Michael S. Gazzaniga

"The "father of cognitive neuroscience" makes a powerful and provocative argument against today's common wisdom that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes we cannot control"--

Free Will and the Science of the Brain

Who's in Charge?

One of the world's leading neuroscientists explores how best to understand the human condition by examining the biological, psychological, and highly social nature of our species within the social context of our lives. What happened along the evolutionary trail that made humans so unique? In his widely accessible style, Michael Gazzaniga looks to a broad range of studies to pinpoint the change that made us thinking, sentient humans, different from our predecessors. Neuroscience has been fixated on the life of the psychological self for the past fifty years, focusing on the brain systems underlying language, memory, emotion, and perception. What it has not done is consider the stark reality that most of the time we humans are thinking about social processes, comparing ourselves to and estimating the intentions of others. In Human, Gazzaniga explores a number of related issues, including what makes human brains unique, the importance of language and art in defining the human condition, the nature of human consciousness, and even artificial intelligence.

The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique

Human

Michael S. Gazzaniga, one of the most important neuroscientists of the twentieth century, gives us an exciting behind-the-scenes look at his seminal work on that unlikely couple, the right and left brain. Foreword by Steven Pinker. In the mid-twentieth century, Michael S. Gazzaniga, “the father of cognitive neuroscience,” was part of a team of pioneering neuroscientists who developed the now foundational split-brain brain theory: the notion that the right and left hemispheres of the brain can act independently from one another and have different strengths. In Tales from Both Sides of the Brain, Gazzaniga tells the impassioned story of his life in science and his decades-long journey to understand how the separate spheres of our brains communicate and miscommunicate with their separate agendas. By turns humorous and moving, Tales from Both Sides of the Brain interweaves Gazzaniga’s scientific achievements with his reflections on the challenges and thrills of working as a scientist. In his engaging and accessible style, he paints a vivid portrait not only of his discovery of split-brain theory, but also of his comrades in arms—the many patients, friends, and family who have accompanied him on this wild ride of intellectual discovery.

A Life in Neuroscience

Tales from Both Sides of the Brain

“The father of cognitive neuroscience” illuminates the past, present, and future of the mind-brain problem How do neurons turn into minds? How does physical “stuff”—atoms, molecules, chemicals, and cells—create the vivid and various worlds inside our heads? The problem of consciousness has gnawed at us for millennia. In the last century there have been massive breakthroughs that have rewritten the science of the brain, and yet the puzzles faced by the ancient Greeks are still present. In The Consciousness Instinct, the neuroscience pioneer Michael S. Gazzaniga puts the latest research in conversation with the history of human thinking about the mind, giving a big-picture view of what science has revealed about consciousness. The idea of the brain as a machine, first proposed centuries ago, has led to assumptions about the relationship between mind and brain that dog scientists and philosophers to this day. Gazzaniga asserts that this model has it backward—brains make machines, but they cannot be reduced to one. New research suggests the brain is actually a confederation of independent modules working together. Understanding how consciousness could emanate from such an organization will help define the future of brain science and artificial intelligence, and close the gap between brain and mind. Captivating and accessible, with insights drawn from a lifetime at the forefront of the field, The Consciousness Instinct sets the course for the neuroscience of tomorrow.

Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind

The Consciousness Instinct

Richard B. Ivry

George Ronald Mangun

Daniel Reisberg\'s Cognition: Exploring the Science of the Mind presents current topics and issues in clear, lively prose that is accessible to students. With Cognition, students see where ideas originate, how they are evaluated, and how theories evolve through experimentation. The new Second Edition has been completely redesigned and includes new pedagogy to make the book even more student friendly. Over 600 new citations, as well as revisions to every chapter, bring the text to the forefront of its field. Major updates include a new chapter on the brain and cognition, an expanded emphasis on visual perception, a completely reconceived chapter on memory errors and gaps, and a thorough updating of the chapters on judgment, decision making, and reasoning.

