Sensory Processes

David R. Soderquist is Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 1968. His primary research interest is in psychoacoustics, and he has published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, the Journal of Auditory Research, Perception and Psychophysics, Acoustical Letters, the Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Human Factors, and elsewhere. He has taught courses on sensory processes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and has class-tested early drafts of this book with his students.

• PrefaceAcknowledgments1. Introduction to the Nervous SystemThe Nervous SystemDysfunctions2. Synapses and ReceptorsA Brief ReviewPotential SensitivityCalcium InfluxNeurotransmitter ReleasePostsynaptic PotentialsChemical SensitivityNeurotransmittersIntroduction to ReceptorsReceptor TransductionDysfunctionsSummarySuggested Readings3. Somatosensory SystemOverview of the ChapterSomatosensory Paths RevisitedReceptors and FibersProprioception and KinesthesisReceptive FieldsThe ThalamusThe Somatosensory CortexDysfunctionsSummary Suggested Readings4. PainPain: One DefinitionClassic PathsThe Gate Control Theory of PainPain and DrugsSummarySuggested Readings5. OlfactionThe peripheral Olfactory SystemOlfactory TransductionThe Olfactory BulbCentral Olfactory StructuresOlfactory PerceptionHow Many Odors Are there?DysfunctionsSuggested Readings6. GustationPeripheral ProcessesCentral ProcessesTaste PerceptionThe HedonicsDysfunctionsSummarySuggested Readings7. The Vestibular SystemIntroductionVestibular PeripheryVestibular Central PathwaysDysfunctionsSummarySuggested Readings8. Auditory StimuliIntroductionSummarySuggested Readings9. AuditionExternal and Middle EarThe Inner EarAuditory PathwaysThe Auditory CortexDysfunctionsSummarySuggested Readings10. VisionThe Visual StimulusThe Structure of the EyeThe RetinaCentral PathwaysThe Thalamus and Other Neutral CentersThe Visual CortexDysfunctionsSummarySuggested ReadingsGlossaryReferencesIndexAbout the Author

"Thereis no comparable text for a course in perception that emphasizes the neuralbasis of perception rather than simply perceptual phenomena andpsychophysics…It is strong in the clarity with which some difficult conceptsare explained. The author does not restrict himself to a physics andengineering approach, but rather gives the reader a mental image of what ishappening biologically. Inclusion of disorders is another big advantage…Thequality of writing is excellent. The level is appropriate for upper levelundergraduates."