3/8/2016

(4)Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts?Quora

IntroductoryTexts

Textbooks

Neurology

EducationalResources

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Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts?
AsIdomorereadingandwriting(http://www.infoq.com/articles/sc... andsomeforthcoming
articles),I'mtroubledthatknowledgeofthebrainandbasicneuroscienceisonly
fragmentary.Arethereanygoodbooksforanonspecialistsuchasmyself?Iwouldbe
happywithagoodundergraduatetextb...(more)
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Whataresomegoodintroductorymaterialson
cognitiveneuroscience?

10Answers
PaulKing,ComputationalNeuroscientist,RedwoodCenterforTheoretical
Neuroscience
1.8kViewsMostViewedWriterinNeurosciencewith750+answers

EchoingMichaelSoso ,goingtoalibrary(orauniversitymedicalbookstore)andlooking
atneurosciencetextbooksmaybethebestwaytofindsomethingattherightlevel.
PrinciplesofNeuralSciencebyKandel&Schwartzetal[1],nowonits5thedition,is
thegoldstandardforallgraduateschoollevelneuroscienceeducation.Butat1800pages,
itisadeeplytechnicalandanalmostimpenetrabletome,despitetheveryhighqualityof
writingandcompleteness.
Therearemanyundergraduatelevelandmedicalschoolleveltextbooksthataregreat
andofamoremanageablesizeandtechnicallevelforstartingout.Anytextbookona
secondeditionorlaterwassuccessfulenoughthattheauthorsdidanothereditiontokeep
itcurrent.Makesurethelatesteditionisnomorethan10yearsold.Herearesomegood
onesthatIhavereadthrough:

Whataresomegoodintroductoryvirologyor
neurosciencetextbooks?
Whataresomegoodresourcesforlearningabout
neuroscience?
Whatarethebestbooksinneuroscience?
Whataresomegoodintroductorymaterialson
computationalneuroscience?
Whatarethebestintroductorytextsinevolutionary
computation?
Whatarebestneurosciencebooksforbeginners?
Whataresomegoodintroductoryneuroscience
videosontheweb?

AtlasofFunctionalNeuroanatomy,3rdedition(Hendelman,300pages)[2]

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theory?

NettersAtlasofHumanNeuroscience,3rdedition(Feltenetal,500pages,beautifuland
clearillustrations)[3]

DaveFeatherstone:Whatintroductoryneuroscience
textbookdoyouhighlyrecommend?

TheHumanBrain:AnIntroductiontoitsFunctionalNeuroanatomy,6thedition(Nolte,
600pages)[4]

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Footnotes
[1]PrinciplesofNeuralScience,FifthEdition(PrinciplesofNeuralScience(Kandel)):
9780071390118:Medicine&HealthScienceBooks@Amazon.com
[2]AtlasofFunctionalNeuroanatomy,ThirdEdition:9781466585348:Medicine&Health
ScienceBooks@Amazon.com
[3]Netter'sAtlasofNeuroscience,3e(NetterBasicScience):9780323265119:Medicine&
HealthScienceBooks@Amazon.com
[4]Nolte'sTheHumanBrain:AnIntroductiontoitsFunctionalAnatomyWithSTUDENT
CONSULTOnlineAccess,6e(HumanBrain:AnIntroductiontoItsFunctionalAnatomy
(Nolt):9780323041317:Medicine&HealthScienceBooks@Amazon.com

QuestionStats
38Followers
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LastAskedJun4
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WrittenJun5ViewUpvotes
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MichaelSoso,BABerkeleyPhysiology/Biophysics1967,PhDNeurophysiologyUW
1975andMDSt...
1.1kViewsMostViewedWriterinNeurologywith120+answers

Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts?
Arethereanygoodbooksforanonspecialistsuchasmyself?Iwouldbehappy
withagoodundergraduatetextbookaslongasIdidn'tneedatonofchemistry.In
additionI'vereadanumberofbooksinthefield:DavidRockYourBrainatWork
JohnMedinaBrainRulesMarcoIacoboniMirroringPeople....thisismostof
whatIread:)lookingforabasicgroundingsoIcanputthesebooksintheir
properplaceinmyownbrain.

https://www.quora.com/Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts

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(4)Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts?Quora

