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Neuropsychoanalysis: An Interdisciplinary Journal for

Psychoanalysis and the Neurosciences
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The Human Brain and Photographs and Diagrams

a

Douglas Watt Ph.D.

a

Director of Neuropsychology, Quincy Medical Center, Boston University School of

Medicine
Published online: 09 Jan 2014.

To cite this article: Douglas Watt Ph.D. (2002) The Human Brain and Photographs and Diagrams, Neuropsychoanalysis: An
Interdisciplinary Journal for Psychoanalysis and the Neurosciences, 4:2, 205-205, DOI: 10.1080/15294145.2002.10773398
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2002.10773398

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205

Book Reviews

Downloaded by [Adelphi University] at 23:45 22 August 2014

The Human Brain and Photographs and Diagrams

by J. Nolte and J. Angevine, 2nd edition. Mosby
Publishing Inc., 2001, ISBN 0323-011268
It has been my very great pleasure to discover a
neuroanatomy resource for those interested in
learning neuroanatomy in state-of-the-art detail.
This is a neuroanatomy textbook organized by
John Nolte and Jay Angevine, two proteges of the
great Russian neuroanatomist and neuroscientist,
Paul Yakolev. It is simply the very best neuroanatomy resource that I have ever seen or
encountered. It provides exceptionally detailed
and lucid brain plates (including sagittal, coronal,
and horizontal sections), and it uses very highresolution photographs, high-quality glossy
paper, and a judicious sprinkling of color
throughout. Brain sections are pictured with
relevant structures outlined by thin lines, enabling
relatively easy visualization of borders between
contiguous structures. It covers of course all of
the relevant major neuroanatomical regions
including cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia, and
the various brainstem regions including diencephalon, midbrain, pons, medulla etc. The
quality of the images is rst-rate throughout.
Connectivities are also sketched in detail,
although the means for depicting connectivities
is at times a bit confusing, in that it is sometimes
hard to follow the diagramming of various
eerents and aerents if there are many projection systems in and out of a small region.
However, connectivities are probably easier to
see in this textbook than in another famous
neuroanatomy teaching resource, the Human
Brain Coloring Book. This is about my closest
thing to a criticism or a quibble of the volume,
but it hardly detracts from what is by any
standard a truly exceptional reference text and
neuroscience resource.
In addition to covering neuroanatomy in
terms of regions and structures, there is also a
much welcomed section covering neuroanatomy
in terms of functional systems, although like

virtually all neuroanatomy textbooks, functional

correlates are discussed very briey if at all. In the
section on functional systems, there are summaries
of the neuroanatomy and major connectivities of
the hippocampal system, the monoamine systems,
and all the sensory and motor systems. There are
detailed reviews of various long tracks in spinal
cord and brainstem, the sensory systems in the
brainstem and the forebrain, including the cranial
nerves, and detailed summaries of various visceral
aerents and eerents in all these systems.
Regarding the brain's motor systems, there are
detailed presentations of the connectivities of the
basal ganglia and cerebellum. There is also a
highly detailed presentation of thalamocortical
connectivities.
For those coming from psychodynamic or
psychoanalytic background, and looking to get a
major resource in neuroanatomy, this is the best
I've seen. Its level of detail and diculty may be a
bit high for those who have had no previous
exposure to neuroanatomy. It bears emphasis
that learning neuroanatomy by oneself is a very
formidable task, one which places an enormous
burden on semantic encoding mechanisms, in that
is very dicult to remember the names of
anatomical structures and connectivities without
having functional correlates to help make the
material less abstract. In this sense, the book (and
other major references on neuroanatomy) are
likely to be real ``work outs'' for those not already
at least moderately knowledgeable about neuroanatomy. However, for those seeking a neuroanatomy textbook for a course, or as part of the
group seminar, (the way that I would recommend
everyone learning neuroanatomy) I have seen no
ner resource anywhere, and I wholeheartedly
recommend it.
Douglas Watt, Ph.D.
Director of Neuropsychology
Quincy Medical Center
Boston University School of Medicine