Book Reviews
The third section discusses brain mapping in a wide variety of clinical disorders. Cerebrovascular disorders, coma, learning disorders, dementia, epilepsy, and demyelinating disease are all described using electrophysiologic data. These chapters vary from a single case report to series of patients. There is some variability in the quality of the figures in this section. Evoked potential data in relation to head injury and brain tumor are also described. The next section deals with psychophysiological aspects. It covers event related potential generated brain maps in learning. There is a chapter on cartography of wakefulness, sleep, and dreams. Evoked potential mapping is then described. Mapping involves data generated primarily from visual evoked responses but also covers somatosensory and brain stem auditory responses. Image quality in this section is generally excellent. The sixth section discusses the value of brain mapping in the field of psychiatry. Event related potential mapping in schizophrenia is described. Mapping in general psychiatric conditions like schizoaffective disorders and depression are also discussed. A provocative chapter describing brain mapping in relation to psychiatric neuropharmacology is found in this section. This volume ends with a short discussion of magnetoencephalography. Overall, this book is an excellent compendium of the state of the art in topographic brain mapping. Despite the multiple authors, the writing style is easy to read. The material is well covered and well presented. Most brain map figures are of the highest quality throughout this book, for which the publishers should be praised. This book can be recommended for physicians interested in the relatively new field of brain mapping. It is a good review of the present level of sophistication with this technique. It provides the necessary knowledge to ask many of the questions for those trying to advance this young field, brain mapping. A N T H O N Y R. RIELA, M.D. Winston-Salem, North Carolina Pernkopf Anatomy: Atlas of Topographic and A p p l i e d H u m a n A n a t o m y , V o l . I, H e a d a n d N e c k . E d i t e d b y W e r n e r P l a t z e r and t r a n s l a t e d by H a r r y Monsen. $175.00. Baltimore: Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1989. The third edition of Pernkopf's Anatomy may arguably reach its goal of being the most clear and accurate collection of atlas drawings of regional anatomical detail, but the simpler drawings are usually its most informative. Its 298 full color and 118 black and white figures (77 more than the second edition) are beautifully illustrated with immense detail and full coverage of the regions of the head, including gross and sectional detail of the brain and neck. Terminology has been translated with great care to common English usage of Nomina Anatomica. Radiographs have been omitted in this addition, making room for many new illustrations. Figures in some atlases of this detail are overly busy. In the third edition, the number and size of leaders are reduced in an
Surg Neurol 1990;33:161-4
163
attempt to avoid this, yet many figures attempt to present so much detail that they are still too busy for presentation in a classroom. The variety of views, planes of dissection, and sections combine to produce a comprehensive image of threedimensional structure. In 87 figures the brain, in detailed relation to head structures, is illustrated with meninges and blood supply. Many of these illustrations are among the best in the collection and are drawn from actual dissections or careful preparations. Some notation of scale may have provided additional clinical application. Illustrations such as casts of the basal ganglia require almost as much three-dimensional knowledge on the part of the viewer as they contribute to be appreciated. Most viewers will find the drawings of histologic sections to be too idealized, lacking the nuances that can be captured in photographs of sections or the conceptual neatness of diagrams, and will go elsewhere for this bit of detail. In the tradition of Pernkopf, the third edition is excellent source material for physicians, other health professionals, instructors, and advanced students who are eager to refresh old images of structure or build new ones. C R A I G K. HENKEL, Ph.D. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Quantification of Neurologic Deficit. E d i t e d by T h e o d o r e L. M u n s a t , M . D . 334 pages. $59.95. B o s t o n : B u t t e r w o r t h s , 1989. The text, Quantification of Neurologic Deficit, edited by Theodore L. Munsat, M.D., is a very well-written and detailed book about the subject. The authors are well qualified and the subject is well covered. As stated by the author(s), "quantitative neurologic testing is a tedious and time-consuming technique," but is valuable for many reasons. These include research studies of new therapeutic medicine or techniques, evaluation for compensation (workmen's compensation, disability, etc.), and general neurological follow-up. It is not likely that these detailed evaluations will be carried out on a routine basis in clinical practice or even with academic examinations, but there will be situations where they will be needed. This text is a very well-constructed guide for detailed evaluations. The most important contribution should be for investigators striving for the most accurate comparative evaluation of subjects getting various therapeutic trials. For this purpose, this text is highly recommended to researchers in clinical neurology. Also, accurate examinations, as detailed in the text, should be helpful to physicians evaluating patients for compensation and to the authors of guides for compensation examination, such as the Veterans Administration and Social Security. Finally, there is much information that would benefit the practicing neurologist, even if the details were not followed to the letter. WILLIAM T. McLEAN, JR., M.D. Winston-Salem, North Carolina