Iwouldcharacterizethebooksyou'vebeenreadingaspoppsychology,ratherthan
neuroscience.ThehumanbrainistheUniversesmostcomplexknownobject.Any
approachyoumaketowardslearningaboutitwillnecessarilyresultinseemingly
fragmentaryknowledge.
KandelandSchwartztextisthepremierundergraduateneurosciencetext.Ittoucheson
Neurology,PsychologyandPsychiatryaswell.Surveyingalibrarycopyshouldgiveyoua
senseofwhatconstitutesneuroscience.SomeofthechaptersmightbeaccessibletoaHigh
Schoolstudent.It'snotwhatIwouldconsiderintroductory,however.Thebrainisa
biochemicalmachineanddiggingintoKandelandSchwartzrequiresaminimumofa
coupleyearsofUniversitylevelbiology,chemistry,physics,etc.
Yourbestallyinyourquestislikelytobealibrarian.Askyourschoolorcitylibrarianfor
assistance.Thebooksyou'relookingforexistandtheyshouldbeabletoguideyoutowards
them.
IMO,basedonwhatyou'veindicated,youmightbebestservedbyreadingvariousbooks
byOliverSacks.IrecommendstartingwithTheManWhoMistookHisWifeFora
Hat.
PrinciplesofNeuralScience
TheManWhoMistookHisWifeforaHat NYTimes Review
WrittenJun4ViewUpvotesAnswerrequestedbySpencerRamirez
Upvote

Downvote Comment 1

PierreMorel,PhDinNeuroscience,workonsensorimotorintegrationinaBayesian
framework...
7.2kViews

Neuroscience,editedbyDalePurvesisawellillustratedneurosciencetextbook,ifyouhave
abiologybackgroundthereshouldn'tbeaproblemwiththat.Thereferencetextbookinthe
fieldisPrinciplesofNeuralSciencebyKandelandSchwartz,butitisprobablytoo
advanced.
Thebestwaytopickisprobablytogoinalibrary,openthebooksatthebeginningofa
chapterandstartreading!
However,botharetextbooks,sotheyaredenseandcan'tbereadasregularbooks.
WrittenJan25,2011ViewUpvotes
Upvote

Downvote Comments 1+

AlexK.Chen,etherealgwernophile,aspirestowardstimeless,context
independenceexistence
3.6kViewsMostViewedWriterinEducationalResources

TheSynapticSelf(LeDoux)isagreatbridgethat'ssomewhereinbetweenthepopsci
booksandKandel
AlsoseeWhataresomegoodresourcesforlearningaboutneuroscience?
UpdatedJul24,2011ViewUpvotes
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TriptaGupta,M.S.inNeuroscience
4.1kViews

I'drecommendFundamentalNeurosciencebyLarrySquire.Althoughitisabitofan
endeavor,itgivesanintroductiontothefieldandisrepletewithexcellentfigures,clinical
informationandcommonexperimentaltechniques.UnlikemostintroductorytextsI've
comeacross,itthoroughlycoversthesubjectfrommanyapproaches(e.g.molecular,
cognitive,medical,developmental,etc.)andsodependingonyourinterests,canevenbe
usedasareference.
WrittenFeb22,2011ViewUpvotes
Upvote

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SayKengLee,KnowledgeAdventurer&TechnologyExplorerinStrategy,Change&
FutureFocus
490ViewsMostViewedWriterinTextbooks with30+answers

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(4)Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts?Quora

Whatarethebestintroductoryneurosciencetexts?
Iliketotakethisopportunitytointroduceyoutobrainfact.org
theUSbasedSocietyofNeuroscience:

,undertheumbrellaof

SocietyforNeuroscience
Itsisaresourceforthegeneralpublic,policymakers,educators,andstudentsofallages,
andisdedicatedtosharingknowledgeaboutthewondersofthebrainandmind,engaging
thepublicindialogueaboutbrainresearch,anddispellingcommon"neuromyths."
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WrittenJun5AnswerrequestedbyHossamAbdelhamed
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Anonymous
2.8kViews

Forthosenewtoneuroscience:Fourgoodbooks(eachofwhichemphasize
differenttopics,albeitwithsomeoverlap)are:TheoreticalNeuroscience ,byDayan
andAbbottBiophysicsofComputation:informationprocessinginsingleneurons ,by
KochSpikingNeuronModels ,byGerstnerandKistlerandSpikes:exploringthe
neuralcode ,byRiekeetal.ThefirstchapteroftheSpikesbookhasbeenkindlymade
availableonline .Evenmorekindly,thefulltextoftheGerstnerKistlerbookisonline
thekeysectionsareChapter1 andPartI .Anothergoodonlinetutorialisavailable
here .Finally,manyofimportantexampleswillbedrawnfromthevisualsystem:see
thebookEye,Brain,andVision byDavidHubelforanexcellentintroduction.
source:Statisticalanalysisofneuraldata
UpdatedJun5ViewUpvotes
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JonathanMcEuen,PhDinneuroscience
2.8kViews

Iwouldstronglyrecommend"BRAINARCHITECTURE"byLarrySwansonatUSC.itwas
helpfulformeaftermyPhDasareferenceandmeanstoexplainneurosciencetoageneral
audience,andIstillfinditafun,quickread.
WrittenApr23,2014
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GaiaDempsey,Intriguedamateur
2.8kViews

EverythingbyOliverSacks.
WrittenJul24,2011ViewUpvotes
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ManosSiderakis
3.9kViews

PrinciplesofNeuralSciencebyKandel.Bestinthefieldforbasics.
WrittenJan26,2011ViewUpvotes
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