How Our Brain Became Human

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The Human Advantage

Author : Suzana Herculano-Houzel
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262333201
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis The Human Advantage by : Suzana Herculano-Houzel

Download or read book The Human Advantage written by Suzana Herculano-Houzel and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2016-03-18 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why our human brains are awesome, and how we left our cousins, the great apes, behind: a tale of neurons and calories, and cooking. Humans are awesome. Our brains are gigantic, seven times larger than they should be for the size of our bodies. The human brain uses 25% of all the energy the body requires each day. And it became enormous in a very short amount of time in evolution, allowing us to leave our cousins, the great apes, behind. So the human brain is special, right? Wrong, according to Suzana Herculano-Houzel. Humans have developed cognitive abilities that outstrip those of all other animals, but not because we are evolutionary outliers. The human brain was not singled out to become amazing in its own exclusive way, and it never stopped being a primate brain. If we are not an exception to the rules of evolution, then what is the source of the human advantage? Herculano-Houzel shows that it is not the size of our brain that matters but the fact that we have more neurons in the cerebral cortex than any other animal, thanks to our ancestors' invention, some 1.5 million years ago, of a more efficient way to obtain calories: cooking. Because we are primates, ingesting more calories in less time made possible the rapid acquisition of a huge number of neurons in the still fairly small cerebral cortex—the part of the brain responsible for finding patterns, reasoning, developing technology, and passing it on through culture. Herculano-Houzel shows us how she came to these conclusions—making “brain soup” to determine the number of neurons in the brain, for example, and bringing animal brains in a suitcase through customs. The Human Advantage is an engaging and original look at how we became remarkable without ever being special.

How Our Brain Became Human

Author : Yanko A. Yankov MD PhD.
Publisher : Trafford Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1698713096
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (987 download)

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Book Synopsis How Our Brain Became Human by : Yanko A. Yankov MD PhD.

Download or read book How Our Brain Became Human written by Yanko A. Yankov MD PhD. and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2022-10-18 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The human brain growth and evolution have been subjects of many genetic, environmental or social studies separately. Additionally, there are very few available sources on the complex role of our microbiome and the recently discovered hormones VIP and PACAP. The book author also describes some of his cases seen during his long clinical experience to illustrate different points of his extensive literature review. The book is divided into seven chapters, condensing the author’s scientific opinion on the growth and evolution of the human brain, the organ that differentiates us from all other species. He does not dismiss any other opinions or beliefs. The author challenges scientists and clinicians to continue researching the brain without prejudice. At the end he gives his opinion on how our BIG brains can help us live better together.

Mind Shift

Author : John Parrington
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192521640
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (925 download)

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Book Synopsis Mind Shift by : John Parrington

Download or read book Mind Shift written by John Parrington and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-22 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Parrington argues that social interaction and culture have deeply shaped the exceptional nature of human consciousness. The mental capacities of the human mind far outstrip those of other animals. Our imaginations and creativity have produced art, music, and literature; built bridges and cathedrals; enabled us to probe distant galaxies, and to ponder the meaning of our existence. When our minds become disordered, they can also take us to the depths of despair. What makes the human brain unique, and able to generate such a rich mental life? In this book, John Parrington draws on the latest research on the human brain to show how it differs strikingly from those of other animals in its structure and function at a molecular and cellular level. And he argues that this 'shift', enlarging the brain, giving it greater flexibility and enabling higher functions such as imagination, was driven by tool use, but especially by the development of one remarkable tool - language. The complex social interaction brought by language opened up the possibility of shared conceptual worlds, enriched with rhythmic sounds, and images that could be drawn on cave walls. This transformation enabled modern humans to leap rapidly beyond all other species, and generated an exceptional human consciousness, a sense of self that arises as a product of our brain biology and the social interactions we experience. Our minds, even those of identical twins, are unique because they are the result of this extraordinarily plastic brain, exquisitely shaped and tuned by the social and cultural environment in which we grew up and to which we continue to respond through life. Linking early work by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky to the findings of modern neuroscience, Parrington explores how language, culture, and society mediate brain function, and what this view of the human mind may bring to our understanding and treatment of mental illness.

