Think tank : forty neuroscientists explore the biological roots of human experience / edited by David J. Linden.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Linden, David J., 1961- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Brain--Popular works.

Brain.

Human information processing.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 296 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A spirited collection of essays by cutting-edge neuroscientists that irreverently explores the quirky and counterintuitive aspects of brain function Neuroscientist David J. Linden approached leading brain researchers and asked each the same question: "What idea about brain function would you most like to explain to the world?" Their responses make up this one-of-a-kind collection of popular science essays that seeks to expand our knowledge of the human mind and its possibilities. The contributors, whose areas of expertise include human behavior, molecular genetics, evolutionary biology, and comparative anatomy, address a host of fascinating topics ranging from personality to perception, to learning, to beauty, to love and sex. The manner in which individual experiences can dramatically change our brains' makeup is explored. Professor Linden and his contributors open a new window onto the landscape of the human mind and into the cutting-edge world of neuroscience with a fascinating and enlightening compilation that science enthusiasts and professionals alike will find accessible and enjoyable.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Primer: Our Human Brain Was Not Designed All at Once by a Genius Inventor on a Blank Sheet of Paper / Linden, David J.

Science Is an Ongoing Process, Not a Belief System / Kristan, William B. / French, Kathleen A.

Developing, Changing

Genetics Provides a Window on Human Individuality / Nathans, Jeremy

Though the Brain Has Billions of Neurons, Wiring It All Up May Depend upon Very Simple Rules / Kolodkin, Alex L.

From Birth Onward, Our Experience of the World Is Dominated by the Brain's Continual Conversation with Itself / Wang, Sam

Children's Brains Are Different / Bastian, Amy

Your Twelve-Year-Old Isn't Just Sprouting New Hair but Is Also Forming (and Being Formed by) New Neural Connections / Wilbrecht, Linda

How You Use Your Brain Can Change Its Basic Structural Organization / Lau, Melissa / Cline, Hollis

Tool Use Can Instantly Rewire the Brain / Barth, Alison L.

Life Experiences and Addictive Drugs Change Your Brain in Similar Ways / Kauer, Julie

Signaling

Like It or Not, the Brain Grades on a Curve / Raman, Indira M.

The Brain Achieves Its Computational Power through a Massively Parallel Architecture / Luo, Liqun

The Brain Harbors Many Neurotransmitters / Snyder, Solomon H.

Anticipating, Sensing, Moving

The Eye Knows What Is Good for Us / Das, Aniruddha

You Have a Superpower-It's Called Vision / Connor, Charles E.

The Sense of Taste Encompasses Two Roles: Conscious Taste Perception and Subconscious Metabolic Responses / Breslin, Paul A. S.

It Takes an Ensemble of Strangely Shaped Nerve Endings to Build a Touch / Ginty, David D.

The Bane of Pain Is Plainly in the Brain / Basbaum, Allan

Time's Weird in the Brain-That's a Good Thing, and Here's Why / Shuler, Marshall G. Hussain / Namboodiri, Vijay M. K.

The Cerebellum Learns to Predict the Physics of Our Movements / Albert, Scott T. / Shadmehr, Reza

Neuroscience Can Show Us a New Way to Rehabilitate Brain Injury: The Case of Stroke / Krakauer, John W.

Almost Everything You Do Is a Habit / Haith, Adrian M.

Relating

Interpreting Information in Voice Requires Brain Circuits for Emotional Recognition and Expression / Kelley, Darcy B.

Mind Reading Emerged at Least Twice in the Course of Evolution / Dölen, Gül

We Are Born to Help Others / Mason, Peggy

Intense Romantic Love Uses Subconscious Survival Circuits in the Brain / Brown, Lucy L.

Human Sexual Orientation Is Strongly Influenced by Biological Factors / Linden, David J.

Deciding

Deep Down, You Are a Scientist / Niv, Yael

Studying Monkey Brains Can Teach Us about Advertising / Platt, Michael

Beauty Matters in Ways We Know and in Ways We Don't / Chatterjee, Anjan

"Man Can Do What He Wants, but He Cannot Will What He Wants" / Sternson, Scott M.

The Brain Is Overrated / Ghazanfar, Asif A.

Dopamine Made You Do It / Sejnowski, Terrence

The Human Brain, the True Creator of Everything, Cannot Be Simulated by Any Turing Machine / Nicolelis, Miguel A. L.

There Is No Principle That Prevents Us from Eventually Building Machines That Think / Mauk, Michael D.

Epilogue

Contributors

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-300-23547-X

OCLC:

1057018659