Books
Neuroscience, Fourth Edition

Book: Neuroscience, 4th Edition Purves, D
Augustine, G A
Fitzpatrick, D
Hall, W
LaMantia, A-S
McNamara, J O
Williams, S M

Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA., 2007

Neuroscience, 4th Edition is a comprehensive textbook created for medical and premedical students as well as graduate students and advanced undergraduates who wish to learn neuroscience. The updated and revised fourth edition (the third edition was published in 2004) was published by Sinauer Associates in the fall of 2007. The editor/authors of the 4th edition are Dale Purves, George Augustine, David Fitzpatrick, William Hall, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, James McNamara, and Leonard White.

Book info at Springer [springeronline.com] »

Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience

Book: Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience Purves, D
Brannon, E M
Cabeza, R
Huettel, S A
LaBar, K S
Platt, M L
Woldorff, M

Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA., 2007

Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience is a textbook written for graduate and undergraduate students seeking an introduction to this emerging field. It was published by Sinauer Associates in the fall of 2007. The text is intended to inform readers about the rapidly growing canon of cognitive neuroscience, and to make clear the many challenges that remain in this field. The editor/authors are Dale Purves, Elizabeth Brannon, Roberto Cabeza, Scott Huettel, Kevin LaBar, Michael Platt, Marty Woldorff.

Book info at Springer [springeronline.com] »

Perceiving Geometry

Book: Perceiving Geometry Purves, D
Howe, C Q

Springer: New York, NY, 2005.

This monograph was published by Springer in the summer of 2005. The book describes how the full range of geometrical percepts and illusions can be accounted for by the empirical relationship between real-world geometry and the projected images that humans have always experienced. It should be of interest to anyone interested in the perception of form and distance.

Book info at Springer [springeronline.com] »

Why We See What We Do

Purves, D
Lotto, R B

Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA., 2003

Why We See What we Do is a book that deals with much of the material presented in this website. It was published in late 2002 by Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA.

Book info at Sinauer [sinauer.com] »

Neural Activity and the Growth of the Brain

Purves, D

Cambridge University Press, 1994

This book is now out of print, but the short lecture series may still be of interest. Brain growth is considered at a macroscopic level by examining brain maps and their molecular substructure, and at a cellular level by investigating the neuronal interactions that influence the formation and maintenance of these structures. The ways that experience influences the maturation of the brain at both macroscopic and microscopic levels are described, and some of the conventional wisdom about these issues re-examined. Anyone interested in how the brain stores information may find the lectures of interest.

Parts of this book are available for download.

Body and Brain: A trophic theory of neural connections

Purves, D

Harvard University Press, 1988

This book has recently gone out of print. It may nonetheless be of interest to many readers because of its broad historical coverage of the relationship between the growth of the body and the complementary growth and organization of the brain. A particular focus is the development of neurons and their synaptic connections, and the mediation of these interactions by trophic agents. The link between somatic targets and their innervation is considered using simple systems such as the neuromuscular junction and the innervation of autonomic ganglion cells as examples of processes that are presumably characteristic of interactions throughout the nervous system.

Now available for download.

Principles of Neural Development

Purves, D
Lichtman, J W

Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 1985.

A textbook of developmental neurobiology.

Book info at Sinauer [sinauer.com] »

Readings in Developmental Neurobiology

Image Not Available Patterson PH, Purves D (editors)

Cold Spring Harbor: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1982

A compilation of classic papers in developmental neurobiology.

Book info at Sinauer [sinauer.com] »


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Other Items of Interest
Sound and Music Research on NPR
Sound and Music Research on NPR

Work on sound and music was featured on All Things Considered on National Public Radio on August 8, 2003. The report concerns the publication of a paper on the subject in the Journal of Neuroscience and features an interview with Purves Lab member David Schwartz. Use the links to the right to hear the NPR piece and read the paper. See Publications for more recent work on music, and General Articles for recent media accounts.

Read the paper [jneurosci.org] »
Listen to NPR interview [npr.org] »

Appearance on News Hour with Jim Lehrer

An account of some of the work considered on this site was featured on the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer on December 25, 2002. A transcript and other information is available on the PBS website. The broadcast can be viewed in its entirety by clicking the image to the left.


Watch

Natural Scene Image Database Available
Natural Scene Image Database Available

We have collected a database of range images of natural scenes. For colleagues who are interested in using this database, please contact Dale Purves for more information.


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Sylvius for Neuroscience: Visual Glossary of Human Neuroanatomy
S. Mark Williams, Leonard E. White, and Andrew C. Mace
Sylvius for Neuroscience: Visual Glossary of Human Neuroanatomy is an interactive CD reference guide to the structure of the human nervous system. Students can quickly search for a neuroanatomical structure or term, or view an image (or animation) and basic information about the structure just by entering the page number from the text. Students can take notes on the content and share their annotations with other Sylvius users. The program is an essential study aid for learning basic human neuroanatomy.