A History of the Human Brain

Author : Bret Stetka
Publisher : Timber Press
ISBN 13 : 1604699884
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (46 download)

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Book Synopsis A History of the Human Brain by : Bret Stetka

Download or read book A History of the Human Brain written by Bret Stetka and published by Timber Press. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A History of the Human Brain is a unique, enlightening, and provocative account of the most significant question we can ask about ourselves.” —Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox Just 125,000 years ago, humanity was on a path to extinction, until a dramatic shift occurred. We used our mental abilities to navigate new terrain and changing climates. We hunted, foraged, tracked tides, shucked oysters—anything we could do to survive. Before long, our species had pulled itself back from the brink and was on more stable ground. What saved us? The human brain—and its evolutionary journey is unlike any other. In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes us on this far-reaching journey, explaining exactly how our most mysterious organ developed. From the brain’s improbable, watery beginnings to the marvel that sits in the head of Home sapiens today, Stetka covers an astonishing progression, even tackling future brainy frontiers such as epigenetics and CRISPR. Clearly and expertly told, this intriguing account is the story of who we are. By examining the history of the brain, we can begin to piece together what it truly means to be human.

Am I Just My Brain?

Author : Sharon Dirckx
Publisher : The Good Book Company
ISBN 13 : 1784984035
Total Pages : 151 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (849 download)

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Book Synopsis Am I Just My Brain? by : Sharon Dirckx

Download or read book Am I Just My Brain? written by Sharon Dirckx and published by The Good Book Company. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looking at the body, mind and soul to answer the question: What exactly is a human being? Modern research is uncovering more and more detail of what our brain is and how it works. We are living, thinking creatures who carry around with us an amazing organic supercomputer in our heads. But what is the relationship between our brains and our minds-and ultimately our sense of identity as a person? Are we more than machines? Is free-will an illusion? Do we have a soul? Brain Imaging Scientist Sharon Dirckx lays out the current understanding of who we are from biologists, philosophers, theologians and psychologists, and points towards a bigger picture that suggests answers to the fundamental questions of our existence. Not just "What am I?", but "Who am I?"-and "Why am I?" Read this book to gain valuable insight into what modern research is telling us about ourselves, or to give a sceptical friend to challenge the idea that we are merely material beings living in a material world.

Out of Our Heads

Author : Alva Noë
Publisher : Hill and Wang
ISBN 13 : 1429957190
Total Pages : 231 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis Out of Our Heads by : Alva Noë

Download or read book Out of Our Heads written by Alva Noë and published by Hill and Wang. This book was released on 2010-02-02 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alva Noë is one of a new breed—part philosopher, part cognitive scientist, part neuroscientist—who are radically altering the study of consciousness by asking difficult questions and pointing out obvious flaws in the current science. In Out of Our Heads, he restates and reexamines the problem of consciousness, and then proposes a startling solution: Do away with the two hundred-year-old paradigm that places consciousness within the confines of the brain. Our culture is obsessed with the brain—how it perceives; how it remembers; how it determines our intelligence, our morality, our likes and our dislikes. It's widely believed that consciousness itself, that Holy Grail of science and philosophy, will soon be given a neural explanation. And yet, after decades of research, only one proposition about how the brain makes us conscious—how it gives rise to sensation, feeling, and subjectivity—has emerged unchallenged: We don't have a clue. In this inventive work, Noë suggests that rather than being something that happens inside us, consciousness is something we do. Debunking an outmoded philosophy that holds the scientific study of consciousness captive, Out of Our Heads is a fresh attempt at understanding our minds and how we interact with the world around us.

Language in Our Brain

Author : Angela D. Friederici
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262036924
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Language in Our Brain by : Angela D. Friederici

Download or read book Language in Our Brain written by Angela D. Friederici and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive account of the neurobiological basis of language, arguing that species-specific brain differences may be at the root of the human capacity for language. Language makes us human. It is an intrinsic part of us, although we seldom think about it. Language is also an extremely complex entity with subcomponents responsible for its phonological, syntactic, and semantic aspects. In this landmark work, Angela Friederici offers a comprehensive account of these subcomponents and how they are integrated. Tracing the neurobiological basis of language across brain regions in humans and other primate species, she argues that species-specific brain differences may be at the root of the human capacity for language. Friederici shows which brain regions support the different language processes and, more important, how these brain regions are connected structurally and functionally to make language processes that take place in milliseconds possible. She finds that one particular brain structure (a white matter dorsal tract), connecting syntax-relevant brain regions, is present only in the mature human brain and only weakly present in other primate brains. Is this the “missing link” that explains humans' capacity for language? Friederici describes the basic language functions and their brain basis; the language networks connecting different language-related brain regions; the brain basis of language acquisition during early childhood and when learning a second language, proposing a neurocognitive model of the ontogeny of language; and the evolution of language and underlying neural constraints. She finds that it is the information exchange between the relevant brain regions, supported by the white matter tract, that is the crucial factor in both language development and evolution.

