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Fundamentals of Cognitive Neuroscience: A Beginner’s Guide . By Bernard J.

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June 2014 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS
the vertebrate brain. This is the case of neuropep-
tides oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP),
two evolutionarily ancient neurohypophysial hor-
mones that are primarily synthesized in the magnocel-
lular neurons of the paraventricular and supraoptic
nuclei of the hypothalamus. Studied for their influ-
ence on sex-specific and species-specific behaviors,
OT is mostly identified with bonding between indi-
viduals, and AVP with the regulation of aggression
and male parental care (p. 3). Although they are
part of a rapidly evolving research stream, accumu-
lating evidence suggests that OT, AVP, and related
neuropeptides exhibit their effects in a wide variety
of species, and new insight can be obtained by look-
ing at the parallel findings in both human and non-
human organisms.
In their volume, Choleris et al. follow this new
direction and provide a comparative behavioral
approach to OT, AVP, and related peptides—such
as isotocin, mesotocin, and arginine vasotocin—in
vertebrates, on top of an analysis of their inverte-
brate foundations and evolutionary history. Fea-
turing the contributions of some leading scholars
in the field, the book contains 21 research articles
grouped into three main thematic areas: the first
part lays down the basics of the anatomy, function,
and development of OT and AVP systems; the
second features a phylogenic/comparative approach
to describe the behavioral roles of OT, AVP, and
related neuropeptides across vertebrate species;
and the last part focuses on the role of OT and
AVP in modulating human behavior, and involves
a discussion of various human psychiatric disor-
ders and social psychopathologies.
Navigating the quick pace of an often contro-
versial field of scientific inquiry, the volume might
appear a bit repetitive, and it is not always fluid to
read. It also lacks a substantial focus on invertebrate
species, and neglects the analysis of important classes
of vertebrates—such as reptiles. However, the au-
thors effectively address the importance of setting up
a comparative discourse, and focus on some of the
current problems and restraining factors to the
advancement of the field. In addition, the last part
of the volume opens up a discussion about the
impact that a better understanding of evolutionary
precursors of OT and AVP might have in establish-
ing new lines of research and clinical applica-
tions—such as the production of new drug targets
or the employment of OT and AVP in the treat-
ment and prevention of drug addiction. As one of
the most up-to-date analyses currently available in
the field, this volume is recommended for gradu-
ate students in biological departments, as well as
researchers and clinicians who are interested in
the causal links discovered and debated these days
179
between neurochemical systems and the regula-
tion of social behaviors.
Daniele Macuglia, Morris Fishbein Center for the
History of Science & Medicine, University of Chicago,
Chicago, Illinois
NEUROBIOLOGY
Fundamentals of Cognitive Neuroscience: A
Beginner’s Guide.
By Bernard J. Baars and Nicole M. Gage. Academic
Press. Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Boston
(Massachusetts): Elsevier. $59.95 (paper). viii !
463 p. ! 1 foldout with 8 plates; ill.; index.
ISBN: 978-0-12-415805-4. 2013.
This introductory textbook on cognitive neurosci-
ence is a welcome addition to the field. The book
won the 2013 Most Promising New Textbook
Award in the life sciences from the Text and Aca-
demic Authors Association, an award that recog-
nizes excellence in first-year edition textbooks and
learning materials.
The chapters progress according to the follow-
ing themes: introductory material, fundamentals
of neurons and brain anatomy, research tech-
niques, and major topics such as vision, language,
and thinking. An advantage of this volume over
others is its philosophical and theoretical orienta-
tion toward all topics. For example, Chapters 1
(Mind and Brain) and 2 (A Useful Framework)
introduce readers to deep issues in cognitive neuro-
science, including the mind-body problem, evolu-
tion, philosophy of science, and the organization of
the brain. This philosophical orientation and frame-
work will be particularly helpful to readers who are
new to the field, such as early-stage undergraduates,
for whom cognitive neuroscience holds a fascination
that is perhaps hard for them to articulate.
After Chapters 1-5 lay the groundwork, Chapters
6 –14 cover the main topics in the field. The text
and figures in these chapters are generally excellent.
Important researchers and theories are presented,
and the references reflect admirable scholarship.
