Discovering the Brain

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309045290
Total Pages : 195 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis Discovering the Brain by : National Academy of Sciences

Download or read book Discovering the Brain written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."

Brain and Visual Perception

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198039166
Total Pages : 739 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Brain and Visual Perception by : David H. Hubel M.D.

Download or read book Brain and Visual Perception written by David H. Hubel M.D. and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-10-14 with total page 739 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of a hugely successful and enjoyable 25-year collaboration between two scientists who set out to learn how the brain deals with the signals it receives from the two eyes. Their work opened up a new area of brain research that led to their receiving the Nobel Prize in 1981. The book contains their major papers from 1959 to 1981, each preceded and followed by comments telling how and why the authors went about the study, how the work was received, and what has happened since. It begins with short autobiographies of both men, and describes the state of the field when they started. It is intended not only for neurobiologists, but for anyone interested in how the brain works-biologists, psychologists, philosophers, physicists, historians of science, and students at all levels from high school to graduate level.

Action in Perception

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262640635
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (626 download)

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Book Synopsis Action in Perception by : Alva Noë

Download or read book Action in Perception written by Alva Noë and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2006-01-20 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Perception is not something that happens to us, or in us," writes Alva Noë. "It is something we do." In Action in Perception, Noë argues that perception and perceptual consciousness depend on capacities for action and thought—that perception is a kind of thoughtful activity. Touch, not vision, should be our model for perception. Perception is not a process in the brain, but a kind of skillful activity of the body as a whole. We enact our perceptual experience. To perceive, according to this enactive approach to perception, is not merely to have sensations; it is to have sensations that we understand. In Action in Perception, Noë investigates the forms this understanding can take. He begins by arguing, on both phenomenological and empirical grounds, that the content of perception is not like the content of a picture; the world is not given to consciousness all at once but is gained gradually by active inquiry and exploration. Noë then argues that perceptual experience acquires content thanks to our possession and exercise of practical bodily knowledge, and examines, among other topics, the problems posed by spatial content and the experience of color. He considers the perspectival aspect of the representational content of experience and assesses the place of thought and understanding in experience. Finally, he explores the implications of the enactive approach for our understanding of the neuroscience of perception.

Probabilistic Models of the Brain

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262264327
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (643 download)

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Book Synopsis Probabilistic Models of the Brain by : Rajesh P.N. Rao

Download or read book Probabilistic Models of the Brain written by Rajesh P.N. Rao and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2002-03-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A survey of probabilistic approaches to modeling and understanding brain function. Neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and brain imaging studies have helped to shed light on how the brain transforms raw sensory information into a form that is useful for goal-directed behavior. A fundamental question that is seldom addressed by these studies, however, is why the brain uses the types of representations it does and what evolutionary advantage, if any, these representations confer. It is difficult to address such questions directly via animal experiments. A promising alternative is to use probabilistic principles such as maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference to derive models of brain function. This book surveys some of the current probabilistic approaches to modeling and understanding brain function. Although most of the examples focus on vision, many of the models and techniques are applicable to other modalities as well. The book presents top-down computational models as well as bottom-up neurally motivated models of brain function. The topics covered include Bayesian and information-theoretic models of perception, probabilistic theories of neural coding and spike timing, computational models of lateral and cortico-cortical feedback connections, and the development of receptive field properties from natural signals.

A User's Guide to the Brain

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Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0375701079
Total Pages : 418 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (757 download)

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Book Synopsis A User's Guide to the Brain by : John J. Ratey, M.D.

Download or read book A User's Guide to the Brain written by John J. Ratey, M.D. and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2002-01-08 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives. In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.

The Entangled Brain

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262544601
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis The Entangled Brain by : Luiz Pessoa

Download or read book The Entangled Brain written by Luiz Pessoa and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new vision of the brain as a fully integrated, networked organ. Popular neuroscience accounts often focus on specific mind-brain aspects like addiction, cognition, or memory, but The Entangled Brain tackles a much bigger question: What kind of object is the brain? Neuroscientist Luiz Pessoa describes the brain as a highly networked, interconnected system that cannot be neatly decomposed into a set of independent parts. One can’t point to the brain and say, “This is where emotion happens” (or any other mental faculty). Pessoa argues that only by understanding how large-scale neural circuits combine multiple and diverse signals can we truly appreciate how the brain supports the mind. Presenting the brain as an integrated organ and drawing on neuroscience, computation, mathematics, systems theory, and evolution, The Entangled Brain explains how brain functions result from cross-cutting brain processing, not the function of segregated areas. Parts of the brain work in a coordinated fashion across large-scale distributed networks in which disparate parts of the cortex and the subcortex work simultaneously to bring about behaviors. Pessoa intuitively explains the concepts needed to formalize this idea of the brain as a complex system and how to unleash powerful understandings built with “collective computations.”

