Principles of Neural Science 4th Edition

I used this in medical school, then graduate school, finding the length and quality improve with succeeding editions of the volume. Very well known chapter editors create a 'Scientific American-like' view of the Basic Neurosciences. This book is grossly inadequate if you want to pass medical and graduate school exams. It's like a "candy-coated" atlas of neuroscience. There are not many rigorous equations to learn in the book. For that you will need From Neuron to Brain or even a higher book such as Theoretical Neuroscience. The strength of this book is the beautiful color illustrations. Its weakness is that it does not cover "hard-core" electrophysiology. Ohm's Law and the cable theory of the squid giant axon are covered, but where is Heisenberg-James' Theory of the quantum vesicle exocytosis, 'HJ' Theory of the Mind, and Boolean algebra. No mention of these ideas. You would have to go to Sir John Eccles' The Self & Control of its Brain, as well as Henry Stapps Mind, Brain, & Quantum Mechanics for further expansion on such theories. Also, where is Bayes Theorem and a discussion of probabilistic Populations of Neurons. Entropy is not discussed. A useful reference is Information Theory & the Brain by Baddeley for this. Ballistic, and Biofeedback are not discussed. Refer to Roger Carpenters' Movements of the Eyes & Neurophysiology 4th ed. Magnetic Stimulation and fMRI are alluded to but not incorporated as valid tools in the study of the Nervous System. Alan Kingstone with UBC, Vancouver, Canada has written a good reference on this. I have not really used this book since graduate school. This text is a very good overview of Neuroscience ranging from cell biology of neurons, ion channel physiology, to Movement Control, to Cognition & Memory. Phenomena like LTP & LTD have their own individual chapters. I still own this book and will keep it as a nice reference even though I do not refer much to it in my daily work.

This is a "from the ground up" text book that is well written and actually straightforward. Some of the research details are outdated, such as the genetics information, but even that is well rounded in what was understood ten years ago.The authors have put together a very clearly written and clean presentation of what is a very difficult subject matter. This is not for the faint of determination or for the lay person without any biology or anatomy background, however. The subjects range throughout history of brain science to functional assessments of neurological and psychological disorders. Anatomy of the nervous system is detailed and thorough as is the physiology. The chapters are well defined in scope and organized well enough to allow either a straight through read or a more pick and choose section to section based on need for detailed info or interest.Outstanding overall and I'll be looking forward to the next edition as well!

This book is a true classic. There is a newer version, published in 2017, with more material on the molecular aspects, but this original version of the textbook is the definitive work on neural science. I was sooooooooooo lucky to buy this from a vendor for less than 10% of the book's list price! I am sooooooooo happy.

Happy with the book

Great as a reference book

As an undergraduate studying neuroscience at a technical institution, this book has been a phenomenal source of information for every single one of my courses. This is also the book that I see on nearly every one of my professor's book shelves, and I can very easily see why. Kandel's book takes a scientifically literate read from the neuron to cognitive functions and everywhere in between, leaving no detail behind, and approaching each topic from a rigorous, investigative point of view. I not only learn neuroscience from this textbook, I learn valuable lessons on how to be a neuroscientist.

I'm in a graduate level psychology course using this book, and my professor said it is essentially a medical school text book. my professor said this book is one of the best that you can get on the subject. he was a little dissapointed that the new edition hasn't come out yet and said that will really update a lot of the things currently going on in the field. it's a little dated relative to things going on now but he said that all the basic information is better than what you can find elsewhere.

I read this book in medical school. Although I would agree that it is probably to basic science oriented for a medical school neuroscience course, it was enjoyable, thorough, and inspirational. There are few books in my life that took as complex a topic as how the brain works and made it comprehensible. It is not a crib sheet for passing medical school exams. It is the first book I would recommend for anyone seriously interested in an understanding of the brain, sensory processes, etc... For anyone for whom a fundamental grounding in neuroscience is important this is the book.