With almost 700 pages and an ominously black cover, the exterior of this book places it with so many other neuroscience texts: long, dull and confusing. But read on - there may be more to this book than meets the visual cortex... Concise Text of Neuroscience aims to provide the medical student with a relevant knowledge of the main topics in neuroscience. It achieves this in fifteen chapters, each one integrating the necessary neuroanatomy and neurophysiology with a related section on clinical neurology. The neuroanatomy is described with the aid of illustrations which, while only in one colour, are beautifully clear. Clinical sections include case histories which allow the reader to apply the acquired knowledge to a realistic situation. "Further application" questions and excellent summaries add to the quality of this book as a learning resource. Adding further to this are the appendices, covering neuroembryology, neurological examination, neurological imaging, and a simple-but-detailed MRI atlas. To me, however, the most important characteristic of any book attempting to cover such a complex subject is clarity of the writing style. In this area Concise Text excels. It explains difficult concepts in an understandable fashion, and amazingly retains its conciseness - the conciseness that allows the integration of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and clinical neurology into one textbook. As a medical student, you will be required to have a working knowledge of neuroscience. If you're looking for a book that teaches the essentials with good detail, but omits the useless facts, then this could be a useful one to have.

This reference has been a widely used university text introducing the human nervous system. Chapters on neurophysiology and neurodevelopment are followed by a consideration of sensory and motor functionality, and examination of components of the central nervous system.

Excellent book to be used as both a text and review source. Icons on the side of pages tend to be more distracting than helpful.

This is an excellent collection of high quality MR images of the brain, each accompanied by a brief clinical history, radiologist's findings, a discussion, and a list of suggested reading. The 100 topics cover a vast area of clinical neurology, from common disorders to the uncommon and the rare. The presentation in the form of a teaching file gives the reader the opportunity to study the cases in an interactive way. As a practicing neurologist, I found going through the pages of this book an enjoyable, and of course, a profitable experience. I have no doubt that all those interested in clinical neurology, from undergraduates and postgraduates to practicing clinicians will find this book an exciting way to learn MR imaging of the brain and sharpen their clinical acumen.

Sleep And Its Disorders provides novices with a non-technical guide to evaluating and understanding common sleep disorders and their treatments, from learning how to sleep well to setting up a sleep diary and handling jet lag to insomnia. Filled with medical details and insights, yet easy to read with at-a-glance charts and sidebars of facts.

True. Though probably not for beginners, this book is probably good for anyone with alittle college experience in biology. Sapolsky writes in his normal clear, thoughtful style to explore the affects of stress on the brain. The ability of this book to describe a scientific problem and then explore the experiments and the analysis of experiments to come up with a hypothesis demonstrates the artistry and passion which underlies the scientific experience.

Just after my mother's stroke, and without any knowledge of the symptoms and effects of stroke, I picked up this book. If you know little about stroke but need to educate yourself quickly on the important details, this guide is for you. I read it in less than an hour. It gives a complete overview -- from symptoms & causes to diagnosis & treatment to coping & caregiving -- in just 80 pages. I recommend pairing it with a more comprehensive book, such as After Stroke, but definitely read this one first in order to grasp the overall picture.

Filled with unique illustrations of the brain in an imaginative manner, combined with powerful information regarding the clinical anatomy of our CPU, this is a must read for those working with brain injured individuals or who would just like to understand the magic that is our mind.

The most striking aspect of the authors'work is the magnificent way in which the various layers of the brain/consciousness are paired with the drawings evoking our ancient evolutionary history. Rather than a modern suburban house built on a scraped lot, the brain is portrayed as a ruin with succeeding layers built on top of each other. I believe the book succeeds in conveying a sense of mystery as to how we are able to function as modern homo sapiens while carrying around with us the results of milennia of evolution: the hope and the danger as it were. And yet, this is all achieved in a very light-hearted and entertaining manner.

A really great introduction to the workings of the brain. Truly memorable illustrations: so much better than those dry, factual diagrams you get in most textbooks. This book is an easy read, and keeps a lively pace. Its only drawback is that it is a little dated, but any book on a subject under such intensive research is likely to be a bit out of date by the time it reaches the lay-reader. Highly recommended though.

A simple and comprehensible book about psychedelics; the history, the way they work and how they work. It justly denonciates the lack of understanding and ignorance of federal institutes and the media directed paranoid public.

A often overlooked point of view that the war on drugs culture tends to ignore or neglect is the fact that "even the best theories are history if enough people produce the right number of contradictory findings". So, in my opinion this book does a great service in informing those whose opinions are not biased towards total allegiance to the status quo.
I have to laugh when i see headlines in the news about how the government is willing to ignore it's own findings on the medicinal uses of marijuana due to the ideological monetary inconvenience that information imposes on the financial structure of certain government agencies...even more so given that the money could be better spent on policing real issues such as terrorism, violence...etc,etc.
The desire to alter conciousness is as old as humans themselves and this book illustrates that clearly and precise. There is even an altered states graphic form for the prospective experimenter to fill out.
Overall the nice comic illustrations provide the needed comic relief to get through some light scientific reading...although very accurate it's too light for any serious scientific or chemistry buffs. But for the average user(reader) it's good to know all that is included before you take any risks.
The section in the back of the book filled with URL's is also a great place to further your understanding of all the issues and information regarding LSD or any other illegal substance. A good fast read and I highly recommend this book.

Looking for a little reality in the nonsense-clogged canon of drug texts? Yes? Then this is the book for you. The author has meticulously separated the wheat from the chaff, dispensing with the usual shock propaganda and instead using real science (imagine that!) to explain, in just the right amount of detail, how hallucinogens work. This is a remarkably honest and even-handed text that assembles the results of the most up-to-date research into a fascinating and relevant subject. Well-illustrated, factual and entertaining, I'd recommend this book to anyone with curious teenagers. In short, "Trips" is a ray of light in an otherwise benighted field of inquiry, and Ms. Pellerin should be applauded for this courageous and intelligent work.