Greatly revised, the Second Edition presents an extended survey of this rapidly growing field. The book reviews the effects of industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals on human behavior, cognitive function, and emotional status. Features include two new chapters addressing key forensic issues and recent views on multiple chemical sensitivity, sick building syndrome, and psychosomatic disorders; current data on NIOSH and OSHA exposure levels for industrial toxins; and enhanced coverage of testing methods; studies of PET, SPECT, and BEAM imaging applied to neurotoxic exposure.

This book, the first of three volumes, provides a thorough background to the emerging field of neurobehavioral toxicology by looking at current clinical approaches and tests, as well as assessing current clinical research. The analysis of the impact of toxins on the human nervous system is particularly pertinent given the ongoing expansion of pharmaceuticals, industrial hazards, biological warfare and global pollution. A comprehensive introduction to neurobehavioral toxicology, this work will be of interest to practicing neurologists and neuropsychologists, as well as to occupational medicine physicians and medical toxicologists.

The growth of clinical neuropsychology has been unprecedented. This growth has been oriented more toward the provision of than toward the foundation for services. Thus, while a greater number of psychologists are performing a greater number of neuropsychological procedures, there seems to us an uneven parallel growth between these services and the empirical foundations for them. It should come to no one's surprise that increasingly aggressive attacks on the field have been leveled. Despite these attacks, clinical neuropsychology con tinues to enjoy exceptional growth within psychology and acceptance by other health practitioners, insurance companies, legislators, judges, juries, and above all, consumers of our services. Growth without self-reflection is a dangerous enterprise, as is growth without directions. We find it disconcerting that existing and limited "self analysis" has assumed that neuropsychological dysfunction is immune to the same variables that affect psychological dysfunction. Some attention has been paid to the most obvious ones, such as age, but all others have been ignored and/ or misunderstood. This neglect has spawned a body of knowledge replete with questionable data and unfounded conclusions. Hence, it is surprising that clinical neuropsychologists consider themselves to be more scientifically sound than their regular clinical counterparts.

Now in its revised and updated Second Edition, this volume is the most comprehensive and authoritative text in the rapidly evolving field of environmental toxicology. The book provides the objective information that health professionals need to prevent environmental health problems, plan for emergencies, and evaluate toxic exposures in patients.Coverage includes safety, regulatory, and legal issues; clinical toxicology of specific organ systems; emergency medical response to hazardous materials releases; and hazards of specific industries and locations. Nearly half of the book examines all known toxins and environmental health hazards. A Brandon-Hill recommended title.

Greatly revised, the Second Edition presents an extended survey of this rapidly growing field. The book reviews the effects of industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals on human behavior, cognitive function, and emotional status. Features include two new chapters addressing key forensic issues and recent views on multiple chemical sensitivity, sick building syndrome, and psychosomatic disorders; current data on NIOSH and OSHA exposure levels for industrial toxins; and enhanced coverage of testing methods; studies of PET, SPECT, and BEAM imaging applied to neurotoxic exposure.

In this volume of the series Human Brain Function: Assessment and Rehabilitation we cover the area of how brain function is assessed with behavioral or neuropsycholog ical instruments. These assessments are typically conducted by clinical neuropsy chologists or behavioral neurologists, and so we made an effort to present the somewhat differing approaches to these two related disciplines. Clinical neuropsy chologists are psychologists who typically utilize standardized tests, while behav ioral neurologists are physicians who generally assess brain function as part of the clinical neurological evaluation. Both approaches have much to offer. The basic assumption of neuropsychological assessment is that the brain is the organ of behavior, and therefore, the condition of the brain may be evaluated with behavioral measures. Neuropsychological tests are those measures found by re search to be particularly sensitive to alterations in brain function. An adequate neuropsychological test is a procedure that can be related to some objective mea sure of alteration in brain function. Over the years, these objective measures have changed, but generally involve documentation through direct observation of brain tissue, or through histological, pathological, neuroimaging, or other laboratory procedures. The methods described in the first two volumes of this series describe the neuroimaging procedures that are often used in the validation of neuropsycho logical tests.