it is lesions that cause impairments of cognitive processes, and it is quite surprising sometimes to learn to what degree these impairments are disentangled from other "nearby" brain processes. In this regard the author discusses `double dissociation' between cognitive/neural processes. Even more interesting because of its importance in artificial intelligence is the notion of `dual-task interference' wherein two tasks share the same cognitive processes. A better name for this might be the "entanglement" between two tasks, and it is the opinion of this reviewer that the study of the degree to which two tasks cannot be performed independently of one another is of utmost importance in understanding the brain as a computational machine.

From a students perspective: this book is extremely easy to read and comprehend. The layout of the the chapters, and flow of information within them, makes the content easy to digest. Found some statements that weren't necessarily true... But what text book doesn't have these? For a robust yet painless introduction to cognition and the brain, I would recommend.

This textbook is great for students interested in cognitive neuroscience. The style is easy to read and follow, with interactive lessons and infographics throughout. I'd highly recommend it to any undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a related field.

This product was delivered to me before I expected and in perfect condition. I use this book for my classes so having it before my first class was extremely helpful. I was very satisfied with this order.

This book represents a very good introduction to the world of cognitive neuroscience. The language it uses is very easy to follow and the book contains several images that help to better understand the concepts explained. Very informative and entertaining for those who are interested in the subject but don't have previous knowledge on it. Besides, the format of the book makes it easy to handle and carry - it's small and not too heavy. I recommend it.

For those thinking or going in the field of psychology - this is a great reference book for the fundamentals on how the brain is organized and its mechanics.

It's a well-written book, which explicitly delivers the point of each chapter. The topics are finely organized into sections, thus making the information clear.

It is a bit shallow, but, after all, it's an introductory text.

This book isnt half bad but some of the material in it is hard to comprehend. It is very useful if you just want to grasp facts and leave the rest. All in all, its an ok book.

This book is pretty straightforward and easy to read. Everything is laid out clearly and while it does not go into depth into the material; there are other more lengthy texts that you can refer to if necessary.

I really wish all my textbooks were like this.