I am very proud of my latest edition! (Cengage has all the details)
If you are familiar with the first and second editions of this textbook, you know that we like to pick colorful visuals that portray the biology behind the behavior. For this third edition, we selected an image of a “brainbow” of the hippocampus of a transgenic mouse. Brainbows are constructed by promoting the expression of different ratios of red, green, and blue fluorescent proteins by individual neurons. This imaging process has assisted researchers interested in mapping the connectome, or the neural connections of the brain. The brainbow technique was developed in 2007 by researchers under the direction of Joshua Sanes and Jeff Lichtman.
My books were written with my love of the subject and an attention to currency, detail and the direction of the field. I endeavor to teach students at the level I find them. My books are used around the world based on their clarity and the importance of making complex concepts easily understandable. Meeting the unique needs of the gifted in presenting complex concepts and ensuring those with challenges are not left behind are major efforts in my writing. The great Psychologist William James said it best when it comes to teaching:
“…in teaching, you must simply work your pupil into such a state of interest in what you are going to teach him that every other object of attention is banished from his mind; then reveal it to him so impressively that he will remember the occasion to his dying day; and finally fill him with devouring curiosity to know what the steps in connection with the subject are.” –William James (1899, p. 10)
James’ goals for the classroom instructor might seem lofty to some, but many of us who teach neuroscience have enjoyed the peak experience of seeing students “turn on” to the material in just the way James describes.
This is an exciting time to be a neuroscientist. Every day, science newsfeeds announce some new and dramatic breakthroughs in our knowledge about the nervous system and the human mind. Important questions raised in the past now have definitive answers. In 1890, James also commented that “Blood very likely may rush to each region of the cortex according as it is most active, but of this we know nothing” (vol. 1, p. 99). With today’s technology, it is safe to say we now know much more than “nothing” about this phenomenon James described.
I hope you will become as fond of my book as I am!
laura@laurafreberg.com
and/or CONTACT CENGAGE
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