Brain Circuits and Functions of the Mind
Essays in Honor of Roger Wolcott Sperry, Author

Colwyn B. Trevarthern (Edited by)

9780521378741, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 January 1990

452 pages
26 x 18.4 x 2.4 cm, 0.812 kg

In the history of American neuroscience, Roger Sperry and his contribution are outstanding. In this book, over twenty of his students, research colleagues and scientific friends, themselves all notable neuroscientists, review fifty years of his tireless experimentation and brilliant theoretical argument, also reviewing their own work in the context of Sperry's contributions to their fields. Sperry's challenging and controversial theories are very much alive in contemporary brain science, cognitive psychology and the philosophy of mind. Curiosity about the most difficult questions, such as those concerning conscious awareness, memory and volition led Sperry from the study of the control of complex patterns in brain circuit growth to discovery of the split brain phenomenon, which illuminated how the two halves of the brain integrate their different functions. In revolutionary tests on patients whose hemispheres had been disconnected to prevent the build-up of severe epileptic seizures, two complementary realms of mind were revealed, one verbal and rational ('left brain') nd the other more spatial, metaphorical and intuitive ('right brain'). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 1981. Although this book is written for students and researchers in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, it will hold interest for any reader who is curious about the workings of the mind and the brain.

Contributors
Foreword E. V. Evarts
Editor's preface C. Trevarthen
Part I. Specification of Behavioral Nerve Networks in Invertebrates: 1. Ontogenesis of neuronal nets: the chemoaffinity theory, 1963-1983 R. Levi-Montalcini
2. The chemoaffinity hypothesis: an appreciation of Roger W. Sperry's contributions to developmental biology R. K. Hunt and W. M. Cowan
3. Retinotectal connections made through ectopic optic nerves E. Hibbard
4. Neural reconnection between the eye and the brain in goldfish M. G. Yoon
5. The case for chemoaffinity in the retinotectal system R. L. Meyer
Part II. Split-Brain Studies of Perception, Motor Coordination, and Learning in Cats and Monkeys, and Comparisons to Humans: 6. The role of the corpus callosum in the representation of the visual field in cortical areas G. Berlucchi and A. Antonini
7. Studies of visual perception and orienting in cats with fore- and midbrain commissure section J. S. Robinson and T. J. Voneida
8. Brain pathways in the visual guidance of movement and the behavioral functions of the cerebellum M. E. Glickstein
9. Intermanual transfer, interhemispheric interaction, and handedness in man and monkeys B. Preilowski
10. Hemispheric specialization in monkeys C. R. Hamilton
11. A corticolimbic memory path revealed through its disconnection M. Mishkin and R. R. Phillips
Part III. Cerebral Hemispheres and Human Consciousness: 12. Partial hemispheric independence with the neocommissures intact J. E. Bogen
13. Regulation and generation of perception in the asymmetric brain J. Levy
14. The neurobiological basis of hemisphericity H. W. Gordon
15. Long-term semantic memory in the two cerebral hemispheres D. W. Zaidel
16. Hughlings Jackson on the recognition of places, persons, and objects O. L. Zangwill and M. A. Wyke
17. Lessons from cerebral commissurotomy: auditory attention, haptic memory, and visual images in verbal associative-learning B. Milner
18. The saga of right-hemisphere reading E. Zaidel
19. The role of the right cerebral hemisphere in evaluating configurations L. I. Benowitz
20. Growth and education in the hemispheres C. Trevarthen
21. Hemispheric specialization in the aged brain R. D. Nebes
22. Forebrain commissurotomy and conscious awareness R. W. Sperry
Appendix A: publications of Roger W. Sperry
Appendix B: students and collaborators of Roger W. Sperry
Index.

Subject Areas: Neurosciences [PSAN], Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology [JMM]