Consciousness and Cognition: Fragments of Mind and Brain
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Table of contents
- Front CoverCover
- Consciousness and Cognitioniii
- Copyright Pageiv
- Contentsv
- Contributorsviii
- Introductionxxvi
- Chapter 1. How Did Modern Human Cognition Evolve?3
- Our large brain: does size matter?5
- Tools, decoration and art7
- Where did modern human consciousness come from?12
- Conclusion17
- Chapter 2. Taking Up Arms19
- Thinking big19
- The question of language20
- Language is a hand-me-down!21
- Convincing myself21
- Book for sale22
- Objections22
- When did autonomous speech emerge?23
- Not with a bang, but with a whimper26
- Chapter 3. Celebrating 300 Million Years of the Mind: A Bird’s Eye View29
- What do we mean by ‘the mind’?30
- Flying without frontal lobes31
- What is intelligence, and how can this be measured in birds?31
- Birds, like humans, learn from careful observation33
- How is this possible with so little neocortical tissue?34
- From stories to controlled experiments35
- Talking with Alex38
- Bird play39
- If my bird looks happy, is she really happy?40
- Anthropomorphism41
- Conclusion42
- Chapter 4. Was Medieval Cell Doctrine More Modern Than We Thought?45
- A brief historical sketch – the standard view45
- New version – it was in the brain all along46
- Early studies of patients with brain damage47
- A little Latin to help sort out the puzzle48
- Information flow – making the model dynamic48
- The brain’s control of movement50
- A summary and outline51
- Chapter 5. Can Evolution Produce Robots?53
- Artificial intelligence53
- How does artificial evolution work?56
- How artificial neurons work58
- How to get robots to behave58
- What artificial neural nets can do59
- A useful application: getting rid of trash61
- Learning and evolution61
- What is the current state of things?62
- Of what importance is evolutionary robotics?64
- Future visions64
- Chapter 6. The Thought-Translation Device69
- Using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to translate thoughts into action70
- Communicating with slow cortical potentials71
- The origin of slow cortical potentials in the human brain72
- The TTD in a nutshell72
- Setting up and using the TTD74
- How the language support program works74
- The training procedure76
- The training of patient E.M.77
- TTD – visions for the future80
- Chapter 7. Babes in Arms: Studies in Laterality83
- The left side rules83
- A bias rediscovered85
- Is the bias just a matter of handedness?88
- Some things to know about handedness89
- What handedness could explain about the holding-side bias90
- Problems for a handedness explanation91
- Is the bias a matter of posture?93
- What’s the difference between babies and books?95
- Types of holds and their functions97
- States of ‘action-approach’97
- The anatomy of emotion101
- Emotions, attention, and side of holding102
- Can the attention hypothesis account for other details of the holding-side bias?103
- An exception to the left-side rule105
- Why don’t left-hand prohibitions decrease left-side holding?107
- In Sum108
- Chapter 8. Why a Creative Brain? Evolutionary Setups for Off-Line Planning of Coherent Stages115
- Creativity is an evolutionary newcomer115
- Creativity for language instead?116
- When an advance plan is needed117
- Innovation during get-set118
- The Darwinian process119
- Speeding up the Darwinian process120
- New uses for old things121
- Long sentences and coherence122
- Creating new levels of organization123
- Chapter 9. Creativity: Method or Magic?127
- What is not creative?128
- Creative trait or creative state?131
- Underlying mechanisms131
- Conclusions137
- Chapter 10. The Cross-Cultural Brain139
- Alexithymia140
- The laterality hypothesis of alexithymia141
- A ‘flashy’ way to do experiments141
- The experiments143
- An invitation to participate in our online experiments146
- Chapter 11. Where’s the Missing Body? A Puzzle for Cognitive Science149
- Act I149
- Act II151
- Act III153
- Act IV157
- Chapter 12. Whose Free Will is it Anyway? or, The Illusion of Determinism163
- Is free will more than a feeling?163
- Neuroscience, neural reductionism and determinism164
- The implications of reductionism and determinism for society and psychology165
- Psychology and materialism of the mind166
- Modern neuroscience and non-determinism: radical changes of the late twentieth century167
- The crux of the free-will debate: is brain activity predictable?168
- Future perspectives170
- Chapter 13. Affective Neuroscience and the Ancestral Sources of Human Feelings173
- Some personal lessons and LESSNS about the evolved nature of emotions173
- Archaeology of mind: the affective sources of consciousness175
- Five distinctions between affective consciousness and cognitive consciousness177
- The emotional underpinnings of human nature – toward a neuroevolutionary psychobiology179
- Learning in emotional systems and more on the pervasive emotion-cognition interactions182
- Development of new psychiatric medications183
- Mind views: emotional states and cognitive information processing184
- In sum185
- Chapter 14. The Funny Meat Behind Our Eyes191
- Humor and laughter for fun and (maybe) health193
- Humor and laughter from a biological perspective194
- The functional cognitive anatomy of a joke200
- Where do we go from here?202
- Chapter 15. Practicing Safe Stress: A Selective Overview of the Neuroscience Research205
- Stress and stressors205
- Acute stress and memory210
- Chronic stress, brain structure, and function213
- Stress and mental health215
- How stress sculpts the developing brain218
- Gender, stress, and the brain220
- Coping with stress221
- Chapter 16. Petrol Sniffing, the Brain, and Aboriginal culture: Between Sorcery and Neuroscience225
- Petrol sniffing225
- Aboriginal culture228
- Neuroscience231
- Both ways238
- Conclusion242
- Chapter 17. Chatting with Noam Chomsky245
- Index255
- A255
- B255
- C256
- D257
- E257
- F257
- G257
- H258
- I258
- J258
- K258
- L258
- M259
- N259
- O259
- P259
- R259
- S260
- T260
- U260
- V260
- W260
- Y260
- Color PlatesCP1
What were the circumstances that led to the development of our cognitive abilities from a primitive hominid to an essentially modern human? The answer to this question is of profound importance to understanding our present nature. Since the steep path of our cognitive development is the attribute that most distinguishes humans from other mammals, this is also a quest to determine human origins. This collection of outstanding scientific problems and the revelation of the many ways they can be addressed indicates the scope of the field to be explored and reveals some avenues along which research is advancing. Distinguished scientists and researchers who have advanced the discussion of the mind and brain contribute state-of-the-art presentations of their field of expertise. Chapters offer speculative and provocative views on topics such as body, culture, evolution, feelings, genetics, history, humor, knowledge, language, machines, neuroanatomy, pathology, and perception. This book will appeal to researchers and students in cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy.
* Includes a contribution by Noam Chomsky, one of the most cited authors of our time
* Includes a contribution by Noam Chomsky, one of the most cited authors of our time