Control of Human Voluntary Movement

The human motor system is unique. It talks, walks and can play the piano from a remarkably early age. But it is difficult to study. One cannot impale single neurones with electrodes or lesion discrete areas of the nervous system in man. However, data gleaned from such elegant experiments in lower species that walk on four feet may not reflect the organisation of human motor mechanisms. John Rothwell is one of a small band of human-motor physiologists who have followed the dictum 'The proper study of mankind is man'. In this book, he brings together what is known about human motor physiology in an eminently readable and critical fashion. Of course, there is a stimulating symbiosis between animal and human experimental motor physiology, and this is effected by the integration of critical information that can only be obtained from work on animals with what is known about man. Many disciplines have interest in the mechanisms of human voluntary movement - physiologists, psychologists, physiotherapists and clinicians, be they neurologists or those working in orthopaedics, physical medicine or rehabilitation. All will find John Rothwell's book invaluable. To the beginner it provides an excellent introduction to the subject. To the expert it presents a coherent review of current knowledge and areas of uncertainty. What is abundantly clear is how much more remains to be discovered about how man controls movement. The stimulus provided by this volume will be invaluable to thought and experiment.