Discovering the Brain
Discovering the Brain

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 0309045290

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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."

Memory, Learning and Language
Memory, Learning and Language

Author: William Feindel

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 1960-12-15

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 148759688X

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The symposium was arranged with the purpose of cutting across some of the lines dividing various disciplines all having a common interest in different aspects of the functioning of the brain. The essays, given originally as lectures at one of the Jubilee celebrations of the University of Saskatchewan, were deliberately designed to be of interest to laymen concerned with the problem of education as well as to academics dealing daily with products of the brain's activity in teaching and learning. One of the main themes of the book is that the human brain has far greater potentialities than our present methods of education are exploiting; another is that, although our universities can be said to owe their very existence to the multiplex activities of the human mind, the subject of how the brain functions and the application of even our rather meagre knowledge of this field to the sphere of teaching and learning remains greatly neglected in university programmes. The subject of brain function, studied daily by the neurologist and neuro-surgeon, should gain the interest of non-medical fields concerned with utilizing the mechanism of the mind.