Neuropsych. for dummies

[Mean-Hippy]

Hello there,

 

I am looking for book references for an introduction to the current state of knowledge in neuropsychology. Something vulgarized, as I am in no way a student of nor possess any knowledge of neuropsych. You know, a sort

of " Brief history of time " or " The Ellegant Universe " but for neuropsych. I am just interested in finding out what we know about the way the brain works as far as taught process does. Whats the deal with "consciousness", whats the actual physical materialisation of an "idea" ou a "taught" in our brains ? I am also interested in the parralels with artificial intellingence research.

 

SO if you know a good reading for me, I would much apreciate it.

 

Thanks.

[Hyperlite]

I've read some interesting books on Neuroscience written by Richard Restak M.D. which were entitled "The Mind" and "The Brain." Both works complement eachother and were quite comprehensible with a background in only biology and chemistry.

[solidsquid]

I'd recommend a basic Neuroscience text - a couple that I own and would recommend are:

 

Nueroscience (3rd ed.) by Purves et al.

 

Biological Psychology (8th ed) by Kalat

 

You can also find some earlier editions at much cheaper prices if that is a concern for you.

 

When you get a good undertanding of those you can move onto other areas and find more detailed works such as on say, neuroanatomy:

 

The Human Brain (5th ed). by Nolte

 

In the mean time try looking around these sites:

 

Neuroscience for Kids

 

The Whole Brain Atlas

 

Digital Anatomist Project

 

Also, I would highly recommend going to this site:

 

http://www.learner.org/resources/series142.html

 

Just register on the site, it's free and click on the "VoD" buttons to view each module. They are about 20 or so minutes long each and very, very informative. That site has many different subjects from elementary to collegiate level.