More information is available at sylvius.com and sinauer.com


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General Articles
The following articles, TV or radio spots about work in the lab are addressed to general audiences, and may provide additional insight for those who are not scientifically trained, or simply interested in what the media have had to say about this approach.

Than, Ker (2008) In Search of Music's Biological Roots. Duke Magazine: May-June 2008

Kruglinski, Susan (2008) Muscical Scales Mimic Sound of Language. Discover Magazine - 100 Top Science Stories of 2007: January 2008

Jackson, Joab (2007) "Virtual Robots" Befuddled by Optical Illusions. National Geographic News: October 11

YouTube(2007)"Music Rooted in Speech" video featuring Dale Purves and Jonathan Choi.

Tenenbaum, David (2007) Music: The Universal Scale. The Why Files: June 07

AUTOR (2007) Whither Harmony?. Just Us: June 05

Therapytimes.com (2007) Essential Tones Of Music Rooted In Human Speech: June 01

Bates, Karl Leif (2007) The Essential Tones of Music Rooted in Human Speech: May 25

Lodriguss, Jerry (2007) Color in Astronomical Images. Astropix.com

Scenta (2007) Music Tones in Speech: May 25

Science Daily (2007) Essential Tones of Music Rooted in Human Speech: May 25

Purves, Dale (2007) Tones of Music Rooted in Human Speech. ClassBrain.com: May 24

Meredith, D (2005) New book explains age-old mystery of geometrical illusions. Duke News Releases: September 30.

Preidt, Robert (2003) The Biology of Distance Perception. HealthScout web report.

Kenneally, C (2003) Songs of ourselves. Boston Globe: November 9.

Knox, R (2003) Origins of music may lie in speech. From NPRs All Things Considered: August 8.

Los Angeles Times (2003) Musical scale is linked to speech. Latimes.com: August 9.

Folha (2003) Estrutura de tons da musica surgiu da voz humana, sugere estudo. Folha Online: August 6.

Der Spiegel (2003) Der mensch spricht in Tonleitern. Spiegel Online: August 6.

El Mundo (2003) Escuchamos con la memoria. elmundosalud.com: August 7.

Black, R (2003) Science finds key to music. BBC News: August 6.

Farley, P (2003) Musical roots may lie in human voice. Newscientist.com: August 3.

Meredith, D (2003) Solving the mystery of musical harmony: Insights from a study of speech. Duke News Releases: August 5.

Ackerman, SJ (2003) Optical illusions: why do we see the way we do? Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin 16(2): 37.

Billock, VA (2003) A framework for vision's bag of tricks. Science May 2; 300: 742-743.

How We See (2002) Transcript from News Hour with Jim Lehrer that aired December 25th.

Purves D, Lotto RB, Nundy S (2002) Why we see what we do. American Scientist 90(3):236-243. German translation from Spektrum der Wissenschaft. Spanish translation from Investigacion y Ciencia.

Meredith, D (2000) Color scheme: new vision theory states perception of color depends on neural 'reflexes.' Dialogue: Duke University 5: 3.

Meredith, D (2000) Tricking the eye or trapping a reflex: vision revisited. Duke Magazine. July-August.

Neenan, JM (2000) Colorblind: Why we can be fooled by light and color. HealthScout web report.

Novak, K (1999) Shedding new light on luminance perception. Nature Medicine 5: 1238.

Purves D (1999) Perception as probability. Brain Res. Bull. 50: 321.


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Opinions about this approach to vision
It seems only fair to warn those interested in the merits of the general approach to vision outlined here that opinion has been divided about this work. In fact, the majority opinion, to judge from numerous anonymous and a number of signed reviews, has been quite negative. Recent reviews in Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, and the Journal of Neuroscience can be consulted to get some flavor of the various complaints and objections that have been raised. Of course, people should make up their own minds, but it would be misleading to present the material, ideas, and demonstrations here without calling attention to their controversial nature. These caveats apply both to the work on vision and music.

Vince Billock (2003) Books: A framework for vision's bag of tricks. Science 300:742-743

David Burr, Book Review (2003) Why we see what we do: an empirical theory of vision. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 15: 1074-1076.

Michael Morgan (2003) Vision Quest: A radical theory seeks to overturn current views of how we see the world. Nature 423: 919-920.

Alan Gilchrist (2003) Looking backward: Why we see what we do: an empirical theory of vision. Nature Neuroscience 6:550.