Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain - Hardcover

Trimble, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199693188 ISBN 13: 9780199693184

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2012

Synopsis

Why Humans Like to Cry Human beings are the only species to have evolved the trait of emotional crying. We even create music, fiction, film, and theatre - 'Tragedy' - to encourage crying. Michael Trimble looks at the physiology and evolution of this unique human behaviour, exploring its links with language, consciousness, empathy, and religious practices. Full description

About this title

Review:

Trimble ambitiously cracks the surface of a complex human process. (Scientific American)

This is a stimulating adventurous book. (Daily Telegraph)

Trimble earned my respect for his erudition and ambition ... an engaging storyteller. (Randolph Cornelius, New Scientist)

Fascinating volume ... an insightful account ... offers a profound glimpse into the human heart as well as deep insight into the role of art in our lives. (Guardian)

About the Author:

Professor Trimble is emeritus professor of Behavioural Neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London. His research for many years has been on the behavioural consequences of neurological disorders, especially epilepsy and movement disorders. He has a lifelong research interest in neuroanatomy, hence his ability to explore the neuroanatomical basis of crying. However, he is also a psychiatrist with much clinical experience of mood disorders, and had investigated the latter in patients using neurological techniques, such as brain imaging. He is the author of The Soul in the Brain (Johns Hopkins, 2007).

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199693188
• ISBN 13: 9780199693184
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240