Fundamentals of Sensory Perception

Designed for college and university students enrolled in second- and third-year sensation and perception courses, Fundamentals of Sensory Perception explores how senses function and how physical stimuli get transformed into signals in the nervous system, as well as how the brain uses those signals to understand the world.

Using an innovative presentation of the material, Fundamentals of Sensory Perception begins with the sensation and perception processes that are easiest for students to understand, and uses this knowledge to create a better, more comprehensive understanding of the more complex concepts.

The text provides a detailed investigation of all the senses.

First, students are introduced to fundamental concepts such as perceptual measurement and the biological foundations of sensory perception.

Second, the somatosensory system is presented, introducing students to touch, feeling, and pain, as well as neural receptive fields, a concept that makes the later coverage of vision easier to understand. Next, the chemical senses are covered followed by chapters on the auditory system with chapters on sound and the ear, the perceptual aspects of hearing, and music and speech perception.

Finally, the text presents an extensive exploration of vision with chapters on light, optics, and the eye; retinal processing and early vision; cortical processing and object perception; colour perception; depth perception and stereopsis; and motion perception, eye movements, and action.

Throughout the text, readers are grounded in the basic scientific principles and biological processes that they need to knowledgeably explore the neurobiological mechanisms of perceptual phenomena.