NeuroLogic
The Brain's Hidden Rationale Behind Our Irrational Behavior
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- 5,49 €
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- 5,49 €
Descrizione dell’editore
A groundbreaking investigation of the brain’s hidden logic behind our strangest behaviors, and of how conscious and unconscious systems interact in order to create our experience and preserve our sense of self.
From bizarre dreams and hallucinations to schizophrenia and multiple personalities, the human brain is responsible for a diverse spectrum of strange thoughts and behaviors. When observed from the outside, these phenomena are often written off as being just “crazy,” but what if they were actually planned and logical?
NeuroLogic explores the brain’s internal system of reasoning, from its unconscious depths to conscious decision making, and illuminates how it explains our most outlandish as well as our most stereotyped behaviors. From sleepwalking murderers, contagious yawning, and the brains of sports fans to false memories, subliminal messages, and the secret of ticklishness, Dr. Eliezer Sternberg shows that there are patterns to the way the brain interprets the world—–patterns that fit the brain’s unique logic. Unraveling these patterns and the various ways they can be disturbed will not only alter our view of mental illness and supernatural experience, but will also shed light on the hidden parts of ourselves.
(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neurologist Sternberg (Are You a Machine?) has produced a witty, knowledgeable, yet overly familiar analysis of current neuroscience, including a rough blueprint of the brain's least charted features. Sternberg's ambitious goal is to determine why we act in the strange ways that we do. His assessment of relevant research is thorough and engaging, and where his lively narrative is not sufficiently descriptive, illustrations are provided. The discussion is divided into wryly titled sections such as "Luke Skywalker Lives in Your Temporal Lobe"; this makes for an easier reading experience, but it also feels interruptive, with each break sacrificing some clarity in the transition between ideas. Some of the topics are well-worn; for example, mirror neurons have already been widely discussed in popular science media. Meanwhile, the individual discussions are sometimes too brief, as when a discussion of flashbulb memories doesn't fully delve into their much-noted inaccuracies. This book would be most appropriate for someone only just becoming acquainted with the vast field of neuroscience; for better-versed readers, its path, while impressive, is already well traveled.