Discovering the Brain

Author : National Academy of Sciences
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."

The Biological Mind

Author : Alan Jasanoff
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 154164431X
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (416 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biological Mind by : Alan Jasanoff

Download or read book The Biological Mind written by Alan Jasanoff and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-03-13 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pioneering neuroscientist argues that we are more than our brains To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact. This blinds us to the physical realities of mental function. We ignore bodily influences on our psychology, from chemicals in the blood to bacteria in the gut, and overlook the ways that the environment affects our behavior, via factors varying from subconscious sights and sounds to the weather. As a result, we alternately overestimate our capacity for free will or equate brains to inorganic machines like computers. But a brain is neither a soul nor an electrical network: it is a bodily organ, and it cannot be separated from its surroundings. Our selves aren't just inside our heads -- they're spread throughout our bodies and beyond. Only once we come to terms with this can we grasp the true nature of our humanity.

Deep History

Author : Andrew Shryock
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520270282
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Deep History by : Andrew Shryock

Download or read book Deep History written by Andrew Shryock and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-11-07 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This breakthrough book brings science into history to offer a dazzling new vision of humanity across time. Team-written by leading experts in a variety of fields, it maps events, cultures, and eras across millions of years to present a new scale for understanding the human body, energy and ecosystems, language, food, kinship, migration, and more.

The Brain That Changes Itself

Author : Norman Doidge, M.D.
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101147113
Total Pages : 447 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (11 download)

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Book Synopsis The Brain That Changes Itself by : Norman Doidge, M.D.

Download or read book The Brain That Changes Itself written by Norman Doidge, M.D. and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-03-15 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Fascinating. Doidge’s book is a remarkable and hopeful portrait of the endless adaptability of the human brain.”—Oliver Sacks, MD, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat What is neuroplasticity? Is it possible to change your brain? Norman Doidge’s inspiring guide to the new brain science explains all of this and more An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable, and proving that it is, in fact, possible to change your brain. Psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity, its healing powers, and the people whose lives they’ve transformed—people whose mental limitations, brain damage or brain trauma were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.

Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time

Author : Dean Buonomano
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393247953
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time by : Dean Buonomano

Download or read book Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time written by Dean Buonomano and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Beautifully written, eloquently reasoned…Mr. Buonomano takes us off and running on an edifying scientific journey." —Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal In Your Brain Is a Time Machine, leading neuroscientist Dean Buonomano embarks on an "immensely engaging" exploration of how time works inside the brain (Barbara Kiser, Nature). The human brain, he argues, is a complex system that not only tells time, but creates it; it constructs our sense of chronological movement and enables "mental time travel"—simulations of future and past events. These functions are essential not only to our daily lives but to the evolution of the human race: without the ability to anticipate the future, mankind would never have crafted tools or invented agriculture. This virtuosic work of popular science will lead you to a revelation as strange as it is true: your brain is, at its core, a time machine.

The Human Mind

Author : Lord Robert Winston
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 1448168686
Total Pages : 524 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (481 download)

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Book Synopsis The Human Mind by : Lord Robert Winston

Download or read book The Human Mind written by Lord Robert Winston and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-07-30 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is the most complex and mysterious object in the universe. Covered by a dull grey membrane, it resembles a gigantic, convoluted fungus. Its inscrutability has captivated scientists, philosophers and artists for centuries. It is, of course, the human brain. With the help of science we can now begin to understand the extraordinary complexity of the brain's circuits: we can see which nerve cells generate electricity as we fall in love, tell a lie or dream of a lottery win. And inside the 100 billion cells of this rubbery network is something remarkable: you. In this entertaining and accessible book, Robert Winston takes us deep into the workings of the human mind and shows how our emotions and personality are the result of genes and environment. He explains how memories are formed and lost, how the ever-changing brain is responsible for toddler tantrums and teenage angst, plus he reveals the truth behind extra-sensory perception, déjà vu and out-of-body experiences. He also tells us how to boost our intelligence, how to tap into creative powers we never knew we had, how to break old habits and keep our brain fit and active as we enter old age. The human mind is all we have to help us to understand it. Paradoxically, it is possible that science may never quite explain everything about this extraordinary mechanism that makes each of us unique.

