The Merging of the Senses (Cognitive Neuroscience Series) - Hardcover

Stein, Barry E.; Meredith, M. Alex

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262193310 ISBN 13: 9780262193313

Publisher: Mit Pr, 1993

Synopsis

Bringing together neural, perceptual, and behavioral studies, The Merging of the Senses provides the first detailed review of how the brain assembles information from different sensory systems in order to produce a coherent view of the external world. Stein and Meredith marshall evidence from a broad array of species to show that interactions among senses are the most ancient scheme of sensory organization, an integrative system reflecting a general plan that supersedes structure and species. Most importantly, they explore what is known about the neural processes by which interactions among the senses take place at the level of the single cell.

The authors draw on their own experiments to illustrate how sensory inputs converge (from visual, auditory, and somatosensory modalities, for instance) on individual neurons in different areas of the brain, how these neurons integrate their inputs, the principles by which this integration occurs, and what this may mean for perception and behavior. Neurons in the superior colliculus and cortex are emphasized as models of multiple sensory integrators.

Barry E. Stein is Professor of Physiology and M. Alex Meredith is Associate Professor of Anatomy, both at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.

About this title

About the Author

Barry E. Stein is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. His previous books on this topic include The Merging of the Senses (MIT Press, 1993) and The Handbook of Multisensory Processes (MIT Press, 2004).

Review

The Merging of the Senses is a major contribution to the field of cognitive neuroscience: snappy, well written, wonderfully illustrated, and of great importance.

(Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D., University of California)

This is a superb book that should spark the interest of a broad readership―including philosophers, psychologists, and cognitive and neuroscientists of various stripes. It is the kind of work that gives basic research a good name.

(Andrew N. Meltzoff, Professor, University of Washington)

The consequences and principles of evolution are expressed in every feature of living brains. The authors have demonstrated that these principles provide a unique and essential guide in exploring the organization of fundamental features of the vertebrate brain. They have provided practical examples of how to combine modern experimental neurobiology in the quest for understanding the functional constancies and changes reflecting evolution's imprint on the brain. In carrying this lesson to specific neural circuits, they help transcend the vague and flowery statements about brain evolution, and satisfy the needs of critical scientists in the field.

(Harvey J. Karten, Department of Neuroscience, University of California)

Edition details

• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262193310
• ISBN 13: 9780262193313
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 211