by Veronika Coltheart (ed.)

Fleeting Memories
Cognition of Brief Visual Stimuli

The investigation of what people understand and remember from rapidly presented
sequences of visual stimuli began in the late 1960s. In this book prominent researchers
approach the topic from psychological, neuropsychological, and electrophysiological
perspectives. Specific issues include RSVP (rapid serial visual presentation), attentional
blink, repetition blindness, and scene perception.
The contributors review recent research on our ability to comprehend and remember pictures
of objects and scenes, written words, and sentences when the visual stimuli are presented
sequentially at rates of up to ten items per second. In short, the book is about our
remarkably developed abilities to understand and remember the contents of very briefly
presented material.

Contributors: Daphne Bavelier, Veronika
Coltheart, Helene Intraub, Nancy Kanwisher,
Steven J. Luck, Nadine Martin, Mary C. Potter,
Eleanor M. Saffran, Kimron L. Shapiro, Ewa
Wojciulik, Jeremy M. Wolfe, Carol Yin.

1999
ISBN 0-262-03261-9
283 pp., 49 illus.  (cloth)


by A. David Redish

Beyond the Cognitive Map
From Place Cells to Episodic Memory

"This is an astonishing piece of work."
-- Richard G. M. Morris, Centerfor Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

There are currently two major theories about the role of the hippocampus, a distinctive
structure in the back of the temporal lobe. One says that it stores a cognitive map, the other
that it is a key locus for the temporary storage of episodic memories. A. David Redish takes the
approach that understanding the role of the hippocampus in space will make it possible to
address its role in less easily quantifiable areas such as memory. Basing his investigation on the
study of rodent navigation--one of the primary domains for understanding information
processing in the brain--he places the hippocampus in its anatomical context as part
of a greater functional system.

Redish draws on the extensive experimental and theoretical work of the last 100 years to
paint a coherent picture of rodent navigation.
His presentation encompasses multiple levels of analysis, from single-unit recording results to
behavioral tasks to computational modeling.
From this foundation, he proposes a novel understanding of the role of the hippocampus in
rodents that can shed light on the role of the hippocampus in primates, explaining data from
primate studies and human neurology. The book will be of interest not only to neuroscientists
and psychologists, but also to researchers in computer science, robotics, artificial
intelligence, and artificial life.

July 1999
ISBN 0-262-18194-0
440 pp., 51 illus. (cloth)


by Helen Tager-Flusberg (ed.)

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Until recently, genetic, neuroanatomical, and psychological investigations on
neurodevelopmental disorders were carried out independently. Now, tremendous advances
across all disciplines have brought us toward a new scientific frontier: the integration of
molecular genetics with a developmental cognitive neuroscience. The goal is to
understand the basic mechanisms by which genes and environmental processes contribute
to the development of specific structures and regions of the brain.

This handbook-style volume explores these advances from the perspective of
developmental disorders in children. Research on children with known genetic disorders offers
insights into the genetic mechanisms that underlie neural development and organization,
as expressed in variations in cognitive profiles.
The contributions provide in-depth analyses of a broad range of neurodevelopmental disorders,
including those resulting from whole chromosome defects (Down and Turner
syndromes), those related to defects in a single gene (fragile-X syndrome) or a small number of
genes (Williams syndrome), and complex genetic disorders (dyslexia, autism). Contributors from
the fields of teratology and brain injury provide additional perspectives.

Contributors: Jane Adams, Marcia A. Barnes, Simon Baron-Cohen, Elizabeth Bates, Margaret
L. Bauman, Ursula Bellugi, Jacquelyn Bertrand, Lori Buchanan, Merlin G. Butler, Dawn Delaney,
Maureen Dennis, Kim N. Dietrich, Elizabeth M. Dykens, Jack M. Fletcher, Susan E. Folstein,
Barbara R. Foorman, Albert Galaburda, Randi J. Hagerman, John Harrison, C. Ross Hetherington,
Greg Hickok, Terry Jernigan, Beth Joseph, William E. MacLean, Jr., Michele M. M.
Mazzocco, William M. McMahon, Carolyn B. Mervis, Debra Mills, Colleen A. Morris, Lynn
Nadel, Bruce F. Pennington, Allan L. Reiss, Mabel L. Rice, Byron F. Robinson, Judith L.
Ross, Joanne Rovet, Susan L. Santangelo, Bennett A. Shaywitz, Sally E. Shaywitz, Marian
Sigman, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Travis Thompson, J. Bruce Tomblin, Doris Trauner,
Stefano Vicari, Xuyang Zhang, Andrew Zinn.