Perception and Cognition: Interactions in the Aging Brain

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Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
ISBN 13 : 2889199371
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (891 download)

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Book Synopsis Perception and Cognition: Interactions in the Aging Brain by : Harriet A. Allen

Download or read book Perception and Cognition: Interactions in the Aging Brain written by Harriet A. Allen and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Healthy ageing can lead to declines in both perceptual and cognitive functions. Impaired perception, such as that resulting from hearing loss or reduced visual or tactile resolution, increases demands on ‘higher-level’ cognitive functions to cope or compensate. It is possible, for example, to use focused attention to overcome perceptual limitations. Unfortunately, cognitive functions also decline in old age. This can mean that perceptual impairments are exacerbated by cognitive decline, and vice versa, but also means that interventions aimed at one type of decline can lead to improvements in the other. Just as improved cognition can ameliorate perceptual deficits, improving the stimulus can help offset cognitive deficits. For example, making directions and routes easy to follow can help compensate for declines in navigation abilities. In this Topic, we bring together papers from both auditory and visual researchers that address the interaction between perception and cognition in the ageing brain. Many of the studies demonstrate that a broadening of representations or increased reliance on gist underlie perceptual and cognitive age-related declines. There is also clear evidence that impaired perception is associated with poor cognition although, encouragingly, it can also be seen that good perception is associated with better cognition. Compensatory cognitive strategies were less successful in improving perception than might be expected. We also present papers which highlight important methodological considerations that are required when studying the older brain.

Brain and Perception

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Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 1135832919
Total Pages : 407 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (358 download)

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Book Synopsis Brain and Perception by : Karl H. Pribram

Download or read book Brain and Perception written by Karl H. Pribram and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presented as a series of lectures, this important volume achieves four major goals: 1) It integrates the results of the author's research as applied to pattern perception -- reviewing current brain research and showing how several lines of inquiry have been converging to produce a paradigm shift in our understanding of the neural basis of figural perception. 2) It updates the holographic hypothesis of brain function in perception. 3) It emphasizes the fact that both distributed (holistic) and localized (structural) processes characterize brain function. 4) It portrays a neural systems analysis of brain organization in figural perception by computational models -- describing processing in terms of formalisms found useful in ordering data in 20th-century physical and engineering sciences. The lectures are divided into three parts: a Prolegomenon outlining a theoretical framework for the presentation; Part I dealing with the configural aspects of perception; and Part II presenting its cognitive aspects. The appendices were developed in a collaborative effort by the author, Kunio Yasue, and Mari Jibu (both of Notre Dame Seishin University of Okayama, Japan).

Blindness and Brain Plasticity in Navigation and Object Perception

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Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 0805855513
Total Pages : 446 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (58 download)

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Book Synopsis Blindness and Brain Plasticity in Navigation and Object Perception by : John J. Rieser

Download or read book Blindness and Brain Plasticity in Navigation and Object Perception written by John J. Rieser and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2008 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book features chapters from cognitive and developmental psychologists, neurologists and neuroscientists, and rehabilitation specialists and educators. These groups do research in this area but generally do not collaborate. This book is an attempt to bring together the disparate threads of research into one volume.

Vision and Mind

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262640473
Total Pages : 644 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis Vision and Mind by : Alva Noë

Download or read book Vision and Mind written by Alva Noë and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2002-10-25 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The philosophy of perception is a microcosm of the metaphysics of mind. Its central problems—What is perception? What is the nature of perceptual consciousness? How can one fit an account of perceptual experience into a broader account of the nature of the mind and the world?—are at the heart of metaphysics. Rather than try to cover all of the many strands in the philosophy of perception, this book focuses on a particular orthodoxy about the nature of visual perception. The central problem for visual science has been to explain how the brain bridges the gap between what is given to the visual system and what is actually experienced by the perceiver. The orthodox view of perception is that it is a process whereby the brain, or a dedicated subsystem of the brain, builds up representations of relevant figures of the environment on the basis of information encoded by the sensory receptors. Most adherents of the orthodox view also believe that for every conscious perceptual state of the subject, there is a particular set of neurons whose activities are sufficient for the occurrence of that state. Some of the essays in this book defend the orthodoxy; most criticize it; and some propose alternatives to it. Many of the essays are classics. Contributors G.E.M. Anscombe, Dana Ballard, Daniel Dennett, Fred Dretske, Jerry Fodor, H.P. Grice, David Marr, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Zenon Pylyshyn, Paul Snowdon, and P.F. Strawson