The True Creator of Everything

Author : Miguel Nicolelis
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300248881
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis The True Creator of Everything by : Miguel Nicolelis

Download or read book The True Creator of Everything written by Miguel Nicolelis and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A radically new cosmological view from a groundbreaking neuroscientist placing the human brain at the center of humanity’s universe Renowned neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis introduces readers to a revolutionary new theory of how the human brain evolved to become an organic computer without rival in the known universe. Nicolelis undertakes the first attempt to explain the entirety of human history, culture, and civilization based on a series of recently uncovered key principles of brain function. This new cosmology is centered around three fundamental properties of the human brain: its insurmountable malleability to adapt and learn; its exquisite ability to allow multiple individuals to synchronize their minds around a task, goal, or belief; and its incomparable capacity for abstraction. Combining insights from such diverse fields as neuroscience, mathematics, evolution, computer science, physics, history, art, and philosophy, Nicolelis presents a neurobiologically based manifesto for the uniqueness of the human mind and a cautionary tale of the threats that technology poses to present and future generations.

The Idea of the Brain

Author : Matthew Cobb
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 154164686X
Total Pages : 521 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (416 download)

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Book Synopsis The Idea of the Brain by : Matthew Cobb

Download or read book The Idea of the Brain written by Matthew Cobb and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An "elegant", "engrossing" (Carol Tavris, Wall Street Journal) examination of what we think we know about the brain and why -- despite technological advances -- the workings of our most essential organ remain a mystery. "I cannot recommend this book strongly enough."--Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm For thousands of years, thinkers and scientists have tried to understand what the brain does. Yet, despite the astonishing discoveries of science, we still have only the vaguest idea of how the brain works. In The Idea of the Brain, scientist and historian Matthew Cobb traces how our conception of the brain has evolved over the centuries. Although it might seem to be a story of ever-increasing knowledge of biology, Cobb shows how our ideas about the brain have been shaped by each era's most significant technologies. Today we might think the brain is like a supercomputer. In the past, it has been compared to a telegraph, a telephone exchange, or some kind of hydraulic system. What will we think the brain is like tomorrow, when new technology arises? The result is an essential read for anyone interested in the complex processes that drive science and the forces that have shaped our marvelous brains.

Social

Author : Matthew D. Lieberman
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 0307889114
Total Pages : 390 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis Social by : Matthew D. Lieberman

Download or read book Social written by Matthew D. Lieberman and published by Crown. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are profoundly social creatures--more than we know. In Social, renowned psychologist Matthew Lieberman explores groundbreaking research in social neuroscience revealing that our need to connect with other people is even more fundamental, more basic, than our need for food or shelter. Because of this, our brain uses its spare time to learn about the social world--other people and our relation to them. It is believed that we must commit 10,000 hours to master a skill. According to Lieberman, each of us has spent 10,000 hours learning to make sense of people and groups by the time we are ten. Social argues that our need to reach out to and connect with others is a primary driver behind our behavior. We believe that pain and pleasure alone guide our actions. Yet, new research using fMRI--including a great deal of original research conducted by Lieberman and his UCLA lab--shows that our brains react to social pain and pleasure in much the same way as they do to physical pain and pleasure. Fortunately, the brain has evolved sophisticated mechanisms for securing our place in the social world. We have a unique ability to read other people’s minds, to figure out their hopes, fears, and motivations, allowing us to effectively coordinate our lives with one another. And our most private sense of who we are is intimately linked to the important people and groups in our lives. This wiring often leads us to restrain our selfish impulses for the greater good. These mechanisms lead to behavior that might seem irrational, but is really just the result of our deep social wiring and necessary for our success as a species. Based on the latest cutting edge research, the findings in Social have important real-world implications. Our schools and businesses, for example, attempt to minimalize social distractions. But this is exactly the wrong thing to do to encourage engagement and learning, and literally shuts down the social brain, leaving powerful neuro-cognitive resources untapped. The insights revealed in this pioneering book suggest ways to improve learning in schools, make the workplace more productive, and improve our overall well-being.

Phantoms in the Brain

Author : V. S. Ramachandran
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0688172172
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (881 download)

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Book Synopsis Phantoms in the Brain by : V. S. Ramachandran

Download or read book Phantoms in the Brain written by V. S. Ramachandran and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1999-08-18 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream, perhaps even why we're so clever at philosophy, music and art. Some of his most notable cases: A woman paralyzed on the left side of her body who believes she is lifting a tray of drinks with both hands offers a unique opportunity to test Freud's theory of denial. A man who insists he is talking with God challenges us to ask: Could we be "wired" for religious experience? A woman who hallucinates cartoon characters illustrates how, in a sense, we are all hallucinating, all the time. Dr. Ramachandran's inspired medical detective work pushes the boundaries of medicine's last great frontier -- the human mind -- yielding new and provocative insights into the "big questions" about consciousness and the self.