Brodmann's 'Localisation in The...' - Hardcover

Laurence J Garey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1860941761 ISBN 13: 9781860941764

Publisher: Imperial College Press, 1999

Synopsis

This book is a translation of the famous book "Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues" by Korbinian Brodmann, which is one of the major classics of the neurological world. Although Brodmann's book was written in 1909, to this day it forms the basis for so-called "localisation" of function in the cerebral cortex. Brodmann's "areas" are still used to designate cortical functional regions, such as area 4 for the motor cortex, area 17 for the visual cortex and so on. This nomenclature is used by clinical neurologists and neurosurgeons for man, as well as by experimentalists for various animals. Brodmann's famous "maps" of the cerebral cortex of man, monkeys and other mammals are among the most commonly reproduced figures in neurobiology books. In fact, there are very few neuroanatomy, neurophysiology or clinical neurology textbooks which do not refer to Brodmann's cortical localisation. Despite this, few people have ever seen a copy of the 1909 monograph, and even fewer have read it! Professor Laurence J Garey, who frequently used Brodmann's findings and maps in his neurobiological work, had a copy of the 1909 text. He was often asked to provide translations of specific parts of the text by colleagues who neither had access to the book nor an English version. He thus finally decided to translate the whole book.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This is the third edition of the translation, by Laurence Garey, of "Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Grosshirnrinde" by Korbinian Brodmann, originally published by Barth-Verlag in Leipzig in 1909. It is one of the major "classics" of the neurological world. Even today it forms the basis for so-called "localisation" of function in the cerebral cortex. Brodmann's "areas" are still used to designate functional regions in the cortex, the part of the brain that brings the world that surrounds us into consciousness, and which governs our responses to the world. For example, we use "area 4" for the "motor" cortex, with which we control our muscles, "area 17" for "visual" cortex, with which we see, and so on. This nomenclature is used by neurologists and neurosurgeons in the human context, as well as by experimentalists in various animals. Indeed, Brodmann's famous "maps" of the cerebral cortex of humans, monkeys and other mammals must be among the most commonly reproduced figures in neurobiological publishing. The most famous of all is that of the human brain. There can be few textbooks of neurology, neurophysiology or neuroanatomy in which Brodmann is not cited, and his concepts pervade most research publications on systematic neurobiology.

In spite of this, few people have ever seen a copy of the 1909 monograph, and even fewer have actually read it! There had never been a complete English translation available until the first edition of the present translation of 1994, and the original book had been almost unavailable for 50 years or more, the few antiquarian copies still around commanding high prices.

As Laurence Garey, too, used Brodmann’s findings and maps in his neurobiological work, and had the good fortune to have access to a copy of the book, he decided to read the complete text and soon discovered that this was much more than just a report of laboratory findings of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century neurologist. It was an account of neurobiological thinking at that time, covering aspects of comparative neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and neuropathology, as well as giving a fascinating insight into the complex relationships between European neurologists during the momentous times when the neuron theory was still new.

Laurence Garey is a neuroscientist and professional anatomist, who has worked in brain research throughout his career, in the University of Oxford, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, Imperial College London, the National University of Singapore, and the UAE University at Al Ain. His interests have spanned the structure and development of the primate visual system and the human cerebral cortex, including morphological correlates of schizophrenia. Before embarking on a medical career, he had studied modern languages at university. He is interested in the history of neuroscience, and has translated several works from French and German, including another of Brodmann's works on anthropological aspects of brain anatomy, in collaboration with Guy Elston. He lives on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

 

Review

"As I, too, use Brodmann's findings and maps in my neurobiological work, and had the good fortune to have access to a copy of the book, I decided to read the complete text and soon discovered that this was much more than just a report of laboratory findings of a turn-of-the-century neurologist. It was an account of the neurobiological thinking at that time, covering aspects of comparative neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and neuropathology, as well as giving a fascinating insight into the complex relationships between European neurologists during the momentous times when the neuron theory was still new." Professor Laurence J Garey

Edition details

• Publisher: Imperial College Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1860941761
• ISBN 13: 9781860941764
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320