Vision

Hardcover, dj, in-8, 559 pp., illustrations, bibliographical notes, bibliography, index.

In this textbook on the physiology of vision, Buser and Imbert synthesize the data inthe field, proceeding from the biophysics of retinal receptors to processing in the visual areas ofthe cortex. Although the focus is on mammalian studies, some data from comparative physiology areincluded. In just five chapters the authors cover the structure and organization of the retina, thephysical characteristics of visual stimuli, the psychophysical laws of visual sensation (absolutethresholds, retinal adaptation, visual acuity, temporal resolution, movement perception, colorvision, and stereopsis), the genesis and elaboration of signals in the retina, and mechanisms in thecentral visual pathways.Like Buser and Imbert's companion sensory neurophysiology text Audition,Vision has been translated and updated from the original French in a style that is straightforwardand concise. It includes 248 carefully chosen and fully captioned illustrations that will make itaccessible to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in the basic and clinicalneurosciences, to students in courses on perception and psychophysics in psychology departments, aswell as to researchers in computer vision who are interested in biological vision.Pierre Buser isProfessor in the Department of Comparative Neurophysiology at the Université Pierre et Marie Curiein Paris. Michel Imbert is Professor in the Department of Visual Neuroscience, also at theUniversité Pierre et Marie Curie. R. H. Kay is Emeritus Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.