Neuronal Man

by Changeux, Jean-Pierre; Garey, Laurence

• ISBN13: 9780691026664
• ISBN10: 0691026661
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-04-02
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Over the past thirty-five years, there has been an explosive increase in scientists' ability to explain the structure and functioning of the human brain. While psychology has advanced our understanding of human behavior, various other sciences, such as anatomy, physiology, and biology, have determined the critical importance of synapses and, through the use of advanced technology, made it possible actually to see brain cells at work within the skull's walls. Here Jean-Pierre Changeux elucidates our current knowledge of the human brain, taking an interdisciplinary approach and explaining in layman's terms the complex theories and scientific breakthroughs that have significantly improved our understanding in the twentieth century.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Princeton Science Library Edition	xiii	(4)
Preface	xvii
1 The "Organ of the soul"--from Ancient Egypt to the Belle Epoque	3	(35)
Man Thinks with His Brain	3	(4)
Body and Soul	7	(6)
Phrenology	13	(8)
The Neuron	21	(8)
Electric Current and "Medicinal Substances"	29	(7)
The "Good Sense" of History	36	(2)
2 The Component Parts of the Brain	38	(29)
The Macroscopic View of the Brain	39	(4)
The Expansion of the Neocortex	43	(3)
Microcircuits	46	(6)
Wiring	52	(6)
Modules or Crystals	58	(7)
From Mouse to Man	65	(2)
3 Animal Spirits	67	(30)
Cerebral Electricity	68	(5)
The Nerve Signal	73	(4)
Oscillators	77	(6)
From One Neuron to Another	83	(7)
The Keys to Molecule Locks	90	(5)
"Psychic Atoms" Reexamined	95	(2)
4 Into Action	97	(29)
To Sing and to Flee	98	(5)
To Drink and to Suffer	103	(4)
To Enjoy and to Be Angry	107	(5)
To Reach Orgasm	112	(3)
To Analyze	115	(5)
To Speak and to Do	120	(4)
From Stimulus to Response	124	(2)
5 Mental Objects	126	(44)
The Materiality of Mental Images	127	(3)
From Percept to Concept and Thought	130	(4)
Toward a Biological Theory of Mental Objects	134	(6)
Assembling the Neurons	140	(5)
Problems of Consciousness	145	(6)
Attention	151	(7)
The Calculation of Emotion	158	(3)
Seeing Mental Objects	161	(7)
The Substance of the Spirit	168	(2)
6 The Power of the Genes	170	(35)
Anatomical Mutations	171	(4)
Heredity and Behavior	175	(5)
The Simplicity of the Genome and the Complexity of the Brain	180	(6)
The Automaton Cell	186	(5)
The Embryo System	191	(4)
The Genesis of the Cortex	195	(7)
The Predestination of the Brain	202	(3)
7 Epigenesis	205	(45)
Differences between Identical Twins	206	(6)
The Behavior of the Growth Cone	212	(4)
Regression and Redundancy	216	(4)
The Dreams of the Embryo	220	(3)
Building the Synapse	223	(4)
The Theory of Epigenesis by Selective Stabilization of Synapses	227	(2)
The Experimental Testing of Epigenesis	229	(6)
Hemispheric Specilization--a Genetic or Epigenetic Process?	235	(6)
The Cultural Imprint	241	(5)
"To Learn Is to Eliminate"	246	(4)
8 Anthropogenesis	250	(23)
Monkey Chromosomes	251	(4)
Fossil Puzzles	255	(4)
The Winks of the Young Chimpanzee	259	(5)
Genes for Communication and Selective Stabilization	264	(4)
The Genetics of Australopithecus	268	(3)
The "Phenomenon of Man" Reconsidered	271	(2)
9 The Brain--Representation of the World	273	(12)
Glossary	285	(8)
Notes	293	(8)
Bibliography	301	(32)
Index	333