These chapters are unique among cognitive neuro-
science textbooks in their emphasis on higher cog-
nitive themes, such as awareness, imagery, implicit
thinking, and the like. The chapters also contain
material that will be of special interest to many read-
ers. For example, the chapter on hearing includes
not only the usual subjects of audition and speech
perception, but also the burgeoning field of music
perception. Likewise, the chapter on consciousness
180 THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY
contains a section on meditation and yoga, an area
that is both popular with the public and relevant to
the treatment of mental disorders such as general-
ized anxiety disorder (GAD) and post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). Overall, the inclusion of such
subjects, and the thoughtful tone of the authors
throughout the book, will appeal to those of a more
cognitive bent, such as students from psychology and
the liberal arts.
A weakness of the volume is that important top-
ics are omitted or downplayed, which may make
the book less appealing to students with a neurosci-
ence bent. For example, the brain control of move-
ment and action is barely mentioned, whereas three
other cognitive neuroscience textbooks devote an
entire chapter to this topic. Indeed, one may read
this volume and not appreciate that an overarching
goal of the brain, including the systems devoted to
vision and learning, is behavior and goal-oriented
action. As Goethe wrote in Faust, “In the beginning
was the deed,” and by deed he meant action, not
consciousness or feeling. Other topics that receive
less coverage than expected are attention, spatial
cognition, and hemispheric specialization. It would
be useful if future editions of this excellent book
incorporate these topics.
Trenton A. Jerde, Cognitive Science, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
Anthropological Perspectives on Tooth Mor-
phology: Genetics, Evolution, Variation. Cam-
bridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology,
Volume 66.
Edited by G. Richard Scott and Joel D. Irish. Cam-
bridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
$120.00. xiii ! 559 p. ! 8 pl.; ill.; index. ISBN:
978-1-107-01145-8. 2013.
Teeth contain a wealth of information of interest
to biological anthropologists. They can reveal as-
pects of life history, diet, and the genetic affinities
of human populations. It is in this last sphere of
research—utilizing variations in dental morphol-
ogy to assess population affinities—that Christy G.
Turner II made important contributions, particu-
larly through the refinement and development of
standards for the categorization of tooth crown
variants. Turner and his students have documented
incidences of these traits in many thousands of hu-
man dentitions from numerous populations around
the globe. These data have served to define several
View publication stats
Volume 89
regional “dental complexes” that have proven useful
in understanding the distribution and pattern of
modern human dental variation. Both editors of
the present volume were doctoral students un-
der Turner, and they make clear that its key pur-
pose is to honor their mentor’s contributions. In
large measure, this book, which emanates from a
symposium held in 2010, serves to update The An-
thropology Modern Human Teeth: Dental Morphology
and Its Variation in Recent Human Populations (Cam-
bridge (UK): Cambridge University Press), pub-
lished in 1997 under the editorship of G. Richard
Scott and Christy G. Turner II.
Fifty contributors have penned 20 chapters that
deal primarily with topics concerning human den-
tal variation in a geographic context. Two chapters
deal specifically with paleoanthropological consid-
erations, and two discuss relatively novel tech-
niques that can be applied in the study of the
patterns of fossil and modern primate dental vari-
ation. Although several chapters deal to at least
some degree with aspects of developmental genet-
ics, and a number pay lip service to the genome,
there is but a single contribution that deals explic-
itly with the genetics of tooth form. This is rather
surprising for a book published in the second de-
cade of the 21st century.
One of the more interesting contributions is
that by Oliver Rizk et al. (Chapter 7), who detail
the application of geometric morphometrics to
the study of dental variation and dental develop-
ment, with special consideration of developmental
constraint and modularity. Another contribution
of modern flavor, by Macchiarelli et al. (Chapter
11), discusses the use of micro-CT techniques to
visualize and quantify tooth morphology from the
outer enamel surface to the topography of the dentin-
enamel junction to the “unrolling” of the roots. This
approach continues to find increasing use in analyses
of dental development and morphology; well over a
thousand articles have been published in this arena
of dental research since the initial applications of
microtomography to the examination of teeth in
the early 2000s.
Most of the chapters in this volume present
information on the incidences of crown variants in
various human (or hominin) samples, and these
data will almost certainly be useful to those who
seek to document the dental affinities of currently
undocumented groups. Several of these contribu-
tions comprise reviews of previously published
knowledge, but most present case studies that pro-
vide novel data. A number of the latter focus on
population (or sample) specific data derived from
a restricted geographic area, while others take a
broader geographic scope (e.g., documenting “Af-
ridonty”).