Neuropsychology of PTSD: Biological, Cognitive, and Clinical Perspectives. Jennifer J. Vasterling and Chris R. Brewin (Eds.). 2005. New York: The Guilford Press, 337 pp., $48.00 (HB).

Philosophically, neuropsychologists believe the disorders they evaluate are of a natural kind: biologically real and existing independently of our means of classifying them, much like viruses or atomic structures exist separately from cultural outlook (McNally, 2004). We do not like to believe historical influences affect our evaluations, and nobody likes the idea that cognitive disorders can be created by merely marketing their existence. Social and cultural factors cannot be avoided when neuropsychologists move away from well-defined cerebral disorders to the study of subjectively defined disorders. Shorter (1994) elaborated the fluid presentation of hysteria over time, and ill-defined “railway spine” syndromes emerged when railroad accidents became compensable in 1800's Great Britain but not for orchard workers with similarly abrupt orthopedic strains. For a current controversy, consider how rising autism rates are believed to be biologically determined (e.g., mercury in vaccines) even though research underscores a proportional decline in mental retardation rates and autism rates still climbed long after mercury preservatives were eliminated in Denmark (Madsen et al., 2003). I refer to diagnostic “bracket creep” (e.g., “defining deviancy down” or “up” in the case of retardation), and “medicalization of misery,” variants of the idea that cultural pressures influence the vocabulary and scope of our inquiries. This can lead to increasing heterogeneity of our diagnostic categories, becoming a potentially insurmountable obstacle for those determined to discover a specific neurobiology for psychological suffering. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a myriad symptom constellation with widening boundaries under increasing neurocognitive scrutiny.

Treating Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Clinical Research and Practice. Janet E. Farmer, Jacobus Donders, and Seth Warschausky (Eds.). 2006. New York: Guilford Press. 336 pp., $48.00 (HB).

Born of a “growing frustration over the lack of evidence available to guide interventions for children with disabilities” (p. xiii), this volume was undertaken to address a major gap in the literature. Its editors attempt to end the frustration both for themselves and their colleagues. Moreover, they enlist the aid of well-known figures in neuropsychology to assist them in this effort and contribute some of their own important conceptualizations. The volume is divided into three parts: (I) Overview, (II) Psychological and Social Aspects of Childhood Disability, and (III) Innovative Treatment Strategies. The text is organized well and its clarity and easy to read format makes it ideal for professionals looking for concisely written chapters that highlight current research. Each chapter smoothly transitions to the next despite the broad coverage inherent to the topic of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Excellent use of graphs and charts illustrate central research points, pertinent ideas, and core treatment elements. Although one might expect a neurodevelopmental disabilities text to focus primarily on children and the significant impact on the family system, this volume does not neglect the impact of these disabilities in adults.

The following is a correction for two errors that occurred in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Vol. 12, No. 3, May 2006. Both errors occurred in the table of contents on the back cover. First, a book review author's name, David E. Kareken, was misspelled as David Karekan. Next, the review done by Sara J. Swanson has the incorrect book listed. The correct title should have been “Fatigue as a Window to the Brain,”John DeLuca (Ed.).

Cambridge University Press and the Editor regret the inconvenience that these errors may have caused.

Traumatic Brain Injury in Sports: An International Neuropsychological Perspective and other recent and relevant books.

Social Neuroscience: People Thinking About Thinking People. John T. Cacioppo, Penny S. Visser, and Cynthia L. Pickett (Eds.). 2006. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 328 pp., $45.00 (HB)

Perhaps not since the flowering of clinical neuropsychology thirty years ago have we seen this sense of exhilaration about the emergence of a new field through the integration of existing disciplines. Clearly, these authors and thinkers feel the same excitement that could be felt when new collaborations were being forged among neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and communication specialists in earlier decades. For the emerging field of social neuroscience, the parent fields include social psychology (see, for example, chapters on Race and Emotion, The Social Neuroscience of Stereotyping and Prejudice, Social and Physical Pain, and Animal Models of Human Attitudes), clinical neuropsychology (Neurological Substrates of Emotional and Social Intelligence: Evidence from Patients with Focal Brain Lesions), social cognition (Neural Substrates of Self Awareness, and three chapters bearing directly on Theory of Mind) and, of course, cognitive and basic neuroscience. Each chapter includes theoretical perspectives from multiple fields and reviews studies that use diverse techniques (including functional imaging, ERP, behavioral scales, lesion studies, developmental studies, and animal studies), although the book is very heavy on functional imaging data. As the editors acknowledge, animal and patient data are not represented in a thorough way.

Geriatric Neuropsychology: Assessment and Intervention. Deborah K. Attix and Kathleen Welsh-Bohmer (Eds.). 2006. New York: The Guilford Press, 467 pp., $65.00 HB.

Most neuropsychologists specializing in assessment and treatment of adults will receive a fair share of referrals for assessment of memory and cognitive functions in older patients. The past 15 to 20 years have been marked by an impressive increase in the amount known about the neurobiological basis of aging and dementia. Keeping up with this field has been like monitoring a “moving target,” as a result of increasing refinements in diagnostic categories, technological developments in neuroimaging, and continuing discoveries in the fields of genetics and molecular biology. The field has needed an accessible reference that reviews all of these important areas while also providing an integration of the literature from a uniquely neuropsychological perspective. I am pleased to report that the book, Geriatric Neuropsychology: Assessment and Intervention, meets this important need.

Cognitive and Behavioral Disorders of Epileptic Origin in Children. Thierry Deonna and Eliane Roulet-Perez. (Eds.). 2005. MacKeith Press, distributed by Cambridge University Press, 256 pp., £50.00; $90.00 HB.

Understanding the effects of epilepsy, a neurological disorder frequently beginning in childhood, is particularly important because it may disrupt the development of foundations for later cognitive and psychological functions. Despite the prevalence of seizure disorders and the importance of the developmental period in which seizures frequently begin, surprisingly little information about the effects of seizures with respect to cognitive and behavioral functioning is available. Moreover, understanding of the complex interactions between the pathological processes (bioelectric disturbance, neuropathology) and developmental, environmental, and psychological variables that contribute to the overall clinical picture is limited. In Cognitive and Behavioral Disorders of Epileptic Origin in Children, Thierry Deonna and Eliane Roulet-Perez take a unique approach to beginning to untangle these variables, drawing on their extensive clinical experience to present a series of cases that illustrate how seizures influence development.

Recent and relevant.