July 1999
ISBN 0-262-20116-X
630 pp., 72 illus. (cloth)


by Roger D. Traub, John G. R. Jefferys, and Miles A. Whittington

Fast Oscillations in Cortical Circuits

"Traub, Jefferys, and Whittington have provided the clearest mechanistic explanation (for
hippocampus) to date of oscillations of a type that occur in many brain areas."
-- Charles F. Stevens, Salk Institute

The study of cortical oscillations is of great interest to those working in many areas of
neuroscience. A fast coherent EEG rhythm called gamma or "40 Hz" has been implicated in
cognition, as it may play a role in binding together features of objects. This rhythm may
also be important for consciousness, as a number of drugs that induce general anesthesia
disrupt the synchronization of the rhythm at clinically relevant concentrations. There is also
suggestive evidence implicating dysfunction of gamma rhythms in Alzheimer's disease, and
perhaps in other neuropsychiatric disorders.

In Fast Oscillations in Cortical Circuits, the authors use a combination of electrophysiological and computer modeling techniques to analyze how large networks of neurons can produce both epileptic seizures
and functionally relevant synchronized oscillations. Specific topics covered include
single hippocampal pyramid cells, hippocampal interneurons, synaptic interactions, gamma
oscillations in brain slices as well as in vivo, the mechanisms of oscillation-synchronization (both
local and long-range), the switch from gamma to beta frequencies and its implications for
memory, and the significance of gamma oscillations for brain function.

1999
ISBN 0-262-20118-6
308 pp., 94 illus.  (cloth)


by Martha J. Farah and Todd E. Feinberg (eds.)

Patient-Based Approaches to Cognitive Neuroscience

The cognitive disorders that follow brain damage are an important source of insight into
the neural bases of human thought. Although cognitive neuroscience is sometimes equated
with cognitive neuroimaging, the patient-based approach to cognitive neuroscience is
responsible for most of what we now know about the brain systems underlying perception,
attention, memory, language, and higher-order forms of thought including consciousness. This
volume brings together state-of-the-art reviews of the patient-based approach to these
and other central issues in cognitive neuroscience, written by leading authorities.

Part I covers the history, principles, and methods of patient-based neuroscience: lesion
method, imaging, computational modeling, and anatomy. Part II covers perception and vision:
sensory agnosias, disorders of body perception, attention and neglect, disorders of perception
and awareness, and misidentification syndromes. Part III covers language: aphasia,
language disorders in children, specific language impairments, developmental dyslexia, acquired
reading disorders, and agraphia. Part IV covers memory: amnesia and semantic memory
impairments. Part V covers higher cognitive functions: frontal lobes, callosal disconnection
(split brain), skilled movement disorders, acalculia, dementia, delirium, and degenerative
conditions including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease.

Contributors: Michael P. Alexander, Russell M. Bauer, Kathleen Baynes, D. Frank Benson, H.
Branch Coslett, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Tim Curran, Antonio R. Damasio, Hanna Damasio,
Ennio De Renzi, Maureen Dennis, Mark D'Esposito, Martha J. Farah, Todd E. Feinberg,
Michael S. Gazzaniga, Georg Goldenberg, Jordan Grafman, Kenneth M. Heilman, Diane M.
Jacobs, Daniel I. Kaufer, Daniel Y. Kimberg, Maureen W. Lovett, Richard Mayeux, M.-Marsel
Mesulam, Bruce L. Miller, Robert D. Nebes, Robert D. Rafal, Marcus E. Raichle, Timothy
Rickard, David M. Roane, David J. Roeltgen, Leslie J. Gonzalez Rothi, Eleanor M. Saffran,
Daniel L. Schacter, Karin Stromswold, Edward Valenstein, Robert T. Watson, Tricia Zawacki, Stuart Zola.