The Biology of the Mind

Cognitive Neuroscience

Diane F. Halpern

Todd F. Heatherton

A dynamic, student-centered textbook that brings together the science of psychology and the science of learning.

Psychological Science

Discovering the Networks of the Mind

The Social Brain

A provocative and fascinating look at new discoveries about the brain that challenge our ethics The rapid advance of scientific knowledge has raised ethical dilemmas that humankind has never before had to address. Questions about the moment when life technically begins and ends or about the morality of genetically designing babies are now relevant and timely. Our ever-increasing knowledge of the workings of the human brain can guide us in the formation of new moral principles in the twenty-first century. In The Ethical Brain, preeminent neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga presents the emerging social and ethical issues arising out of modern-day brain science and challenges the way we look at them. Courageous and thought-provoking -- a work of enormous intelligence, insight, and importance -- this book explores the hitherto uncharted landscape where science and society intersect.

The Science of Our Moral Dilemmas

The Ethical Brain

Christof Koch

Joseph E. Ledoux

Nikos Logothetis

The third edition of a work that defines the field of cognitive neuroscience, withextensive new material including new chapters and new contributors.

The Cognitive Neurosciences

La mente inventata. Le basi biologiche dell'identità e della coscienza

L'interprete. Come il cervello decodifica il mondo

The Bisected Brain

Joseph E. LeDoux

Gazzaniga MS.

In this book we are trying to illuminate the persistent and nag ging questions of how mind, life, and the essence of being relate to brain mechanisms. We do that not because we have a commit ment to bear witness to the boring issue of reductionism but be cause we want to know more about what it's all about. How, in deed, does the brain work? How does it allow us to love, hate, see, cry, suffer, and ultimately understand Kepler's laws? We try to uncover clues to these staggering questions by con sidering the results of our studies on the bisected brain. Several years back, one of us wrote a book with that title, and the ap proach was to describe how brain and behavior are affected when one takes the brain apart. In the present book, we are ready to put it back together, and go beyond, for we feel that split-brain studies are now at the point of contributing to an understanding of the workings of the integrated mind. We are grateful to Dr. Donald Wilson of the Dartmouth Medi cal School for allowing us to test his patients. We would also like to thank our past and present colleagues, including Richard Naka mura, Gail Risse, Pamela Greenwood, Andy Francis, Andrea El berger, Nick Brecha, Lynn Bengston, and Sally Springer, who have been involved in various facets of the experimental studies on the bisected brain described in this book.

The Integrated Mind

Modeled on the classic Neuroscience Study Program volumes which helped define an evolving field, The Cognitive Neurosciences is a major new reference that documents and defines the emerging field of cognitive neuroscience. The ninety-two original contributions provide comprehensive coverage - from the molecular level right up to human conscious experience - of one of the most interesting areas of modern science, namely the relationship between the structural and physiological mechanisms of the brain/nervous system and the psychological reality of mind. "Sections and section editors": Molecular and Cellular Plasticity, Ira Black. Neural and Psychological Development, Pasko Rakic. Sensory Systems, Colin Blakemore and J. Anthony Movshon. Strategies and Planning: Motor Systems, Emilio Bizzi. Attention, Michael Posner. Memory, Endel Tulving. Language, Steven Pinker. Thought and Imagery, Stephen M. Kosslyn. Emotion, Joseph E. LeDoux. Evolutionary Perspectives, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby. Consciousness, Daniel L. Schacter. "An extremely valuable handbook. Not only is its scope adequate to the challenge of this rapidly growing young discipline, but the focus is clear: intelligible, up-to-date theories of mental processes are grounded in the latest findings of the brain sciences. The integration provided in this handbook lays a foundation for the next generation of cognitive neuroscientists." -- George A. Miller, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Princeton University. "The Cognitive Neurosciences" is a wonderfully comprehensive and up-to-date collection of authoritative articles. Istrongly recommend it to anyone who hopes to keep abreast with this fast-moving area of scientific enquiry--relating the brain and mind." -- Sir Roger Penrose, FRS, Rouse Ball, Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford. "At last--a source book in Cognitive Neuroscience for our students! And for ourselves! This much needed book contains a thoughtful selection of reviews from all areas relevant to current research. [...] Michael Gazzaniga and his colleagues should be congratulated for an outstanding job." -- Eric R. Kandel, M.D. University Professor, Center for Neurobiology, Columbia University A Bradford Book

