Brain Circuits and Functions of the Mind: Essays in Honor of Roger Wolcott Sperry, Author

by Colwyn B. Trevarthern

Overview

In the history of American neuroscience, Roger Sperry and his contribution are outstanding. In this book, over twenty of his students, research colleagues and scientific friends, themselves all notable neuroscientists, review fifty years of his tireless experimentation and brilliant theoretical argument, also reviewing their own work in the context of Sperry's contributions to their fields. Sperry's challenging and controversial theories are very much alive in contemporary brain science, cognitive psychology and the philosophy of mind. Curiosity about the most difficult questions, such as those concerning conscious awareness, memory and volition led Sperry from the study of the control of complex patterns in brain circuit growth to discovery of the split brain phenomenon, which illuminated how the two halves of the brain integrate their different functions. In revolutionary tests on patients whose hemispheres had been disconnected to prevent the build-up of severe epileptic seizures, two complementary realms of mind were revealed, one verbal and rational ('left brain') nd the other more spatial, metaphorical and intuitive ('right brain'). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 1981. Although this book is written for students and researchers in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, it will hold interest for any reader who is curious about the workings of the mind and the brain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521378741
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/26/1990
Pages:	452
Product dimensions:	7.24(w) x 10.24(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Contributors; Foreword E. V. Evarts; Editor's preface C. Trevarthen; Part I. Specification of Behavioral Nerve Networks in Invertebrates: 1. Ontogenesis of neuronal nets: the chemoaffinity theory, 1963-1983 R. Levi-Montalcini; 2. The chemoaffinity hypothesis: an appreciation of Roger W. Sperry's contributions to developmental biology R. K. Hunt and W. M. Cowan; 3. Retinotectal connections made through ectopic optic nerves E. Hibbard; 4. Neural reconnection between the eye and the brain in goldfish M. G. Yoon; 5. The case for chemoaffinity in the retinotectal system R. L. Meyer; Part II. Split-Brain Studies of Perception, Motor Coordination, and Learning in Cats and Monkeys, and Comparisons to Humans: 6. The role of the corpus callosum in the representation of the visual field in cortical areas G. Berlucchi and A. Antonini; 7. Studies of visual perception and orienting in cats with fore- and midbrain commissure section J. S. Robinson and T. J. Voneida; 8. Brain pathways in the visual guidance of movement and the behavioral functions of the cerebellum M. E. Glickstein; 9. Intermanual transfer, interhemispheric interaction, and handedness in man and monkeys B. Preilowski; 10. Hemispheric specialization in monkeys C. R. Hamilton; 11. A corticolimbic memory path revealed through its disconnection M. Mishkin and R. R. Phillips; Part III. Cerebral Hemispheres and Human Consciousness: 12. Partial hemispheric independence with the neocommissures intact J. E. Bogen; 13. Regulation and generation of perception in the asymmetric brain J. Levy; 14. The neurobiological basis of hemisphericity H. W. Gordon; 15. Long-term semantic memory in the two cerebral hemispheres D. W. Zaidel; 16. Hughlings Jackson on the recognition of places, persons, and objects O. L. Zangwill and M. A. Wyke; 17. Lessons from cerebral commissurotomy: auditory attention, haptic memory, and visual images in verbal associative-learning B. Milner; 18. The saga of right-hemisphere reading E. Zaidel; 19. The role of the right cerebral hemisphere in evaluating configurations L. I. Benowitz; 20. Growth and education in the hemispheres C. Trevarthen; 21. Hemispheric specialization in the aged brain R. D. Nebes; 22. Forebrain commissurotomy and conscious awareness R. W. Sperry; Appendix A: publications of Roger W. Sperry; Appendix B: students and collaborators of Roger W. Sperry; Index.