This book describes the dynamic nature of the brain and its mechanisms to develop cognitive skills, specifically learning. It will facilitate the reader’s appreciation and understanding of many concepts linked to cognition using a systemic approach to neuroscience. It introduces concepts of feedback control systems and self-organized systems that allow brain dynamics to be approached systemically, facilitating a holistic comprehension. The book is written in plain language and uses a wide variety of examples to facilitate its reading and understanding. It will serve to promote transdisciplinary communication in readers interested in the study of the fundamental dynamic aspects involved in the human learning process, both individually and socially.
foreword by Hermann Haken For the past twenty years Scott Kelso's research has focused on extending the physical concepts of self- organization and the mathematical tools of nonlinear dynamics to understand how human beings (and human brains) perceive, intend, learn, control, and coordinate complex behaviors. In this book Kelso proposes a new, general framework within which to connect brain, mind, and behavior.Kelso's prescription for mental life breaks dramatically with the classical computational approach that is still the operative framework for many newer psychological and neurophysiological studies. His core thesis is that the creation and evolution of patterned behavior at all levels--from neurons to mind--is governed by the generic processes of self-organization. Both human brain and behavior are shown to exhibit features of pattern-forming dynamical systems, including multistability, abrupt phase transitions, crises, and intermittency. Dynamic Patterns brings together different aspects of this approach to the study of human behavior, using simple experimental examples and illustrations to convey essential concepts, strategies, and methods, with a minimum of mathematics. Kelso begins with a general account of dynamic pattern formation. He then takes up behavior, focusing initially on identifying pattern-forming instabilities in human sensorimotor coordination. Moving back and forth between theory and experiment, he establishes the notion that the same pattern-forming mechanisms apply regardless of the component parts involved (parts of the body, parts of the nervous system, parts of society) and the medium through which the parts are coupled. Finally, employing the latest techniques to observe spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity, Kelso shows that the human brain is fundamentally a pattern forming dynamical system, poised on the brink of instability. Self-organization thus underlies the cooperative action of neurons that produces human behavior in all its forms.
IF YOU’VE EVER LOST YOUR KEYS, MISSED AN APPOINTMENT OR BEEN DISTRACTED BY A FRIVOLOUS EMAIL, THEN THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. The key to a less hectic, less stressful life is not in simply organizing your desk, but organizing your mind. Dr. Paul Hammerness, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, describes the latest neuroscience research on the brain’s extraordinary built-in system of organization. Margaret Moore, an executive wellness coach and codirector of the Institute of Coaching, translates the science into solutions. This remarkable team shows you how to use the innate organizational power of your brain to make your life less stressful and more productive and rewarding. You’ll learn how to: ¥ Regain control of your frenzy ¥ Embrace effective uni-tasking (because multitasking doesn’t work) ¥ Fluidly shift from one task to another ¥ Use your creativity to connect the dots This groundbreaking guide is complete with stories of people who have learned to stop feeling powerless against multiplying distractions and start organizing their lives by organizing their minds.
An astute, accessible, and fun guide that explains once and for all why all those organizing books only help 25% of us Let your natural inclinations guide you toward gaining control of your environment and learn to live life on your own terms. Drawing on the science of brain function and her experience as a professional organizer, Lanna Nakone offers tailored and specific advice that will actually work to help you tame your desk, unclutter your closet, manage your time, and save your sanity. Take the Brain Style quiz to determine which of the four parts of the brain you rely on the most to process information, and which organizing style complements your brain function. If you rely on the * Posterior left section of your brain, you're a Maintaining Style. You develop and follow routines well and adhere to traditional organizing methods. * Frontal right section of your brain, you're an Innovating Style. Artistically creative, you have a unique stacking system that no one else understands. * Posterior right section of your brain, you're a Harmonizing Style. Valuing interconnectedness with your family or coworkers, you need to be organized enough to keep your environment peaceful. * Frontal left section of your brain, you're a Prioritizing Style. Adept at analyzing data, you prefer to delegate organizing. Chapters specific to each type offer practical tips and strategies for implementing an organizing system, maintaining your system, and coexisting with different brain styles. Insightful and understanding, Organizing for Your Brain Type turns the task of managing your life into an enjoyable experience.
