Each edition of this classic reference has proved to be a benchmark in the developing field of cognitive neuroscience. The third edition of The Cognitive Neurosciences continues to chart new directions in the study of the biologic underpinnings of complex cognition -- the relationship between the structural and physiological mechanisms of the nervous system and the psychological reality of the mind. Every chapter is new and each section has new participants. Features of the third edition include research that maps biological changes directly to cognitive changes; a new and integrated view of sensory systems and perceptual processes; the presentation of new developments in plasticity; recent research on the cognitive neuroscience of false memory, which reveals the constructive nature of memory retrieval; and new topics in the neuroscientific study of emotion, including the "social brain." The new final section, "Perspectives and New Directions," discusses a wide variety of topics that point toward the future of this vibrant and exciting field.
"*The Cognitive Neurosciences III* is a magnificent accomplishment. It covers topics from ions to consciousness, from reflexes to social psychology. It is authoritative and encyclopedic, but also lively and unafraid of controversy. Michael Gazzaniga, The MIT Press, and the community of cognitive neuroscientists are to be congratulated for assembling this landmark of twentieth-century science and thrilling preview of what we will learn in the twenty-first."
--Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of *The Blank Slate*, *How the Mind Works*, and *Words and Rules*
"Successful third editions of large reference works must be reliable sources for their field, and Gazzaniga's *The Cognitive Neurosciences* certainly is, authored by a remarkable group of contributors. But this book is far more: it is full of exciting chapters touching on such newly important fields as adult neurogenesis, and it embraces controversy where appropriate. In my view, this already superb text has only gotten better."
--Steven E. Hyman, Provost, Harvard University, and Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
"To me, this book redefines the idea of comprehensiveness in a reference work. For the cognitive neuroscientist, it provides the latest in integrative cellular and system work. For the neuroscientist who wants to grasp cognitive functions and mechanisms, it offers a thoroughly up-to-date picture of the field."
--Floyd E. Bloom, Chairman, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute
"Another magnificent achievement, and truly new as well! With some 70 new chapters and over 100 new authors, *The Cognitive Neurosciences III* is as up-to-date as current work in the field."
--Endel Tulving, Tanenbaum Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience, Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto
"Gazzaniga and his fearless colleagues have taken on the most challenging topics at the mind-brain interface. Given the brain's complexity, it is easy to get mired in details. This book steps back, looks at the fund of knowledge that has been acquired at all levels of neuroscience, and focuses our attention sharply on the essential questions that fascinate us all: From the mass of cells and circuits that is the brain, how do we come to think, feel, perceive, act, and be aware of who we are? It deftly captures the exciting and ever-challenging journey towards understanding the neurobiology of thought."
--Huda Akil, Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Michigan
