"The book is not a textbook but a report from the trenches, a down-and-dirty look at the brain as it appears to two observers who have seen it from close at hand. It deserves to be read a few pages at a time, with thoughtful breaks..." --TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCES, 2001
"While their [Sherman and Guillery] conclusions are based on a broad synthesis of established findings, much of what they have to say is new and exploratory. The book is not intended to be a definitive thesis on the thalamus, but an offering to consider with them the functional applications of what is known about circuit structure and physiology in the thalamus. Thus, we are invited to join Sherman and Guillery in "Exploring the Thalamus." As our guides and instructors in this adventure, they present and interpret an impressive amount of information." --JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE, 2001
Practically all information reaching the cerebral cortex, and thus all of the messages that reach consciousness, pass through the thalamus, a centrally placed part of the brain that, in humans, is roughly the size of a walnut. Despite the obvious importance of the thalamus as a relay, its role in controlling the flow of information to the cortex has only recently begun to be understood. In Exploring the Thalamus, two senior neuroscientists whose research careers have focused heavily on the thalamus, have joined forces to provide a view of its role in the dynamic control of information to the cerebral cortex. They provide an innovative and unified account of its functional organization and introduce the novel suggestion that the thalamus serves a critical role in controlling not only how messages pass to the cortex from other parts of the brain, but also how messages pass from one part of the cerebral cortex to another.
Key Features:
* Focuses on thalamocortical interrelationships
* Discusses important problems concerning the function and structure of the thalamus
* Concludes each chapter with thought-provoking questions requiring future research|Practically all information reaching the cerebral cortex, and thus all of the messages that reach consciousness, pass through the thalamus, a centrally placed part of the brain that, in humans, is roughly the size of a walnut. Despite the obvious importance of the thalamus as a relay, its role in controlling the flow of information to the cortex has only recently begun to be understood. InExploring the Thalamus, two senior neuroscientists whose research careers have focused heavily on the thalamus, have joined forces to provide a view of its role in the dynamic control of information to the cerebral cortex. They provide an innovative and unified account of its functional organization and introduce the novel suggestion that the thalamus serves a critical role in controlling not only how messages pass to the cortex from other parts of the brain, but also how messages pass from one part of the cerebral cortex to another.
Key Features:
* Focuses on thalamocortical interrelationships
* Discusses important problems concerning the function and structure of the thalamus
* Concludes each chapter with thought-provoking questions requiring future research