Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our ThoughtsWINNER OF THE 2014 BRAIN PRIZE From the acclaimed author of Reading in the Brain and How We Learn, a breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries. A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 17 | |
Fathoming Unconscious Depths | 47 |
What Is Consciousness Good For? | 89 |
The Signatures of a Conscious Thought | 115 |
Theorizing Consciousness | 161 |
The Ultimate Test | 200 |
The Future of Consciousness | 234 |
Acknowledgments | 268 |
Bibliography | 287 |
Index | 319 |
Illustration Credits | 335 |
Other editions - View all
Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts Stanislas Dehaene No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
areas attention attentional blink auditory awareness beep beep behavior Bihan binocular rivalry brain activity brain imaging brain-computer interfaces cells change blindness Changeux circuits cognitive Cohen coma conscious access conscious experience conscious mind conscious perception conscious thoughts cortical Dehaene Dehaene-Lambertz detect digit electrodes encode experimental eyes Figure firing flashed frontal functions Giacino global neuronal workspace global workspace global workspace theory human brain inattentional blindness infants inputs instance introspection invisible Jean-Pierre Changeux Kouider Lamme language Laureys lobe locked-in syndrome long-distance masking massive memory mental milliseconds minimally conscious monkeys motor Naccache ness neural Neuroscience objects operations P3 wave parietal parietal lobes participants patients pattern picture prefrontal cortex priming psychologist remains response schizophrenia scious seems sensory Sergent Sigman signals signatures of consciousness specific spontaneous stimulus subjective subliminal target temporal temporal lobe thalamus threshold tion trials uncon unconscious processing vegetative visual cortex word