"Building a second brain is getting things done for the digital age. It's a ... productivity method for consuming, synthesizing, and remembering the vast amount of information we take in, allowing us to become more effective and creative and harness the unprecedented amount of technology we have at our disposal"--
How to rewire your brain to improve virtually every aspect of your life-based on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology on neuroplasticity and evidence-based practices Not long ago, it was thought that the brain you were born with was the brain you would die with, and that the brain cells you had at birth were the most you would ever possess. Your brain was thought to be “hardwired” to function in predetermined ways. It turns out that's not true. Your brain is not hardwired, it's "softwired" by experience. This book shows you how you can rewire parts of the brain to feel more positive about your life, remain calm during stressful times, and improve your social relationships. Written by a leader in the field of Brain-Based Therapy, it teaches you how to activate the parts of your brain that have been underactivated and calm down those areas that have been hyperactivated so that you feel positive about your life and remain calm during stressful times. You will also learn to improve your memory, boost your mood, have better relationships, and get a good night sleep. Reveals how cutting-edge developments in neuroscience, and evidence-based practices can be used to improve your everyday life Other titles by Dr. Arden include: Brain-Based Therapy-Adult, Brain-Based Therapy-Child, Improving Your Memory For Dummies and Heal Your Anxiety Workbook Dr. Arden is a leader in integrating the new developments in neuroscience with psychotherapy and Director of Training in Mental Health for Kaiser Permanente for the Northern California Region Explaining exciting new developments in neuroscience and their applications to daily living, Rewire Your Brain will guide you through the process of changing your brain so you can change your life and be free of self-imposed limitations.
In Your Brain at Work, David Rock takes readers inside the heads—literally—of a modern two-career couple as they mentally process their workday to reveal how we can better organize, prioritize, remember, and process our daily lives. Rock, the author of Quiet Leadership and Personal Best, shows how it’s possible for this couple, and thus the reader, not only to survive in today’s overwhelming work environment but succeed in it—and still feel energized and accomplished at the end of the day.
Recent neuroscience, in replacing the old model of the brain as a single centralized source of control, has emphasized plasticity,the quality by which our brains develop and change throughout the course of our lives. Our brains exist as historical products, developing in interaction with themselves and with their surroundings.Hence there is a thin line between the organization of the nervous system and the political and social organization that both conditions and is conditioned by human experience. Looking carefully at contemporary neuroscience, it is hard not to notice that the new way of talking about the brain mirrors the management discourse of the neo-liberal capitalist world in which we now live, with its talk of decentralization, networks, and flexibility. Consciously or unconsciously, science cannot but echo the world in which it takes place.In the neo-liberal world, plasticitycan be equated with flexibility-a term that has become a buzzword in economics and management theory. The plastic brain would thus represent just another style of power, which, although less centralized, is still a means of control. In this book, Catherine Malabou develops a second, more radical meaning for plasticity. Not only does plasticity allow our brains to adapt to existing circumstances, it opens a margin of freedom to intervene, to change those very circumstances. Such an understanding opens up a newly transformative aspect of the neurosciences.In insisting on this proximity between the neurosciences and the social sciences, Malabou applies to the brain Marx's well-known phrase about history: people make their own brains, but they do not know it. This book is a summons to such knowledge.
How does my brain work? Why am I conscious? Where is my memory? Is what I perceive around me reality or just an illusion? We all ask these questions, which we could sum up in a single question: Who am I? How is it that I have memories and that I feel I exist? What does it mean that my mind is free in time and space, and yet I am imprisoned in a body that is doomed to disappear? What happens to my mind when my body disappears? What are the risks of my suffering from a brain disease? Could my whole being eclipse because of a disease in which my body survives but my mind ceases to exist? What remedies are there? What hope does reasearch hold out? Recent discoveries about the brain allow us to ask such questions more pointedly, hoping to define more clearly the relations of the brain with the mind, of man with his body. This book is based on numerous discussions with specialists. It attempts to determine the state of the art. It is organized in chapters that can be read in continuity, but it is equally possible to discover the chapters in a different way.
