Synopses & Reviews
Ranging from behavioral to molecular levels of analysis, this informative study presents the results of recent research into the biochemistry and neural mechanisms of imprinting. Horn discusses some of the difficulties that researchers have encountered in analyzing the neural basis of memory and describes ways in which these difficulties have been overcome through the analysis of memories underlying habituation and imprinting. He also considers the biochemical consequences of imprinting and its cerebral localization, and examines the relationships between human and animal memory.
Review
"The 12 chapters focus on different experimental approaches taken by Horn and others to elucidate aspects of the neural basis of imprinting behavior. These approaches are logically devised and capably carried out . . . The monograph provides an interesting account of imprinting and is well worth reading." --Trends in Neuroscience
"All in all, this is a fascinating book . . . Horn has managed to bring the work of his group back to life by placing it into the context of thoughtfully conceived speculations and precise models . . . Provides the reader with a glimpse into one of nature's microminiaturizations of the experiential process." --Contemporary Psychology
Table of Contents
1. Approaches to the analysis of the neural bases of memory
2. Biochemical consequences of imprinting
3. Real effects of learning?
4. Cerebral localization
5. Brain lesions, acquisition, and retention
6. Imprinting and associative learning
7. How many stores? Cerebral asymmetry and imprinting
8. Predispositions and preferences
9. Physiological constraints on memory and imprinting
10. Physiological and morphological consequences of training
11. A structure for memory?
12. Towards a synthesis
Appendix: A sketch of the avian brain with particular reference to the domestic chick
Author index
Subject index