The Tangled Brain
The Tangled Brain

Author: Dick Pitt

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1440138303

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Part of being human is to learn new ideas, reject them or modify them and pass them on. What we choose to do with an idea depends on who we are; our gender, ethnicity, earlier ideas, what we do for a living, etc. That is, ideas spread to our minds depending on whether they are fit for the environment or not. Descent with modification and selection is the central feature of both biological and ideological evolution. An evolutionary approach helps us to understand such issues as changes in Christianity over time, the mimicry of colonial regimes, the cycles of corruption that are followed by purges in the police and business, and much more. This approach can even shed a light on the belief that the end of the world is nigh. However, there are major differences between ideological and biological evolution. The roles played by consciousness and powerful individuals or groups cannot be ignored. The book contains examples that highlight the similarities and differences between biological and ideological evolution. We have a rich ideological flora and fauna in our minds. Hopefully, an understanding of how they got there will help us distinguish between beautiful flowers and pernicious weeds.

The Entangled Brain
The Entangled Brain

Author: Luiz Pessoa

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2022-11-15

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0262544601

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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.”

The Tangled Mind
The Tangled Mind

Author: Nick Kolenda

Publisher:

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9781733978903

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The Tangled Mind argues that a small group of sensory concepts sculpted your perception of the world. Today, your entire knowledge rests upon a sensory foundation. In this book, you'll learn how those sensory underpinnings influence perception and behavior, including deep-rooted beliefs and values (e.g., morality, religion, politics).

Totally Tangled
Totally Tangled

Author: Sandy Bartholomew

Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 1607651181

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These versatile graphics can be used to decorate any surface. Micron pens make drawing the tangles simple and permanent. Zentangle is about filling spaces using pattern with a simple line, and becomes more attractive and complex as areas are filled. The process is appealing to graphics artists as well as those just learning to draw.

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."

Behave
Behave

Author: Robert M. Sapolsky

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-05-01

Total Pages: 801

ISBN-13: 0143110918

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New York Times bestseller • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • One of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year “It’s no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read.” —David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal "It has my vote for science book of the year.” —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times "Immensely readable, often hilarious...Hands-down one of the best books I’ve read in years. I loved it." —Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post From the bestselling author of A Primate's Memoir and the forthcoming Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will comes a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Behave is one of the most dazzling tours d’horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted. Moving across a range of disciplines, Sapolsky—a neuroscientist and primatologist—uncovers the hidden story of our actions. Undertaking some of our thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, and war and peace, Behave is a towering achievement—a majestic synthesis of cutting-edge research and a heroic exploration of why we ultimately do the things we do . . . for good and for ill.

Spinal Vascular Malformations
Spinal Vascular Malformations

Author: D. L. Barrow

Publisher:

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 9783131348319

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Spinal Vascular Malformations is a comprehensive text detailing the historical perspective and evolution of current understanding of the various vascular malformations involving the spinal cord. Contributing authors are recognized experts in the fields of anatomy, pathophysiology, hemodynamics, imaging and the surgical and endovascular treatment ......

The Tangled Field
The Tangled Field

Author: Nathaniel C. COMFORT

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 0674029828

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This biographical study illuminates the important yet misunderstood figure of Barbara McClintock, the Nobel Prize winning geneticist. Comfort replaces the myth with a new story, rich with new understandings of women in science.

The Tangled Wing
The Tangled Wing

Author: Melvin Konner

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2003-02

Total Pages: 564

ISBN-13: 9780805072792

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A vital updating of a seminal work of science First published to great acclaim twenty years ago, The Tangled Wing has become required reading for anyone interested in the biological roots of human behavior. Since then, revolutions have taken place in genetics, molecular biology, and neuroscience. All of these innovations have been brought into account in this greatly expanded edition of a book originally called an "overwhelming achievement" by The Times Literary Supplement. A masterful synthesis of biology, psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, The Tangled Wing reveals human identity and activity to be an intricately woven fabric of innumerable factors. Melvin Konner's sensitive and straightforward discussion ranges across topics such as the roots of aggression, the basis of attachment and desire, the differences between the sexes, and the foundations of mental illness.

Principles of Brain Dynamics
Principles of Brain Dynamics

Author: Mikhail I. Rabinovich

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2023-12-05

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 0262549905

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Experimental and theoretical approaches to global brain dynamics that draw on the latest research in the field. The consideration of time or dynamics is fundamental for all aspects of mental activity—perception, cognition, and emotion—because the main feature of brain activity is the continuous change of the underlying brain states even in a constant environment. The application of nonlinear dynamics to the study of brain activity began to flourish in the 1990s when combined with empirical observations from modern morphological and physiological observations. This book offers perspectives on brain dynamics that draw on the latest advances in research in the field. It includes contributions from both theoreticians and experimentalists, offering an eclectic treatment of fundamental issues. Topics addressed range from experimental and computational approaches to transient brain dynamics to the free-energy principle as a global brain theory. The book concludes with a short but rigorous guide to modern nonlinear dynamics and their application to neural dynamics.