Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology

Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology, Volume 9 reviews developments in the fields of psychobiology and physiological psychology, with emphasis on selected areas of research relating brain mechanisms and behavior. Topics covered range from sensory-perceptual systems in mammals to behavioral modulation of visual responses in monkeys. Brain pathways for vocal learning in birds are also examined, along with neural mechanisms in taste aversion learning. Comprised of seven chapters, this volume begins with an insightful account of the evolution of concepts regarding cortical organization relevant to perception in mammals. Studies of single unit activity in awake, behaving monkeys are then presented, followed by a discussion on the neural control of song in birds. In particular, the brain pathways involved in vocal learning in birds are defined anatomically and physiologically, including the presence of hemispheric dominance and the sensitivity to steroid hormones. Subsequent chapters focus on the response characteristics of the cells in the forebrain that give stimuli their significance for associative learning; the neuropsychological mechanisms of taste aversion learning; and the psychobiology of thirst. The final chapter is devoted to the pineal gland and its anatomical connection to the eyes, together with pineal hormones, polypeptides, and proteins. This book should appeal to biologists, psychologists, and physiologists.