BOOKSHELF

Winter 1996 Volume 5, Number 1

THE HOSTAGE BRAIN by Bruce McEwen and Harold M. Schmeck, Jr. (The Rockefeller University Press, NY, 1995. 300 pp., $39.95) McEwen, a Rockefeller neuroscientist, and science journalist Schmeck team up to initiate the lay reader in discoveries about the brain. Their book traverses brain functions such as learning, stress, and behavior, and includes some areas that have just started to draw attention, such as the interactions between brain and immune system and between the brain's circadian clock and memory, mood and alertness. The authors also describe how things go awry, ranging from minor problems in aging to the devastation of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and other disorders.

SLEEP THIEVES by Stanley Coren. (The Free Press, NY, 1996. 304 pp., $24) Coren, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, focuses on sleep disorders and deprivation, their dangers and costs not only to the physical and mental health of those suffering from sleep loss but to others. He discusses the biology of sleep and describes specific techniques people can use to improve their own sleep.

MIND AND MORALS: Essays on Ethics and Cognitive Science edited by Larry May, Marilyn Friedman and Andy Clark (The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 1995. 344 pp., $18 paperback; $40 cloth) A collection of essays in "ethical naturalism," looking at the intersection between moral philosophy and research in neuroscience, developmental psychology, and evolutionary biology. The writers explore how and if scientific findings about actual human reasoning processes can explain the nature and limits of moral reasoning. The editors are professors at Washington University, St. Louis.

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