The Unofficial Guide to First Year - University of Oklahoma Health ...

UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
essential for success in the lab portion of this course…I cannot stress this enough!
The original author advises steering clear of the question bank questions except
for Dr. Foreman’s. These are a little bit shaky and may cover topics not really
discussed or just have totally incorrect answers, but I don’t think it hurts to do
them unless it just confuses you too much. In addition, definitely don’t forget
the practice tests and questions posted on Blackboard, as these are truly
invaluable. Also, take advantage of your note groups and MP3 recordings; these
are just an additional tool that is far too often underused.
BOOKS: I personally was not a book man and did just fine (learn to love your
syllabus), but here are the thoughts of other students on the numerous titles out
there.
This class is a conglomeration of many different areas relating to the nervous
system so one source will not cut it. You will find that with the right
complement of books you can find a text to treat ALMOST every section of the
course (except Ross – he is in a world of his own). Here is a summary of the
major books:
• Bear et al, Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Written in incredible
simplicity, yet detailed and comprehensive, this book will break it down,
get jiggy with it, and then tell you what you already forgot. It’s expensive.
Some used it only occasionally, since the syllabus is so comprehensive in
this course. If you want the above and beyond, or a second reliable and
easy to read reference, YOU + Exploring the Brain = Two thumbs up.
• Haines, Fundamentals of Neuroscience – this is a good all around textbook
and is the one recommended by the class before us. It particularly treats
the sections on medulla, pons, and midbrain well. If confused, it should
be your first resort.
• Young & Young, Basic Clinical Neuroanatomy – this is a good book for the
clinical parts of the course as it covers agnosias, aphasias and deficits well.
It has a great section on lesion localization cases.
• Fix, BRS: Neuroanatomy – this book is a good review before tests and it
has good chapters on the auditory and visual systems as well as the spinal
cord and neurohistology.
• Kiernan, Barr’s The Human Nervous System – not widely used but some
students found this helpful for clarification in areas.
ATLAS: This next part is very important…
• Haines, An Atlas of Structures, Sections, and Systems –Dr. Blair recommends
it and it is great. Make it your best friend.
• The Brain Atlas – this atlas is fine for some people but it lacks the diagram
quality of the Haines atlas
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