Electrophysiology of Mind: Event-related Brain Potentials and Cognition

This splendid volume reviews a productive period of research aimed at connecting brain and mind through the use of scalp- recorded brain potentials to chart the temporal course of information processing in the human brain .... The book that Rugg, Coles, and their collaborators have produced can serve both as a summary of where we have been and as a pointer of the way ahead." M Posner Event-related potential (ERP) methodology has long been used in neuroscience to measure electrical activity in the brain. It has become clear, however, that it can be a powerful took in studying and illuminating central psychological issues relating to attention, information, processing, dynamics, memory, and language. Linking this technology to newer imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it becomes possible to build up a spatial and temporal picture of the brain during the performance of high-level skills. This volume provides strong evidence that cognitive psychology can benefit from the use of brain electrical activity, and will be of great interest to neuroscientists and psychologists alike.