Best of the Brain from Scientific American

Best of the Brain from Scientific American
Mind, Matter, and Tomorrow’s Brain
By Floyd E. Bloom
Dana Press
For the Scientific American readers, it was a hidden desire. For the collectors, it’s just a must have. For all the rest, just ask yourselves if the following topics in question look familiar.

o Is emotional learning mediated by nowadays identified unconscious memory systems?
o What are the functional correlations between creativity and specific brain areas?
o Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Deep brain stimulation (DBS), Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS): are they just scientific acronyms?
During the past decade, readers of Scientific American and Scientific American Mind focused on fascinating scientific brain-related articles that deal with the frontiers of brain research. Questions like if Freud is rising back from history, or if our talents can really explode while suffering from brain deceases, or even if we are far from devices that will just be able to reset our sense of fatigue were thoroughly addressed.

In Dana’s Best of the Brain, top neuroscientist Floyd E. Bloom has included the top brain-related articles published in Scientific American and Scientific American Mind since 1999. The articles have been grouped into three categories: Mind, Matter and Tomorrow’s Brain. Advances in fighting brain disorders, mind and machine joint future, neuromorphic microchip technology are only small parts of the big picture.
Last of all, we cannot leave uncommented the very attractive price that accompanies the book.
The detailed list of articles included is as follows:
Part I: Mind
Ulrich Kraft, Unleashing Creativity
Mark S. George, Stimulating the Brain
Mark Solms, Freud Returns
Carl Zimmer, The Neurobiology of the Self
Antonio R. Damasio, How the Brain Creates the Mind
Eric R. Kandel, The New Science of Mind
Part II: Matter
Nikos K. Logothetis, Vision: A Window on Consciousness
James M. Bower and Lawrence M. Parsons, Rethinking the “Lesser Brain”
Gregory Hickok, Ursula Bellugi, and Edward S. Klima, Sign Language in the Brain
Juergen Andrich and Joerg T. Epplen, Hunting for Answers
Fred H. Gage, Brain, Repair Yourself
Steven E. Hyman, Diagnosing Disorders
Eric J. Nestler and Robert C. Malenka, The Addicted Brain
Daniel C. Javitt and Joseph T. Coyle, Decoding Schizophrenia
David Dobbs, Turning Off Depression
Part III: Tomorrow’s Brain
Steven D. Hollon, Michael E. Thase, and John C. Markowitz, Treating Depression: Pills or Talk
Ray Kurzweil, The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine
Miguel A. L. Nicolelis and John K. Chapin, Controlling Robots with the Mind
Nicola Neumann and Niels Birbaumer, Thinking Out Loud
Kwabena Boahen, Neuromorphic Microchips
Stephen S. Hall, The Quest for a Smart Pill