JENNIE PONSFORD (ED): Cognitive and Behavioral Rehabilitation: from Neurobiology to Clinical Practice New York:Guilford Publicatios. 2004, 356 pp., $29.95, ISBN 1-57230-990-3 Cognitive and Behavioral Rehabilitation from Neurobiology to Clinical Practice (the fourth volume in the Guilford Series, The Science and Practice of Neuropsychology) is edited by Jennie Ponsford, Ph.D., M.A., associate professor of psychology at Monash Unviersity and director of the Monash-Epsworth Rehabilitation Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Ponsford has 23 years of experience treating brain injured individuals and with the input of other experts in the field, she presents a volume that seeks to evaluate the scientific evidence available for guiding the timing and duration of treatment and the specific value of interventions for different brain injuries. The foundation for current rehabilitation models is based upon exploration of brain-behavioral relationships and the synthesis of discoveries in neuroscience. The acute brain injury, as defined herein, includes traumatic brain injury (TBI) and strokes, the two most common forms of acute injury. Traumatic brain injury as defined by the National Head Injury Foundation (1989), is an insult to brain caused by external force that may produce diminished or altered states of consciousness, which results in impaired cognitive abilities and/or physical functioning. The primary mechanism of neuronal injury caused by stroke is ischemia, with resulting changes in cell membranes, release of glutamate, and an influx of toxic amounts of calcium into the cells. Diaschisis (distant effects) may also result. Major stroke syndromes are well described in this book. Although there is clear evidence that rehabilitative interventions are effective, we know relatively little about which specific interventions to use for which conditions. There are few good studies that evaluate the scientific evidence and provide guidance as to the timing, duration of treatment, and specific values of interventions for different injuries. And while new tools, such as brain imaging (and eventually tissue transplant and gene manipulations) are helpful, the field of rehabilitation for brain injury is still in its infancy. Chapters 1 and 2 of the book provide valuable information, introducing the neuroscience of acute brain injury, including basic concepts and compensatory processes following injury, mechanisms of cortical plasticity, post-neural injury, and factors affecting recovery. Chapters 3 through 7 cover core cognitive domains: Nonspatial attention, memory, language, visual spatial attention, executive function, and self-awareness. In chapter 8, behavior is addressed, and the final chapter addresses the application of rehabilitation techniques and includes pharmacology, cognitive, and behavioral approaches. It becomes clear that a great deal of work is needed in the development of measures that reflect meaningful behavioral change and in ways of determining injury-related symptoms and/or emotional disorders secondary to handicap, such as depression (there is a 25% incidence of depression in brain injured individuals). …