Conversations in the Cognitive Neurosciences [Paperback]

Michael S. Gazzaniga (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 026257117X | ISBN-13: 978-0262571173 | Publication Date: November 1, 1996 | Edition: 1

Conversations in the Cognitive Neurosciences is a brief, informative yet informal guide to recent developments in the cognitive neurosciences by the scientists who are in the thick of things.

"Getting a fix on important questions and how to think about them from an experimental point of view is what scientists talk about, sometimes endlessly. It is those conversations that thrill and motivate," observes Michael Gazzaniga. Yet all too often these exciting interactions are lost to students, researchers, and others who are "doing" science. Conversations in the Cognitive Neurosciences brings together a series of interviews with prominent individuals in neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology that have appeared over the past few years in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

The ten interviews are divided into five sections: basic neuroscience approaches to cognition (Floyd Bloom and Mark Raichle), attentional and perceptual processes (Michael I. Posner and William T. Newsome), neural basis of memory (Randy Gallistel and Endel Tulving), language (Steven Pinker and Alfonso Caramazza), and imagery and consciousness (Stephen M. Kosslyn and Daniel C. Dennett).

A Bradford Book

Editorial Reviews

Review

"All too frequently, the book does not measure up to the movie, the novel lacks the punch of the serialized chapters, and the entire antholoy is a pale reflection of the most arresting short stories. Conversations in the Cognitive Neurosciences is a happy exception. Michael Gazzaniga has integrated a series of interviews with leading brain and mind scientists. The result is a thematically coherent whole that is rich in substance and style. Using focused but open-ended questions to engage thoughtful, articulate practitioners, Gazzaniga elicits a rich mix of historical perspective and cutting-edge science. Each of the interviews provides wonderfully personal and insightful accounts of cognitive neuroscience and the relationship of mind and brain."
—Ira B. Black, MD, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

About the Author

Michael S. Gazzaniga is Professor of Psychology and Director for the SAGE Center for the Study of Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition, he is the Director of the Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience, President of the Cognitive Neuroscience Institute, and a member of the President's Council on Bioethetics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026257117X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262571173
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,951,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Neuro-what????", July 6, 2001

By 

John Rachlin (Newton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conversations in the Cognitive Neurosciences (Paperback)

In 1989, the PBS series NOVA had an hour-long conversation with the late physicist Richard Feynman, in which he extolled on his passion for the scientific enterprise. The interview was animated, enlightening, and entertaining. (Clips from this interview circulate the Internet.) I was hoping that this book would present similarly animated and passionate discussions. However, Gazzaniga explains in his introduction that these collected "interviews" were conducted by email. This changes the tone of the discussion entirely because the responses are, in a word, crafted. In addition, both the questions, and their responses, are highly technical. For example, on the subject of Brain Imaging, Gazzaniga asks: "PET was initially built to deal with medical issues, perhaps looking at cerebral stroke per se, or studying chemotherapeutic agents for brain tumor, or looking at neurotransmitters in psychiatric and degenerative disease. PET today seems mostly committed to the study of functional correlates of cognitive function. Is this true and, if so, why?" Such questions are not exactly "fascinating reading for both beginners and experts alike" as suggested by one back-cover reviewer. Perhaps experts in the field of cognitive neuroscience will find the book useful but this is not a book for the uninitiated. I can only hope that Gazzaniga's dinner parties that inspired the book are more fun.