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Brain mechanisms and consciousness
B O O K REVIEW Edited by CHARLES E. H E N R Y
BRAIN
MECHANISMS
AND
CONSCIOUSNESS
Edited by E. D. A D R I A N , Y. BREMER and H. H. J A S P E R Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, 1954, 556 pp. $8.50 A belated review such as this one does serve a purl,ose. Time for digestion has been allowed, the voracity induced by the i n t e r e s t i n g subjeet m a t t e r is abated aml o n e ' s critical faeulties are therefore lens impaired. The question asked by the reviewer at this time is not, " s h a l l [ recommend this book to l>e read ~ " , but~ ~'shall I recommend t h a t it become a p a r t of tile re:lder's reference l i b r a r y ?". With respect to B r a i n M e c h a n i s m s (o~d Consciousness, an tu(rcserved
~ l y e s ' ' ix t h e
answer.
The reviewer has successfully used this referenee as recommended class-room reading for courses in physiology and neuropsyehology. M a g o u n ' s eoneise chapter makes easily awdlable some of the imI)ortant f i n d i n g s of his laboratory group. This chapter can be amplified by readings f r o m the c h a p t e r s by ~[oruzzi and Olszewski. A similar organiz-ttion of the reading nmterial concerning dieneephalie mechanisms s t a r t s with J a s p e r ' s superb chapter which contains mueh t h a t is new and challenging from a theoretical stal~dpoint and m u s t be given adequate time and discussion for p r o p e r assimilation. The sections of this c h a p t e r which de'll with axodendritie and :~xosomatie synapses and with l a m i n a r mieroelectrode analyses are well Oll their way to being classics in the liter:,tur(.. These sections are amplified by readings f r o m the chapters by Grey W a l t e r and Brazier. J a s p e r ' s st'~tements r e g a r d i n g a n a t o m y are soinewlmt more controversial and are best j u x t a p o s e d to the ehapter |,y Nauta and Whitloek. An yet unresolved differences a p p e a r - - differences which arise f r o m the d i f f e r e n t teehlfiques which are used to analyze the problem. Bul these differences arc the very soil in which subsequent experiment fkmrishes - - and unless the student (and teacher) has the differences in mind, new data will fail to excite his interest.
A third series of chapters ~hich makes the symposium •~ soureebook of data relates observations subSe(lue]lt t o cerebral stimulation fill eOllS('iolls l a a U . P e n f i e h l ' s eh'q~ter, "rod Rieh'lrd , l u n g ' s , amplified by readings of some of the sections of (b~staut's (.hat)ter sorve usefully to indicate a f r o n t i e r of s('it'nee wht're data are as yet difficult to evahmte though t]a,y are of g r e a t interest. The r(!lnaininK chapters al'u celltert,d ~ll'OUlld various behavioral processes: sleep, pereel~tim~ , t h o u g h t and conseiousness. There is much in these chapters to w a r r a n t reading and reading but for ideas r a t h e r t h a n for data. Not t h a t these c h a p t e r s are devoid of data, but the dat',, even wlmn they are neural, are picked and t.hosen to aeeord with the behavioral f r a m e of reference. These chapters by Adrian, Hess, }'essard, Hebb, Lashley, K u b i e :~nd Rioeh show daring and ingemfity - - and reflect our abysmal igngrau(.e eoneenfing the very problems that (.ailed the symposium. The discussions, whi~ql f o r m one of the m<>st readable portions of tile book, also supl,(}vt this feeling. Often "~n a t t e m p t is made to mohl the paucity of neural mechanisms to the richness of experience; sometimes the one - - sometimes the other is ignored. Rarely is a precise statement of ,~ l~ehavioral process linked by discrete exl,eriment to :, precise s t a t e m e n t of neural ]Heehanislll. ]lilt the a t t e m p t s whieh are made are valiant (rues - - aml those of us who are interested in contimfing the e f f o r t fiml us much worth in the ideas expressed (albtdt vaguely) in these hitter chapters as in the data which form the earlier ones. Co]Jclusion : ii s u p e r | ) r e f e r e n c e ; a n d m a n y t h a n k s to the editorial s t a f f which has made it avail'd~le.
