Neuroscience Fundamentals for Communication Sciences and Disorders PDF

since I first started university teaching back in 2000. All that was needed was an opportunity to get this idea off the ground and realized. That opportunity came in late fall 2014 when I received an email from Valerie Johns, Executive Editor at Plural Publishing, asking whether I would be interested in developing a high-quality neuroscience textbook for communication sciences and disorders students. As is evident by the book you are holding and reading right now, I grabbed that amazing opportunity and have spent the better part of the last 3 years working toward its realization and completion. I hope you enjoy the results! Neuroscience Fundamentals for Communication Sciences and Disorders (NFCSD) was developed with three personal goals in mind. First and foremost, NFCSD was developed to provide senior undergraduate and graduate students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs (as well as students in Doctor of Audiology [AuD] programs) with a richly illustrated, comprehensive, yet highly readable and accessible textbook covering the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the human nervous system. NFCSD was conceived and written as a “brain and behavior” style of textbook, while also ensuring coverage of essential neuroanatomy in an integrative fashion.

My central motivation for producing this book was (and continues to be) to help students develop a deep understanding and appreciation of critical brain–behavior relationships that can impact and help inform their careers as rehabilitation specialists for patients and clients with speech, language, and hearing disorders. Valuing the critical role of the nervous system in the behaviors, perceptions, and cognitive functioning of someone with a communication disorder is something I believe is central to the development and implementation of effective and efficient evidence-based treatments. Second, I aspired to write a textbook for practicing clinicians who want a comprehensive guide to the inner workings of the nervous system and its processes. A reference book of this type is always useful in one’s professional library. Clinicians need a reference book that can be appreciated, read, and understood without having to take another formal course in the subject matter. My hope is that the accessibility of the writing and the illustrations can allow those who have been out of school for a while to use the material in this book to directly inform their practice. Aside from its direct use for informing patient care, the book can also be used for client and caregiver educational purposes; the illustrations and the explanatory analogies may be ideal for helping clients better understand the brain-based nature of their disorder.