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Sensory Processes
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Sensory Processes


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Sensory Processes

July 2012 | 400 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
This book emphasizes the underlying neural structures and functions of sensory systems (pain, olfaction, gustation, audition, vision, etc.) and presents this complex material at a level comprehensible to undergraduates as well as beginning graduate students. The book begins with a review of the central nervous system and its sensory components and includes discussions of methodological techniques and procedures used to study sensory processes.

Features/Benefits:

· Detailed coverage of sense modalities beyond vision and audition offers students more in-depth coverage of the somatosensory system, pain, olfaction, gustation, and the vestibular system than most traditional sensation and perception books provide.

· Inclusion of sensory disorders and dysfunctions, with clinical examples, illustrate the real-world importance and impact of the subject matter.

· Pedagogical aids and a "user-friendly" style and approach make the subject matter understandable to students; these aids include brief chapter intros that put the material into contexts students can readily relate to; key terms bolded in text and defined in an end-of-book glossary; chapter summaries; and selected references for further reading.

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
1. Introduction to the Nervous System
The Nervous System

 
Dysfunctions

 
 
2. Synapses and Receptors
A Brief Review

 
Potential Sensitivity

 
Calcium Influx

 
Neurotransmitter Release

 
Postsynaptic Potentials

 
Chemical Sensitivity

 
Neurotransmitters

 
Introduction to Receptors

 
Receptor Transduction

 
Dysfunctions

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
3. Somatosensory System
Overview of the Chapter

 
Somatosensory Paths Revisited

 
Receptors and Fibers

 
Proprioception and Kinesthesis

 
Receptive Fields

 
The Thalamus

 
The Somatosensory Cortex

 
Dysfunctions

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
4. Pain
Pain: One Definition

 
Classic Paths

 
The Gate Control Theory of Pain

 
Pain and Drugs

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
5. Olfaction
The peripheral Olfactory System

 
Olfactory Transduction

 
The Olfactory Bulb

 
Central Olfactory Structures

 
Olfactory Perception

 
How Many Odors Are there?

 
Dysfunctions

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
6. Gustation
Peripheral Processes

 
Central Processes

 
Taste Perception

 
The Hedonics

 
Dysfunctions

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
7. The Vestibular System
Introduction

 
Vestibular Periphery

 
Vestibular Central Pathways

 
Dysfunctions

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
8. Auditory Stimuli
Introduction

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
9. Audition
External and Middle Ear

 
The Inner Ear

 
Auditory Pathways

 
The Auditory Cortex

 
Dysfunctions

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
10. Vision
The Visual Stimulus

 
The Structure of the Eye

 
The Retina

 
Central Pathways

 
The Thalamus and Other Neutral Centers

 
The Visual Cortex

 
Dysfunctions

 
Summary

 
Suggested Readings

 
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index
 
About the Author

"There
is no comparable text for a course in perception that emphasizes the neural
basis of perception rather than simply perceptual phenomena and
psychophysics…It is strong in the clarity with which some difficult concepts
are explained. The author does not restrict himself to a physics and
engineering approach, but rather gives the reader a mental image of what is
happening biologically. Inclusion of disorders is another big advantage…The
quality of writing is excellent. The level is appropriate for upper level
undergraduates."

RICKYE HEFFNER
University of Toledo

"I
think the book’s primary strengths are its attention to detail and willingness
to tackle difficult topics and offer very good explanations and
analogies."

STEVEN HAASE
University of Wisconsin at Madison

"I’m
very sympathetic to the goal of this book in taking an enhanced
multidisciplinary approach to the area of Sensation/Perception, with particular
emphasis on the neuroscience background. Also commendable is the detailed
treatment of sense modalities other than vision and audition."

MICHAEL SLOANE
University of Alabama at Birmingham

"I like the general tone of the
book. The overall approach and the metaphors are quite nice."

 

BRUCE HALPERN
Cornell University

The book was not the right fit for my course. I needed a book that was more neuroscience and cognitive psychology and more perception oriented. This would be better for a different type of course than the one I teach.

Professor Amanda Carey
Psychology Dept, Simmons College
March 5, 2015

Sample Materials & Chapters

1. Introduction to the Nervous System


David R. Soderquist

David R. Soderquist is Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 1968. His primary research interest is in psychoacoustics, and he has published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, the Journal of Auditory Research, Perception and Psychophysics, Acoustical Letters, the Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Human Factors, and elsewhere. He has taught courses on sensory processes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and has class-tested early drafts of this book... More About Author

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ISBN: 9780761923336
$240.00

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