About the Book
The Mind's Machine, introduced in 2012, was written to impart the core concepts of behavioral neuroscience to students in a diverse range of disciplines, including not only psychology and the other life sciences, but art, philosophy, media studies, linguistics, and the like. Through the use of streamlined text, full-color art, novel pedagogical features, and real-life examples and analogies, the book succeeded in engaging students new to neuroscience
without sacrificing accuracy.Put to the test by faculty and students, The Mind's Machine proved itself to be accessible and reader-friendly--not to mention affordably priced--and the Second
Edition is no less so. If you are teaching a brain and behavior, biopsychology, or physiological psychology course, you will want to consider this book!KEY FEATURESNEW! Signs and SymptomsThis new feature highlights important clinical issues related to the chapter topics that apply behavioral neuroscience to the study of clinical
disorders.VignettesEach chapter begins with a gripping vignette relating the material that follows to a real-life situation.Visual SummaryA graphic layout helps organize the material, and directs students to the figures that reinforce
each point. Bold-faced key terms, callouts to pertinent figures, and references to the Companion Website are provided.PartsLarger, standalone "Parts" of chaptersare written discretely to maximize flexibility in assigning readings.Marginal GlossaryBold-faced terms are defined in the margins of the text to help students identify and learn key terminology as they
read.Researchers at WorkImportant discoveries are explained and illustrated to highlight the process of experimentation and hypothesis testing.QR CodesUsing their smartphones, students can instantly access
support material from the Companion Website, such as animations, activities, and videos to further explain topics.Color ArtThe figures are beautifully drawn to aid students' understanding of biological processes. Concisely labeled and explained, the figures are one of the strongest pedagogical features in the text.BoxesBoxes describe interesting applications, important methods, sidelights,
historical perspectives, or refreshers on theoretical concepts.A Step FurtherThis feature offers additional, more advanced material for an instructor who wants to make certain topics more challenging or for
students who want to know more"How's it going?" QuestionsAt the end of each section are review questions to help students organize and rehearse what they>'ve learned from the text.PhotographsPhotographs show students "real-life" examples of concepts and topics.
Table of Contents:
*An Introduction to Brain and Behavior
*Cells and Structures: The Anatomy of the Nervous System
*Neurophysiology: The Generation, Transmission, and Integration of Neural Signals
*The Sensorimotor System
*Hearing, Balance, Taste, and Smell
*Vision: From Eye to Brain
*Hormones and Sex
*Homeostasis: Active Regulation of the Internal Environment
*Biological Rhythms and Sleep
*Emotions, Aggression, and Stress
*Psychopathology: The Biology of Behavioral Disorders
*Memory, Learning, and Development
*Attention and Consciousness
*Language and Our Divided Brain
About the Author :
Neil V. Watson and the members of his lab at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada study sex-related aspects of the structure and function of the nervous system, with ongoing grant support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. His research, which spans from the effects of hormones and pollutants on the structure of the nervous system to the relationships among social factors, cognition, and steroids in humans,
has appeared in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Neuroscience, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and Brain Research. Dr. Watson received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the
University of Western Ontario and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, he joined the faculty at SFU in 1996 where he is now Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience and Chair of Psychology. He teaches biological psychology to hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students each year.
S. Marc Breedlove, the Barnett Rosenberg Professor of Neuroscience at Michigan State University, has written over 130 scientific articles investigating the role of hormones in shaping the developing and adult nervous system, publishing in journals including Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. He is also passionate about teaching--in the classroom, and in the greater community through interviews with the Washington
Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Newsweek, as well as broadcast programs such as All Things Considered, Good Morning America, and Sixty Minutes. He has active grant support from the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Breedlove is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Psychological Science.
Review :
"The writing style is great--almost like you are having a conversation with someone rather than reading a textbook." --Joseph H. Porter, Virginia Commonwealth University
"The students' response was very positive. They found the writing very clear, the visual summaries very helpful, and the animations particularly supportive of their studying efforts. Students also commented positively on the availability of the textbook in electronic format; in addition, they really liked the textbook's website." --Evangelia Chrysikou, University of Kansas
"This is an inexpensive yet comprehensive book." --Carmen Westerberg, Texas State University
"As far as I'm concerned, The Mind's Machine 2E is the best book of its kind on the market. The level of detail in some neuroscience/biopsych textbooks can be overwhelming to 200-level psychology students, but this book finds the sweet spot between too simple and too complex." --Scott F. Stoltenberg, University of Nebraska
"One of the biggest reasons I continue to be so loyal to this textbook is because of the beautifully informative illustrations. It's really well-written, and the illustrations and online supplementary materials are AMAZING. . . . the textbook covers a comprehensive breadth of 'essential' material in biopsychology." --Melana Yanos, Seattle Central College
