The goal of this textbook, stated in the preface, is for students to “have access to an account of neuropsychology that was at once clear and in-depth,” and in most respects it achieves this purpose. The book has a total of 15 chapters divided into three parts. Each chapter begins with an outline and ends with a summary. Major terms are printed in bold and defined in a glossary. There is a website for the book. Apparently a test bank is available that includes multiple-choice, fill-in, true–false and essay questions for all chapters.

Part I, Foundations, consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 integrates historical milestones in neuropsychology with clear explanations of the associations between seminal findings and the implications of each for the development of conceptual underpinnings in neuropsychology. Single-case studies and psychometric approaches to neuropsychological research are nicely contrasted with pros and cons of each identified. Chapter 2 presents a thorough yet concise review of nerve impulse conduction that incorporates updated information not included in books published just a few years ago.

However, the order and organization of the material may make it somewhat difficult to follow if the reader does not already have a pretty good basic grasp of neuronal conduction. Chapter 3 has a good overview of neuroanatomy and associated basic function. Chapter 4, also a good overview, presents current experimental methods with a particularly good description of PET technology and its methodological limitations. The rationale of the dissociation paradigm is thoroughly discussed. Chapter 5 reviews “the visual system as a model of nervous system function.” Approximately one-third of the chapter is devoted to in-depth physiology of the retina that seems too detailed for a book on neuropsychology. While the description of the magnocellular and parvocellular pathways are the clearest I have read, some less clear and less well-organized explanations of receptive fields and modular columnar cortical organization will be somewhat difficult for students lacking a fairly solid understanding of it. Little attention is paid to other sensory systems. For example, the auditory system is not described in detail nor are parietal lobe areas PG and PE mentioned here.

Part II, Neuropsychology of Major Functional Systems, is composed of seven chapters. A good overview of language in chapter 6 omits some functional findings such as frontal lobe mediation of verb word retrieval and temporal mediation of noun word retrieval. Chapter 7, on spatial processing and the more commonly occurring impairments, has an informative discussion of neuronal responses in V3 that may contribute to constancy in visual localization. Visual recognition, chapter 8's topic, has a good presentation of cortical blindness, and an excellent overview of classical apperceptive and associative agnosias including discussion of the dimensions and limitations of classical formulations of these syndromes, although the right hemisphere's special role in facial recognition is not mentioned. The last one-third of the chapter is devoted to theories of visual recognition.

Chapter 9 reviews motor functioning and mediating brain systems with an extended consideration of apraxia and omits the neuroanatomic specifics of the lateral and ventral-medial motor systems. A good cognitive overview of working memory and memory is offered in chapter 10. Among its excellent features are reviews of medial temporal lobe amnesia, explicit and implicit memory and the neural networks likely underlying each, and frontal lobe involvement in working memory and learning. In dealing with emotions, chapter 11 presents a good overview of the amygdala's connections and its likely role in fear conditioning, as well as the role of cortical involvement in discrimination and inhibition of fear responses. It provides a useful model of subcortical and cortical integration of emotional regulation with underlying neural systems.

Chapter 12 provides clear discussion of prefrontal lesion effects including the specificity of prefrontal neural circuits for mediating various types of working memory. Reference is made to posterior parietal and superior temporal multimodal cortex with respect to their connections with prefrontal cortex along with distinct connections and functional differences of prefrontal areas. It would have been helpful to see these connections indicated on a brain model rather than or in addition to a flow chart diagram. The text contains a clearly explained model of prefrontal lobe functioning that integrates data from human and animal research and provides a framework to begin conceptualizing prefrontal functioning.

Part III, Application of Neuropsychology to Broad Behavioral Domains, consists of three chapters. Psychiatric and degenerative disorders are discussed in chapter 13, including schizophrenia, the dopamine hypothesis and the possible role brain damage plays in schizophrenia; possible hypo and hyper-frontal lobe activity in major depression; brief reviews of bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sociopathy; and Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases.

Chapter 14 presents a brief overview of brain development, causes of neurodevelopmental disorders, learning disability, attention deficit disorder and autism. Chapter 15 covers recovery of function with some discussion of rehabilitation. The research cited for children is 25 to 55 years old. The text states “children that lose language after a cerebral lesion that occurs before puberty almost all experience full recovery” (pp. 427 and 445). References were omitted that suggest the possibility of some impairment in language skills after childhood left-hemisphere injury. The text also states “the most important factor affecting recovery of function following a brain lesion is the age of the individual at the time of the lesion” (p. 445). Although subsequent sections mention that extent and location of brain injury also is important, this qualifier is not included with the quote above. These passages may give misimpressions about certain aspects of recovery from brain injury.

In general, this is a well-written textbook appropriate for the undergraduate level. With a few exceptions, it provides informative, and in many cases enhanced, information about neuropsychology. In many chapters, a review of classic theories of disorders and models of neuropsychological functioning demonstrates how they do not adequately account for all the data; new models and theories are then proposed that better account for research findings. In this way, tracing the history of theory regarding brain–behavior relationships explains the development of current formulations and sets the context for their understanding.

Students are likely to do best with the book if they already have a good grasp of basic neuroscience. This text, like many others, does not always identify cortical areas referenced; for example, fusiform and lingual gyri, area V6 and the presubiculum are not identified on a brain graphic. There are a few areas where the text will need to be augmented for a clear or complete understanding, but these are certainly surmountable.