The brain as a tool: A Neuroscientist's Account - Hardcover

Guillery

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198806736 ISBN 13: 9780198806738

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2017

Synopsis

There are two distinct views about the functions of our brains and their origins. The standard view, taught in most neuroscience texts, has incoming messages about the world sent to the cerebral cortex, with the cortex then producing an appropriate motor output. The interactive view, largely expressed by philosophers and psychologists, stresses the continuous sensorimotor interactions of the brain with the world.

The Brain as a Tool focuses on thalamo-cortical interactions on the basis of the interactive view, exploring the phylogenetically new transthalamic corticocortical pathways of mammals that link a hierarchy of cortical areas to each other and back to the phylogenetically older motor centres for control of action. The book demonstrates how messages in these pathways produce an anticipation of our own actions and perceptions. In relating neural events to conscious processing and our sense of self , Guillery summarizes important evidence which links neuroscience with psychology and philosophy.

This book is essential reading for neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists and philosophers. Supplemented with a helpful glossary of neural terms and numerous illustrations of the brain, it is also an important resource for graduate and postdoctoral students interested in the neural bases of a sense of self and of cognitive functions.

About this title

Review:

Ray Guillery wrote this book to promote the "Interactive" view of brain function. This is the idea that sensory inputs and motor outputs are not separate, but are combined at every level of the nervous system. If you are not already a believer of this important concept you cannot find a better introduction and argument in its favor. However, I also loved this book for a completely different reason. It is a beautifully written introduction to the nervous system, told through the reflection of the author's long career. It is a joy to read. People often ask me what I recommend they read as they start their career in neuroscience. The Brain as a Tool is now on the very short list of books I recommend. Reading it reminded me what I love about studying the brain. (Jeff Hawkins, Founder, Numenta, USA)

Guillery was an engaging teacher and companion. This book (published posthumously) brings him back to life, to the delight of those who knew him, and the enlightenment of those who did not, as it provides a guided tour of the nervous system. (Clifford B.Saper, James Jackson Putnam Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School)

About the Author:

Ray Guillery (1929-2017). Born in Germany, he became a neuroanatomist and obtained his BSc and PhD in Anatomy from University College London in 1951 and 1954. In his long and distinguished career, Ray taught at University College London (1953-64), University of Wisconsin-Madison (1964-77; 1996-2006), University of Chicago (1977-1984), University of Oxford (1984-96) and Marmara University (2006-2010). He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of University College London and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Neuroscience. In his final position, Ray was an Honorary Emeritus Research Fellow at the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0198806736
• ISBN 13: 9780198806738
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 284