Perceptual Neuroscience: The Cerebral Cortex

by Vernon B. Mountcastle

The cerebral cortex, occupying over 70 percent of our brain mass, is key to any understanding of the workings--and disorders--of the human brain. offering a comprehensive account of the role of the cerebral cortex in perception, this monumental work by one of the world's greatest living neuroscientists does nothing short of creating a new subdiscipline in the perceptual neuroscience.

For this undertaking, Vernon Mountcastle has gathered information from a vast number of sources reaching back through two centuries of investigation into the intrinsic operations of the cortex. His survey includes phylogenetic, comparative, and neuroanatomical studies of the neocortex; studies of the large-scale organization of the neocortex, of neuronal histogenesis and the specification of cortical areas, of synaptic transmission between neurons in cortical microcircuits, and of rhythmicity and synchronization in neocortical networks; and inquiries into the binding problem--how activities among the separate processing nodes of distributed systems coalesce in a coherent activity that we call perception.

The first book to summarize what is known about the physiology of the cortex in perception, Perceptual Neuroscience will be a landmark in the literature of neuroscience.

Genres: Neuroscience

512 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1998

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dense and challenging to comprehend because superfluous use of complex terminology. Figures were only of limited value because they are raw experimental results rather than generalized to enhance understanding. Also, somewhat dated as expected from publication year.

[Yates Buckley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous classic text in neuroscience, shaping the hypothesis around the cortical column as a modular unit.

[s · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fascinating, but only a handful of chapters felt really essential: specifically, those describing the census of neurons in cortex and the structure of cortical microcircuits. I'd be very interested to see an updated account.