Sensory Perception

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3211997512
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (119 download)

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Book Synopsis Sensory Perception by : Friedrich G. Barth

Download or read book Sensory Perception written by Friedrich G. Barth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-13 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sensory perception: mind and matter aims at a deeper understanding of the many facets of sensory perception and their relations to brain function and cognition. It is an attempt to promote the interdisciplinary discourse between the neurosciences and psychology, which speaks the language of cognitive experiences, and philosophy, which has been thinking about the meaning and origin of consciousness since its beginning. Leading experts contribute to such a discourse by informing the reader about exciting modern developments, both technical and conceptual, and by pointing to the big gaps still to be bridged. The various chapters provide access to scientific research on sensory perception and the mind from a broad perspective, covering a large spectrum of topics which range from the molecular mechanisms at work in sensory cells to the study of the unconscious and to neurophilosophy.

The Brain's Sense of Movement

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674009806
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis The Brain's Sense of Movement by : Alain Berthoz

Download or read book The Brain's Sense of Movement written by Alain Berthoz and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This interpretation of perception and action allows Alain Berthoz to focus on psychological phenomena: proprioception and kinaesthesis; the mechanisms that maintain balance and co-ordination actions; and basic perceptual and memory processes involved in navigation.

Perception, Cognition, and Language

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262122283
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (222 download)

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Book Synopsis Perception, Cognition, and Language by : Barbara Landau

Download or read book Perception, Cognition, and Language written by Barbara Landau and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays range across fields foundational to cognitive science, including perception, attention, memory, and language, using formal, experimental, and neuroscientific approaches to issues of representation and learning. These original empirical research essays in the psychology of perception, cognition, and language were written in honor of Henry and Lila Gleitman, two of the most prominent psychologists of our time. The essays range across fields foundational to cognitive science, including perception, attention, memory, and language, using formal, experimental, and neuroscientific approaches to issues of representation and learning. An introduction provides a historical perspective on the development of the field from the 1960s onward. The contributors have all been colleagues and students of the Gleitmans, and the collection celebrates their influence on the field of cognitive science. Contributors Cynthia Fisher, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Katherine Hirsh-Pasek, John Jonides, Phillip Kellman, Michael Kelly, Donald S. Lamm, Barbara Landau, Jack Nachmias, Letitia Naigles, Elissa Newport, W. Gerrod Parrott, Daniel Reisberg, Robert A. Rescorla, Paul Rozin, John Sabini, Elizabeth Shipley, Thomas F. Shipley, John C. Trueswell

Studies of Mind and Brain

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400977581
Total Pages : 678 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis Studies of Mind and Brain by : S.T. Grossberg

Download or read book Studies of Mind and Brain written by S.T. Grossberg and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 678 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: the mass of experimental data from current research in psychology and physiology, Grossberg proposes and develops a non-linear mathematics as a model for specific functions of mind and brain. He finds the classic approach to the mathematical modelling of mind and brain systematically inadequate. This inadequacy, he holds, arises from the attempt to describe adaptive systems in the mathematical language of 9 physics developed to describe "stationary", i. e. non-adaptive and non-evolving systems. In place of this linear mathematics, Grossberg develops his non-linear approach. His method is at once imaginative, rigorous, and philosophically significant: it is the thought experiment. It is here that the richness of his interdisciplinary mastery, and the power of his methods, constructions and proofs, reveal themselves. The method is what C. S. Peirce characterized as the method of abduction, or of hypothetical inference in theory construction: given the output of the system as a psychological phenomenon (e. g.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309069882
Total Pages : 610 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis From Neurons to Neighborhoods by : National Research Council

Download or read book From Neurons to Neighborhoods written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-11-13 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Eye and Brain

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (955 download)

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Book Synopsis Eye and Brain by : Richard L. Gregory

Download or read book Eye and Brain written by Richard L. Gregory and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

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Author :
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393254704
Total Pages : 347 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes by : Donald Hoffman

Download or read book The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes written by Donald Hoffman and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2019-08-13 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can we trust our senses to tell us the truth? Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. From examining why fashion designers create clothes that give the illusion of a more “attractive” body shape to studying how companies use color to elicit specific emotions in consumers, and even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality, The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see.