V.S. Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, San Diego. He is additionally an adjunct professor of biology at the Salk Institute. Dr. Ramachandran obtained an MD from Stanley Medical College and PhD from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he was elected a senior Rouse Ball Scholar. He has received many honors and awards including a fellowship from All Souls College, Oxford, an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College, a Gold Medal from the Australian National University, and the Ariens Kappers Medal from the Royal Nederlands Academy of Sciences for landmark contributions in neuroscience. Ramachandran's early research was on visual perception but he is best known for his work in Neurology. In 1995 he gave the Decade of the Brain Lecture at the 25th annual (Silver Jubilee) meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. More recently he gave the inaugural keynote lecture at the Decade of the Brain Conference held by NIMH at the Library of Congress. He also gave the first Hans Lucas Teuber lecture at MIT, The Rudel-Moses lecture at Columbia, The Dorcas Cumming (inaugural keynote) lecture at Cold Spring Harbor, the Raymond Adams lecture at Massachustetts General Hospital, Harvard, and the presidential keynote lecture at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. He has published over 120 papers in scientific journals, including three invited review articles in the Scientific American, and is editor-in-chief of Academic Press' acclaimed Encyclopedia of Human Behavior. His work is featured frequently in the major news media and Newsweek magazine recently named him a member of "the century club": one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century."

Review

"Ramachandran, one of the world's leading brain researchers (Phantoms in the Brain, CH, March 1999; Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, CH, October 1994) has produced the most comprehensive, current, and authoritative reference in neuroscience. More than 350 experts contributed such chapters as "Visual and Auditory Integration," "Violence and the Brain," "Brain Anatomy and Networks," and "Neurodegenerative Disorders." Chapters are arranged alphabetically by topic, each beginning with an outline and glossary. Illustrations are excellent, and there are numerous tables and appendixes. A bibliography concludes each chapter. Essential for medical libraries, life science collections, and university libraries."

-CHOICE

"This impressive set of volumes is a welcome, up-to-date summary of the rapidly expanding research done on the human brain over the past two decades... The style is accessible, rather than densely technical, and each article is intended to stand by itself... The stand-alone nature of the articles will clearly make the encyclopedia much more useful to a broad variety of people beyond the experts, as each article provides sufficient background information to represent individual topics in a cohesive way... The books are well printed and bound and should be useful as a major reference for many years to come."

--Perceptual and Motor Skills

"An excellent and pithy distillation of the current knowledge in the field, presented without prejudice toward the view that the virus does or does not cause human psychiatric illness. Outstanding work!"

--Michael Buchmeier, Scripps Research Institute (on the article Borna Disease Virus)

"Full coverage of the topic in a very well-organized, well-written article."

--Ludmila S. Belayev, University of Miami School of Medicine (on the article Cerebral Edema)

"An article with excellent coverage by leading researchers in the field. Factual material is timely and accurate. Readable by the intelligent lay person."

--Alan Wing, University of Birmingham, U.K. (on the article Hand Movements)

"... a fine article!"

--Michael Kubovy, University of Virginia (on the article Pattern Recognition)

"Macmillan is a great scholar and the authority on Gage. Thankfully, he is also a very good writer. This is a superb article; you are lucky to have it!"

--Stanley Finger, Washington University, St. Louis (on the article Phineas Gage)

"... well written and engaging."

--Amy Learmonth, University of Arizona (on the article Spatial Cognition)

"An excellent comprehensive review by an acknowledged international expert."

--Ronald R. Tasker, Toronto Hospital, Canada (on the article Thalamus and Thalamic Damage)

"This is an excellent article written clearly and at an appropriate level, in which coverage of the topic is complete. The author should be congratulated for a job extremely well done."

-Bogdan Dreher, University of Sydney (on the article Visual Cortex)

"A clearly written article ... I especially like the case studies."

--Russell M. Bauer, University of Florida (on the article Visual Disorders)

Book Description

Lavishly illustrated and extensively researched, this single source of information is an ESSENTIAL purchase for everyone interested in the human brain.

Product Description

In the past decade, enormous strides have been made in understanding the human brain. The advent of sophisticated new imaging techniques (e.g. PET, MRI, MEG, etc.) and new behavioral testing procedures have revolutionized our understanding of the brain, and we now know more about the anatomy, functions, and development of this organ than ever before. However, much of this knowledge is scattered across scientific journals and books in a diverse group of specialties: psychology, neuroscience, medicine, etc. The Encyclopedia of the Human Brain places all information in a single source and contains clearly written summaries on what is known of the human brain.

Covering anatomy, physiology, neuropsychology, clinical neurology, neuropharmacology, evolutionary biology, genetics, and behavioral science, this four-volume encyclopedia contains over 200 peer reviewed signed articles from experts around the world. The Encyclopedia articles range in size from 5-30 printed pages each, and contain a definition paragraph, glossary, outline, and suggested readings, in addition to the body of the article. Lavishly illustrated, the Encyclopedia includes over 1000 figures, many in full color. Managing both breadth and depth, the Encyclopedia is a must-have reference work for life science libraries and researchers investigating the human brain.