April 2000
ISBN 0-262-56123-9
425 pp., 100 illus. (paper)


by Martin Shubik

The Theory of Money and Financial Institutions - Vol. 1

In this major work Martin Shubik offers his vision of mathematical institutional economics, a term he
coined in 1959 to describe the theoretical underpinnings needed for the construction of an
economic dynamics that goes beyond general equilibrium theory.

Using an approach that is neither Keynesian nor monetarist, Volume 1 describes the role of money
and financial institutions in binding the economy to the polity and society, Volume 2 will extend the
analysis to specific financial institutions and to government, while a separate volume, coauthored
with Pradeep Dubey and John Geanakoplos, will develop the mathematical aspects of the theory of
strategic market games.

This work develops a process-oriented theory of money and financial institutions that reconciles
micro- and macroeconomic theory using, as its prime methodological tool, the theory of games in
strategic and extensive form. Shubik's approach to economic dynamics involves the search for minimal
financial institutions that appear as a logical, technological, and institutional necessity, as part of
the structure or "rules of the game" that define and give shape to economic life. In this approach
money and financial institutions are revealed as means for transmitting the imperatives of
sociopolitical purpose to the economy. The book stresses formal model building, but the level of the
methematics used is relatively elementary.

December 1999
ISBN 0-262-19344-2
720 pp. 111 illus.(cloth)


by Martin Shubik

The Theory of Money and Financial Institutions - Vol. 2

This is the second of two volumes in a three-volume exposition of Martin Shubik's vision of
"mathematical institutional economics"--a term he coined in 1959 to describe the theoretical
underpinnings needed for the construction of an economic dynamics. The goal is to develop a
process- oriented theory of money and financial institutions that reconciles micro- and
macroeconomics, using as a prime tool the theory of games in strategic and extensive form. The
approach involves a search for minimal financial institutions that appear as a logical, technological,
and institutional necessity, as part of the "rules of the game." Money and financial institutions are
assumed to be the basic elements of the network that transmits the sociopolitical imperatives to the
economy.

Volume 1 deals with a one-period approach to economic exchange with money, debt, and
bankruptcy. Volume 2 explores the new economic features that arise when we consider multiperiod
finite- and infinite-horizon economies. Volume 3 will consider the specific role of financial institutions
and government, and formulate the economic financial control problem linking micro- and macroeconomics.

December 1999
ISBN 0-262-19428-7
383 pp. (cloth)


by Ian Cloete and Jacek M. Zurada (eds.)

Knowledge-Based Neurocomputing

Neurocomputing methods are loosely based on a model of the brain as a network of simple
interconnected processing elements corresponding to neurons. These methods
derive their power from the collective processing of artificial neurons, the chief
advantage being that such systems can learn and adapt to a changing environment. In
knowledge-based neurocomputing, the emphasis is on the use and representation of knowledge
about an application. Explicit modeling of the knowledge represented by such a system
remains a major research topic. The reason is that humans find it difficult to interpret the
numeric representation of a neural network.

The key assumption of knowledge-based neurocomputing is that knowledge is obtainable
from, or can be represented by, a neurocomputing system in a form that humans
can understand. That is, the knowledge embedded in the neurocomputing system can
also be represented in a symbolic or well-structured form, such as Boolean
functions, automata, rules, or other familiar ways. The focus of knowledge-based computing
is on methods to encode prior knowledge and to extract, refine, and revise knowledge within a
neurocomputing system.

Contributors: C. Aldrich, J. Cervenka, I. Cloete, R. A. Cozzio, R. Drossu, J. Fletcher, C.
L. Giles, F. S. Gouws, M. Hilario, M. Ishikawa, A. Lozowski, Z. Obradovic, C. W. Omlin, M.
Riedmiller, P. Romero, G. P. J. Schmitz, J. Sima, A. Sperduti, M. Spott, J. Weisbrod, J. M. Zurada.

February 2000
ISBN 0-262-03274-0
500 pp., 209 illus.(cloth)