By Dale Purves
The new and rapidly evolving field of cognitive neuroscience brings together cognitive psychology and neuroscience, drawing conceptual and technical elements from both these traditional disciplines. This union has been motivated by the exciting possibility of better understanding complex human brain functions that have puzzled thinkers for centuries. The emergence of cognitive neuroscience as a discipline in its own right over the last two decades is thus an expression of what many see as the next logical step for both neuroscience and cognitive psychology, driven by powerful new methods for studying the human brain. Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience, introduced in 2008, was written to inform readers at all levels about the growing canon of cognitive neuroscience, and to make clear the many challenges that remain to be solved. Now, in this Second Edition, the authors--all leaders in the field--offer what is in essence a completely new book: *The 28 chapters of the original edition have been condensed and combined to 15 chapters for the new edition.

*The condensation makes the topics covered easier to assimilate, and better suited to presentation in a single-semester course. *Each chapter has been updated to address the latest developments in the field, including expanded coverage of genetics, evolution, and neural development. *Introductory Boxes in each chapter take up an especially interesting issue to better capture readers'' attention. *An appendix reviews the major features of human neuroanatomy and basic aspects of neural signaling. As before, this edition includes an extensive glossary of key terms.

And, with every copy, we offer a fully upgraded version of Sylvius 4 Online, which includes an interactive tutorial on human neuroanatomy as well as a magnetic resonance imaging atlas of the human brain. RESOURCES For Students Companion Website The Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience, Second Edition, Companion Website features review and study resources to help students master the material presented in the textbook. Access is free of charge and requires no access code. The site includes: *Chapter Summaries: Concise overviews of the important topics covered in each chapter *Flashcards: Flashcard activities help students to master the extensive vocabulary of cognitive neuroscience. Each chapter''s set of flashcards includes all the key terms introduced in that chapter.

*Animations: A collection of detailed animations that depict some of the key processes and structures discussed in the textbook. *Online Quizzes: For each chapter of the textbook, the Companion Website includes a multiple-choice quiz that covers all the main topics presented in the chapter. Instructors may assign these quizzes, or they may be made available to students as self-study tools. (Instructor registration is required for student access to the quizzes.) Sylvius 4 Online: An Interactive Atlas and Visual Glossary of Human Neuroanatomy S. Mark Williams and Leonard E.

White Sylvius 4 provides a unique digital learning environment for exploring and understanding the structure of the human central nervous system. Sylvius features fully annotated surface views of the human brain, as well as interactive tools for dissecting the central nervous system and viewing fully annotated cross-sections of preserved specimens and living subjects imaged by magnetic resonance. This new online version of Sylvius is more than a conventional atlas; it incorporates a comprehensive, visually-rich, searchable database of more than 500 neuroanatomical terms that are concisely defined and visualized in photographs, magnetic resonance images, and illustrations. For Instructors Instructor''s Resource Library The Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience, Second Edition, Instructor''s Resource Library includes a variety of resources to help instructors in developing their course and delivering lectures. The Library includes: *Textbook Figures and Tables: All the figures and tables from the textbook are provided in JPEG format (both high- and low-resolution).

*PowerPoint Presentations: All the figures and tables from each chapter are provided on PowerPoint slides, making it easy for instructors to add figures to their presentations. *Sylvius Image Library: A range of images from the companion program Sylvius 4 Online are provided in PowerPoint format. *Quiz Questions: All of the questions from the Companion Website''s online quizzes are provided in Microsoft Word format. *Animations: All of the animations from the companion website are provided as Flash files. The animations are also provided on PowerPoint slides for easy integration into instructor presentations.
This title informs readers at all levels about the growing canon of cognitive neuroscience, and makes clear the challenges that remain to be solved by the next generation.