Cortical functions / John Stirling.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-153) and index.

Cover -- Cortical functions -- Routledge Modular Psychology -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- 1 The brain and psychological functioning -- Introduction -- Some history -- The localisation of function debate -- The rise and fall of phrenology -- Interest in aphasia -- Mass action and equipotentiality -- Distributed control -- Summary -- Further reading -- 2 The structure of the brain -- Introduction -- The neuron hypothesis -- Neurons and glia -- Developmental and ageing aspects -- Dividing up the nervous system -- The central nervous system (CNS) -- The spinal cord -- The brain stem -- The midbrain -- The basal ganglia and limbic system -- The cortex -- Sensory, motor and association cortex -- The lobes of the cortex -- The frontal lobes -- The parietal lobes -- The occipital lobes -- The temporal lobes -- Summary -- Further reading -- 3 Methods in neuropsychology -- Introduction -- Techniques of measurement of brain structure and function -- Lesion and ablation -- Electrical stimulation -- Electrical recording -- In-vivo imaging -- Evaluation of in-vivo techniques -- Neuropsychological assessment -- Evaluation of neuropsychological assessment -- In-vivo imaging in psychiatry -- Summary -- Further reading -- 4 Lateralisation -- Introduction -- Structural differences -- Neurological cases -- The split brain syndrome -- Experimental studies -- The split brain syndrome and laterality -- Evaluation of split brain research -- Callosal agenesis -- Evaluation of research with acallosal individuals -- Asymmetries in normal individuals -- What is lateralised? -- Evaluation of the 'processing styles' approach -- Inter-hemispheric transfer via the corpus callosum -- Developmental aspects -- Individual differences in brain organisation -- Handedness -- Handedness and cognitive function -- Sex differences -- Summary -- Further reading -- 5 Sensory and motor function -- Introduction -- Reflexes -- The somatosensory system -- Somatosensory pathways -- Somatosensory cortex -- Secondary and tertiary somatosensory cortex -- Evaluation of research into the somatosensory system -- Motor control -- The cerebral cortex and movement -- Initiating movement -- Empirical support for the hierarchical model -- Sub-cortical structures and movement -- Evaluation of motor systems in the mammalian brain -- Summary -- Further reading -- 6 Language and the brain -- Introduction -- Broca's aphasia -- Wernicke's aphasia -- Connectionist models of language -- Evaluation of the neurological approach to language -- The psycholinguistic approach -- Neurophysiological approaches -- Language and laterality -- Summary -- Further reading -- 7 Visual mechanisms and perception -- Introduction -- Sensation and perception -- Sensory processes: from eye to brain -- The retina -- The blind spot -- The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN.

Print version record.

Stirling includes clinical descriptions and case studies to illustrate various forms of agnosia, aphasia and the split brain syndrome.