The Sensory Hand: Neural Mechanisms of Somatic Sensation (2005) is Vernon Mountcastle's latest magnum opus. There's no way I'm going to read this entire compendium of fact because my primary interests lie elsewhere. But the parts I've read are phenomenal.
Before starting with this book, I read a new chapter on touch by Lederman and Klatzky in the new Sensation and Perception text by Wolfe et al (2005). Having that introductory chapter (complete with excellent illustrations) fresh in my mind made it MUCH easier to delve into "The Sensory Hand." Additionally, I rely on other scientists (e.g., VS Ramachandran) to imbue somatosensory topics with a striking sense of drama. Mountcastle's style of communication is not introductory and not especially dramatic. Rather, Mountcastle communicates his remarkable depth of scholarship, his careful understanding, his originality, and his years of accumulated insight. He takes on complicated topics, but writes about these things using an accessible style.
So far, I've found this book very helpful for: (1) Putting together undergrad lectures on the sense of touch; (2) deepening my understanding of tactile psychophysics, haptics and the somatosensory cortex; (3) increasing my understanding of phantom limb sensations, and perhaps most importantly, (4) deepening my understanding of the brain in general.
Anyway, here are the titles of the various chapters - 1. Perception and the World of Somesthesis. 2. The Evolution and Structure of the Hand. 3. General Features of Somatic Afferent Systems. 4. Sensory Innervation of the Primate Hand. 5. Large-Fibered Peripheral Interface. 6. Dorsal Systems and the Dorsal Column Nuclear Complex. 7. Small-Fibered Peripheral Interface. 8. Ascending Spinal Cord Systems of Intrinsic Origin. 9. Dual Functions of the Dorsal Thalamus. 10. Postcentral Somatic Sensory Cortical Areas in Primates. 11. Dynaminc Neural Operations in Somatic Sensibility. 12. Dynamic Neural Operations in the Sense of Flutter-Vibration. 13. Parietal Lateral System and Somatic Sensibility. 14. Parietal Frontal Sensory-Motor Transition. 15. Adaptive Reorganizations of Central Somatic Sensory Networks. 16. Haptic Sense as Substitute for Vision. |
The hand is an organ of considerable capability. With it we feel, point, and reach, we determine the texture and shape of objects we palpate, we emit and receive signs of approval, compassion, condolence, and encouragement, and, on a different register, rejection, threat, dislike, antagonism, and attack. Vernon Mountcastle has devoted his career to studying the neurophysiology of sensation--the extended sensory surface, consisting of skin and subcutaneous tissue--in the hand. In The Sensory Hand Mountcastle provides an astonishingly comprehensive account of the neural underpinnings of the rich and complex tactile experiences evoked by stimulation of the hand. Mountcastle focuses attention on the nerve pathways linking the hand to central neural structures, structures that play a role in several other aspects of somatic sensation. His new book thus becomes a sequel to his earlier volume, Perceptual Neuroscience, in which he offered a detailed analysis of the role of the distributed systems of the neocortex in perception generally. Written by one of the giants of modern neuroscience and the first single-authored book-length treatment of the subject, The Sensory Hand is a major work of scholarship that will be essential reading for anyone interested in how the brain registers sensation and perception. (20060602) |
