In Search of Memory

by Kandel, Eric R.

• ISBN13: 9780393058635
• ISBN10: 0393058638
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780393070514
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-05-31
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

Nobelist Eric Kandel's account of how his personal quest to understand memory intersected with the emergence of a new science. In Search of Memory relates the astonishing story of how four different and distinct disciplines--behaviorist psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology--converged into a powerful new science of mind. Through its profound insights into thought, perception, action, recollection, and mental illness, this new science is revolutionizing our understanding of learning and memory while simultaneously showing great promise for more effective healing. The narrative follows Eric R. Kandel through the last five decades, focusing on Vienna, where he became fascinated with memory. With intrepid scientific ardor, Kandel was captivated first by history and psychoanalysis, then by neurobiology, and finally by the biological processes of memory. His resulting, multifaceted perspective was the foundation for his path-breaking research that will continue to dominate modern thought--not only in science but in culture at large. 50 illustrations.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
ONE
Personal Memory and the Biology of Memory Storage	3	(9)
A Childhood in Vienna	12	(21)
An American Education	33	(20)
TWO
One Cell at a Time	53	(21)
The Nerve Cell Speaks	74	(16)
Conversation Between Nerve Cells	90	(13)
Simple and Complex Neuronal Systems	103	(13)
Different Memories, Different Brain Regions	116	(19)
Searching for an Ideal System to Study Memory	135	(15)
Neural Analogs of Learning	150	(15)
THREE
Strengthening Synaptic Connections	165	(15)
A Center for Neurobiology and Behavior	180	(7)
Even a Simple Behavior Can Be Modified by Learning	187	(11)
Synapses Change with Experience	198	(10)
The Biological Basis of Individuality	208	(13)
Molecules and Short-Term Memory	221	(19)
Long-Term Memory	240	(7)
Memory Genes	247	(14)
A Dialogue Between Genes and Synapses	261	(18)
FOUR
A Return to Complex Memory	279	(7)
Synapses Also Hold Our Fondest Memories	286	(9)
The Brain's Picture of the External World	295	(12)
Attention Must Be Paid!	307	(12)
FIVE
A Little Red Pill	319	(16)
Mice, Men, and Mental Illness	335	(17)
A New Way to Treat Mental Illness	352	(11)
Biology and the Renaissance of Psychoanalytic Thought	363	(13)
Consciousness	376	(17)
SIX
Rediscovering Vienna via Stockholm	393	(23)
Learning from Memory: Prospects	416	(15)
Glossary	431	(22)
Notes and Sources	453	(32)
Acknowledgments	485	(4)
Index	489