Neurological Side of Neuropsychology » (New Edition)

Richard E. Cytowic, M.D., founded Capitol Neurology, a private clinic in Washington, D.C., and teaches at George Washington University Medical Center. He is the author of Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses and The Man Who Tasted Shapes, both published by the MIT Press.

Neurologists, neuropsychologists, and cognitive scientists work with many of the same problems and patients and yet know little about the literature and approaches of the other disciplines. The Neurological Side of Neuropsychology is a primer for neurology residents, graduate students, and established professionals from other fields who wish to enter behavioral neurology. It provides a clear and coherent introduction to contemporary neurological ideas, carefully contrasting the conventional hierarchical model of brain organization to the newer multiplex model that scientists from biological backgrounds currently use.

Instead of presenting laundry lists of arcane maladies along with a key of "where in the brain the responsible lesion is," or a compendium of tests for a given situation—the received wisdom that students are required to memorize—Cytowic gives students the historical and conceptual tools they need not only to get up to speed regarding present knowledge, but to go forward.

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Problem-oriented rather than actuarial in approach, this practical primer introduces contemporary neurological ideas to the beginner. It combines behavioral neurology with clinical neuropsychology in an attempt to relate current understanding of cellular anatomy, chemoarchitecture, and brain organization to clinical findings. Chapters are arranged in three parts: conceptualizations--concepts of mind, and of neural tissue; clinical assessment--how to examine a patient, formal neuropsychological assessment, and symptoms caused by focal lesions in the cerebrum; and specific neuropsychological topics, among them, disconnection syndromes, memory and amnesia, dementia, the epilepsies, spatial knowledge, and language. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)