The topic of brain plasticity and behaviour is the focus of this book. It addresses the relationship between recovery from brain damage and changes in the brain that might support the recovery, and also includes studies of humans as well as laboratory species, particularly rats. The subject matter identifies a consistent correlation between specific changes in the brain and behavioural recovery, as well as various factors such as sex and experience that influence this correlation in consistent ways. Evolving from a series of lectures given as the McEachran Lectures at the University of Alberta, this volume originally began as a summary of the lectures, but has expanded to include more background literature, allowing the reader to see the author's biases, assumptions and hunches in a broader perspective.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. Part I: Brain Plasticity. Some Basic Concepts, Examples, and Biases. Plasticity in the Normal Brain. Part II: Brain Injury and Behavior. Is There Really Recovery from Brain Damage? Brain Development and Recovery. Part III: Recovery and Brain Plasticity. Brain Plasticity and Recovery of Function in Adulthood. Plasticity and Recovery from Cortical Injury During Development. Factors Influencing Brain Plasticity and Recovery: Hormones, Neuromodulators, Neurotrophins, and Experience. Epilogue.
Review :
One of the values of this book is that it reviews and integrates a large volume of research and clinical data. Throughout the book Professor Kolb carefully summarizes the issues and provides enumerated conclusions at the end of each chapter. Clearly, he has made a great effort to present the material in a form easy to assimilate, and for the most part he has succeeded.
—Contemporary Gerontology, V3 #2
"This monograph introduces the reader to a broad range of empirical findings on brain recovery at the behavioural level in humans and animals....The important principles of neural plasticity as they relate to behavioural recovery put forward in this monograph provide a rational basis for neurorehabilitation and hopefully will further stimulate readers to turn their scientific and clinical attention to this next great frontier."
—The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences
"One of the important points made in this book is that future research should continue more hopefully in the knowledge that, although there are limits to the amount a brain can change, and we do not know what determines the limits, or in most cases, what the limits are, we are nevertheless aware that the brain is more plastic than what was once believed."
—Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
"What makes Kolb's book so interesting is that he attempts to go beyond animal work in order to discuss implications that such research might have for recovery and plasticity in humans."
—Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
"...the book is an excellent and well written introduction into modern concepts of brain plasticity and behavioral recovery. In a masterly and entertaining way, Bryan Kolb includes case histories, data from epidemiology, clinical facts, rehabilitation strategies, and outcomes and facts from basic neurosciences....I was generally both impressed and entertained."
—Ethology