Wann ist der Mensch ein Mensch? Antworten der Neurowissenschaft auf ethische Fragen

wie Bewusstsein und freier Wille entstehen

Die Ich-Illusion

El padre de la neurociencia cognitiva y autor de El cerebro ético y ¿Qué nos hace humanos? ambos publicados por Paidós, nos ofrece en este libro una provocativa y contundente explicación contra la idea, cada vez más extendida, según la cual nuestras vidas están totalmente determinadas por los procesos físicos y que, por tanto, no somos responsables de nuestras acciones. La polémica consiste en que, en los últimos años, las investigaciones más ortodoxas sobre el cerebro defienden que, puesto que las leyes físicas gobiernan el mundo físico y nuestro cerebro forma parte de este mundo, son estas leyes las que dominan nuestra conducta e incluso nuestra conciencia de nosotros mismos. Esto se resume en una especie de mantra, según el cual, «el libre albedrio, la libertad de voluntad, no tienen sentido, puesto que vivimos en un mundo “determinado”.» En cambio, Gazzaniga nos explica que la mente, si bien es algo generado por los procesos físicos del cerebro, «coacciona» nuestro cerebro del mismo modo que los automóviles se ven «coaccionados» por el tráfico que ellos mismo generan. El texto, que, en palabras de Steven Pinker, está escrito «con la falta de pretensiones y agudeza características del autor» nos demuestra como el determinismo debilita enormemente nuestra concepción de la responsabilidad humana, hasta el punto que, en un juicio, un asesino puede alegar perfectamente: «No fui yo quien cometió el crimen, fue mi cerebro». Y argumenta contra esta concepción afirmando que, aun teniendo en cuenta los últimos descubrimientos de los mecanismos físicos de la mente, existe una realidad humana innegable: «Somos agentes responsables que debemos dar cuenta de nuestras acciones, porque la responsabilidad no depende del cerebro, sino de cómo las personas interactuamos unas con otras». ¿Quién manda aquí? es un libro extraordinario que nos adentra en los ámbitos de la neurociencia, la psicología, la ética y el derecho con espíritu divulgativo y profundas implicaciones. Una perdurable contribución de uno de los pensadores más destacados de nuestro tiempo.

El libre albedrío y la ciencia del cerebro

¿Quién manda aquí?

This third edition uses an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how the human mind works. Throughout the text, clinical case studies are presented to humanise the scientific content.

The fourth edition of the work that defines the field of cognitive neuroscience, offering completely new material.

Fundamentals of Psychology: An Introduction focuses on issues that cut through the artificial boundaries commonly held in the study of behavior. The book reviews the nature of the organism in terms of basic neurology, including the neurological organization of the central nervous system and the general features of brain development. The author also examines the normal course of development of the visual systems. He discusses fixed patterns of behavior and the developmental processes that include emotional behavior, self-control, language use, perceptual, and cognitive development. The author then explains the use of statistical concept in psychological research, as well as the psychological methods of inquiry that involves variable manipulation and observation of effects. The author also discusses learning and motivation theory including the theories of Pavlov, Skinner, and Premack. He discusses the organism as an information processor using short- and long-term memory, and the mind as having physical aspects such as brain codes and a brain structure known as the corpus callosum. This book is helpful for psychiatrists, psychologists, behavioral scientists, students and professors in psychology.

Michael S. Gazzaniga

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