[ ls3 ]
KARL I{. I'atFm,x~
BRAIN
MECHANISMS
AND
CONSCIOUSNESS
Edited by E. D. A D R I A N , Y. BREMER and H. H. J A S P E R Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, 1954, 556 pp. $8.50 A belated review such as this one does serve a purl,ose. Time for digestion has been allowed, the voracity induced by the i n t e r e s t i n g subjeet m a t t e r is abated aml o n e ' s critical faeulties are therefore lens impaired. The question asked by the reviewer at this time is not, " s h a l l [ recommend this book to l>e read ~ " , but~ ~'shall I recommend t h a t it become a p a r t of tile re:lder's reference l i b r a r y ?". With respect to B r a i n M e c h a n i s m s (o~d Consciousness, an tu(rcserved
~ l y e s ' ' ix t h e
answer.
The reviewer has successfully used this referenee as recommended class-room reading for courses in physiology and neuropsyehology. M a g o u n ' s eoneise chapter makes easily awdlable some of the imI)ortant f i n d i n g s of his laboratory group. This chapter can be amplified by readings f r o m the c h a p t e r s by ~[oruzzi and Olszewski. A similar organiz-ttion of the reading nmterial concerning dieneephalie mechanisms s t a r t s with J a s p e r ' s superb chapter which contains mueh t h a t is new and challenging from a theoretical stal~dpoint and m u s t be given adequate time and discussion for p r o p e r assimilation. The sections of this c h a p t e r which de'll with axodendritie and :~xosomatie synapses and with l a m i n a r mieroelectrode analyses are well Oll their way to being classics in the liter:,tur(.. These sections are amplified by readings f r o m the chapters by Grey W a l t e r and Brazier. J a s p e r ' s st'~tements r e g a r d i n g a n a t o m y are soinewlmt more controversial and are best j u x t a p o s e d to the ehapter |,y Nauta and Whitloek. An yet unresolved differences a p p e a r - - differences which arise f r o m the d i f f e r e n t teehlfiques which are used to analyze the problem. Bul these differences arc the very soil in which subsequent experiment fkmrishes - - and unless the student (and teacher) has the differences in mind, new data will fail to excite his interest.
A third series of chapters ~hich makes the symposium •~ soureebook of data relates observations subSe(lue]lt t o cerebral stimulation fill eOllS('iolls l a a U . P e n f i e h l ' s eh'q~ter, "rod Rieh'lrd , l u n g ' s , amplified by readings of some of the sections of (b~staut's (.hat)ter sorve usefully to indicate a f r o n t i e r of s('it'nee wht're data are as yet difficult to evahmte though t]a,y are of g r e a t interest. The r(!lnaininK chapters al'u celltert,d ~ll'OUlld various behavioral processes: sleep, pereel~tim~ , t h o u g h t and conseiousness. There is much in these chapters to w a r r a n t reading and reading but for ideas r a t h e r t h a n for data. Not t h a t these c h a p t e r s are devoid of data, but the dat',, even wlmn they are neural, are picked and t.hosen to aeeord with the behavioral f r a m e of reference. These chapters by Adrian, Hess, }'essard, Hebb, Lashley, K u b i e :~nd Rioeh show daring and ingemfity - - and reflect our abysmal igngrau(.e eoneenfing the very problems that (.ailed the symposium. The discussions, whi~ql f o r m one of the m<>st readable portions of tile book, also supl,(}vt this feeling. Often "~n a t t e m p t is made to mohl the paucity of neural mechanisms to the richness of experience; sometimes the one - - sometimes the other is ignored. Rarely is a precise statement of ,~ l~ehavioral process linked by discrete exl,eriment to :, precise s t a t e m e n t of neural ]Heehanislll. ]lilt the a t t e m p t s whieh are made are valiant (rues - - aml those of us who are interested in contimfing the e f f o r t fiml us much worth in the ideas expressed (albtdt vaguely) in these hitter chapters as in the data which form the earlier ones. Co]Jclusion : ii s u p e r | ) r e f e r e n c e ; a n d m a n y t h a n k s to the editorial s t a f f which has made it avail'd~le.
[ ls3 ]
KARL I{. I'atFm,x~