The first title covers normal processes, such as REM sleep, as well as developmental disorders and other abnormalities, such as snoring, sleepwalking, and night terrors. Different perspectives about the meaning of dreams are also included, ranging from the theories of Freud and Jung to current research. Color photos, numerous sidebars, and a variety of quotations from history and literature are included. Spinal Cord is one of the few sources on this important topic for this audience. Subjects such as the role of the central nervous system and the functioning of spinal reflexes are discussed, along with abnormalities like pain and paralysis.


Everything that we experience depends on sensing and perceiving. Specialized receptors for the five senses - hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching - capture information from chemical compounds, compressed air, electromagnetic waves, mechanical sensations, and more. From that information, our brain creates an impression of the world around us. "Sensation and Perception" focuses on how these systems work, from the mechanics of individual cells to the interactions of thousands of cells in the brain. This book also delves into how our sensory capabilities change with age or damage. Readers of this new title from the acclaimed "Gray Matter" series will learn to understand how sensation and perception prove crucial to interpreting our surroundings, enjoying them, and even surviving in them.


Grade 8 Up-These titles are excellent examples of extremely complex, abstract scientific topics made accessible to young readers. The first volume provides fascinating insights into various processes involved in how we learn different things in different ways. Particularly enlightening is the section differentiating explicit memory (learning facts) and implicit memory (learning processes). Midbrain stars the least flashy, less-well-researched part of the brain responsible for various movements (including Parkinson's problems), vision, hearing, sensuality, defense, and complex eye movements. The third volume traces the history of and controversies about manipulating consciousness.


Our bodies receive information about our internal state and the external environment through our sensory system. Touch, thermal, and pain stimuli, for example, are processed by this complex system. Specialized receptors detect stimuli and convert information into a neural code interpreted as sensation. The interpretation can be affected by the nervous system, as well as by surgery, medication, and the power of the mind. Pain explores the workings of the somatosensory and pain systems, how disorders can affect the way we process information, and how pain can be treated.


Learn about the section of the brain that oversees and regulates the function of the nervous system as a whole.


This "Gray Matter" guide explores the ways we learn to speak and use language. The author reveals how and why children are able to develop language skills quickly, pinpoints the regions of the brain involved in coordinating speech and language, and describes various disorders that can disrupt language development. "Speech and Language" covers sign language and second languages, in addition to spoken language.







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