Neuroscience (Book with CD-ROM)

Rating:
Summary: Yes - it was good
Review: Again, as a slacker that took Neurobiology as a course (and aced it - even as a slacker, thank you Neuroscience) at an "Ivy League" institution (Cornell, arguably the "bastard child" of the Ivies, sorry Brown) I will say that this book teaches at least 300% of what was taught in the course. And I really like their take on the definition of conciousness - that is, a definition is both impossible and irrelevant - like that of life. Really, as someone who set a "safe" track career in immunology (a science that will be exhausted in less than a hundred years), I will have to say that this book does an excellent introductory job in the least safe biology career (if neurobiology is exhausted within a thousand years I will be both surprised and disheartened).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for Undergrads
Review: As an undergraduate Neuroscience major I found this textbook to be highly informative and well-written. It was used to a Freshman-level course, and was easy to understand, yet thorough and interesting. The graphics are well done, and the format is better than most textbooks I'm used to. Anyone, even with minimal science experience could dive right in and learn a great deal. It may not be advanced enough, however, for grad or medical students. As a reference it does okay, but there are more-advanced texts which would probably do better. All-in-all it is an excellent book. In-fact, I liked it so much that I didn't sell it back at the end of the semester and keep it on my bookshelf for future reference (and future classes!)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Accessible, great graphics, good organization.
Review: As an undergraduate Psychobiology student, this text served me well in my Neuroscience course. In all honesty I never went. I just read this book. I got excellent marks in the class. As a serious slacker and bibliophile, I recommend this textbook for any like-minded student.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent neuroscience text
Review: The concepts explained in this book almost leap off the page. I have tutored many people in neuroscience before, and I always start with this book, which immediately makes even the more complex subjects like LTP understandable. The insets in every chapter are very useful, but the true value of the textbook is the clear and concise writing.

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for any neurophysiology student!
Review: This book is absolutely indispensible for anyone who wants more than lecture notes. It is without any doubt, the best textbook to date (in this field). The text is breazy and the captions are extremely well-done. Thank you, Dale!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Accessible, great graphics, good organization.
Review: This reference provides a well-written, fairly easy to read, introduction to human neuroscience. The reference begins with an overview of the organization of the nervous system - neurons, neural circuits, and neuroanatomy. The first group of chapters consider in more detail membrane potentials, voltage-dependent membrane permeability, membrane channels and pumps, synapses, neurotransmitters and receptors. The next group of chapters consider in more detail the sensory nervous system - somatic sensory receptors and pathways, pain, the eye and visual pathways, the ear, auditory pathways and vestibular system, smell and olfactory pathways, and taste and taste pathways. The next group of chapters consider in more detail the motor nervous system - spinal cord motor circuits, descending control of these circuits, basal ganglia, cerebellum and eye movements. The next group of chapters consider the development of the brain as well as plasticity in the adult nervous system. These are followed by chapters on cognition, language, sleep, emotions, sexuality, and memory.

Rating:
Summary: Confusing
Review: When I saw the page I recognized the cover of the book, but I could not believe what people were actually writing about it.

First I want to say that I am an undergraduate biotechnology student. I have a very strong background in biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, tissue culture techniques, and immunology; but I have not had any classes dealing with anatomy or physiology since Bio 101 way back when. I have read and am quite comfortable with Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell and Stryers Biochemistry, and even a handful of primary journal articles, so I do know how to read a textbook.

Now with that out of the way, let me say that this book is completely incomprehensible. It is so full of anatomy and Latin derived words (which it does a poor job at explaining BTW) that I can only assume that it was meant for medical students, and to have physiology an a prerequisite for it, but it doesn't even have an introduction describing the recommended background or whom it is supposed to be for. In fact, most of the book is devoted to the physiology of sensation and movement, not neurobiology. Now if you have the background for it and thats what you are looking for then it is a very thorough text that goes into a lot of depth.

If you are looking to understand the biochemistry or molecular aspects of neurobiology, find another book!