The Central Nervous System

This integrated, clinically-orientated textbook on nervous system structure and function is designed to provide medical students with a sound basis for clinical thinking. It provides clear, concise descriptions of brain structures and their functional properties, incorporating data from molecular biology, clinical neurology and psychobiology. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition goes further than the first in integrating material from all fields of neuroscience and in discussing brain-behaviour relationships. There are two additional chapters, one on development, ageing and plasticity of the nervous system, the other on the general features of sensory receptors. There is also new material throughout the text on such topics as cortical processing and its imaging, consciousness and sleep, cognitive functions of the cerebellum, the functional organization of the basal forebrain, pain, clinical disturbances of the somatosensory system, colour vision and cerebral lateralization. In addition, the text has been reorganized to improve its clarity in places, including the chapters on the hypothalamus, the peripheral autonomic nervous system, and the cerebral cortex.
This book is intended for first-year medical students in neuroanatomy or neuroscience courses and advanced medical undergraduates.