Softcover

ISBN 10: 0127594418 ISBN 13: 9780127594415

Publisher: Academic Press, 1998

Now available in paperback, Hand and Brain is a comprehensive overview of the hand's sensorimotor control. It discusses mediating variables in perception and comprehension, the coordination of muscles with the central nervous system, the nature of movement control and hand positioning, hand-arm coordination in reaching and grasping, and the sensory function of the hand. This book takes a broad interdisciplinary perspective on the control of hand movements that includes neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, psychology and neuropsychology, and biomechanics. The authors, who have all made significant scientific contributions in their own right, have sought to introduce their chosen topics in a manner that the reader is able to follow without sacrificing detailed and up-to-date coverage of the major developments.

Key Features
* Uses an interdisciplinary approach including behavioral and neurophysiological data
* Describes a variety of experimental methodologies
* Treats neural computations necessary for the control of movement
* Covers implications of biomechanics for control, sensory mechanisms, and perceptual processing (haptics)
* Includes manipulative hand function as well as reaching
* Overviews each group of chapters using link sections
* Contains an integrated index and a glossary
The five sections cover:
* Mediating variables in perception and prehension
* The coordination of muscles with the central nervous system
* The nature of movement control and hand positioning
* Hand-arm coordination in reaching and grasping
* The sensory function of the hand

About the Author:

Randy Flanagan is at the Department of Psychology, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada. His research interests include visuomotor control, the control of manipulation, and modeling of motor control processes. He has worked previously at Teachers College, Columbia University, and at the MRC Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge where he held a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship. He completed his graduate studies at McGill University.

Alan Wing is currently Assistant Director of the Applied Psychology Unit, a UK Medical Research Council Unit located in Cambridge. His research on normal and pathological human motor control includes timing of movement, posture, and balance. He also teaches a course on Motor Control at Cambridge University. Previously he has worked at the Neurological Sciences Center, Portland, Oregon, and at Bell Labs, Murray Hill, New Jersey. His undergraduate studies (in Physics and Psychology) were at Edinburgh University and he earned his Ph.D. at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Patrick Haggard is Lecturer in Psychobiology in the Department of Psychology, University College, London. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge, for studies of the coordination of human reaching and grasping movements. He then worked in the Physiology Department of Oxford University, studying the neural mechanisms underlying voluntary movement in normal subjects and neurological patients. His current research centers on neurophysiological and behavioral measurement of the information-processing involved in human arm movements.

Review:

"The editors have done an admirable job of selecting authors whose work represents many of the dominant approaches to studying the psychological, physiological, and neural basis of hand function... The chapters are well-written... This volume would also be a useful reference for researchers looking for an up-to-date synopsis of research in a specialty area... The authors maintain an integrative approach, linking their research to broader theoretical or applied issues, which is certain to create a sense of excitement about the area and a thoughtful consideration of the issues. This book does an excellent job of highlighting the different methodological approaches taken to understand sensorimotor control... In summary, this book conveys the excitement and importance of an area, which until recently has been treated with little enthusiasm or interest by psychologists. The emergence of neuroscience is rapidly altering this view, and this edited volume illustrates why sensorimotor control is a particularly good example of a truly integrative, multidisciplinary field."
--CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY
"The editors have assembled an all-star cast of experts with each one focusing on a seminal series of experiments from his or her own laboratory. This diversity of expertise is one of the strengths of this book because the editors have made some real effort to co-ordinate the content and provide cohesiveness in the style and presentation... This book provides a solid and accessible introduction to motor control of the hand... It is eminently readable and has an extensive glossary. The topics covered are of high quality and authored by acknowledged experts."
--TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCE
"Chapters are well-written and nicely complemented by numerous figures and line drawings. The 'jargon-level' is purposely kept low so that the material lies within the reach of upper-division undergraduate and beginning graduate students. This book should appeal to individuals involved in physical therapy and robotics as well as to workers in the field and their students."
--D.M. SENSEMAN, University of Texas at San Antonio