The Mind within the Net: Models of Learning, Thinking, and Acting [Hardcover]

Manfred Spitzer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262194066 | ISBN-13: 978-0262194068 | Publication Date: March 12, 1999 | Edition: 1st

How does the brain work? How do billions of neurons bring about ideas, sensations, emotions, and actions? Why do children learn faster than elderly people? What can go wrong in perception, thinking, learning, and acting? Scientists now use computer models to help us to understand the most private and human experiences. In The Mind Within the Net, Manfred Spitzer shows how these models can fundamentally change how we think about learning, creativity, thinking, and acting, as well as such matters as schools, retirement homes, politics, and mental disorders.

Neurophysiology has told us a lot about how neurons work; neural network theory is about how neurons work together to process information. In this highly readable book, Spitzer provides a basic, nonmathematical introduction to neural networks and their clinical applications. Part I explains the fundamental theory of neural networks and how neural network models work. Part II covers the principles of network functioning and how computer simulations of neural networks have profound consequences for our understanding of how the brain works. Part III covers applications of network models (e.g., to knowledge representation, language, and mental disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease) that shed new light on normal and abnormal states of mind. Finally, Spitzer concludes with his thoughts on the ramifications of neural networks for the understanding of neuropsychology and human nature.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Is your brain like your computer? Well, (hopefully) it doesn't crash as often, and that's just one of many on the long list of differences. But psychiatrist Manfred Spitzer says neuroscientists have much to learn from the alternative computing architectures called neural nets. His book The Mind Within the Net is a look at biological and electronic networks, their similarities, and what each can tell us about the other, with a particular emphasis on his own field. We've known for decades how individual neurons work. It's taken recent advances in neural computing to help us learn how brain systems might take advantage of their unique dynamics to help us see, walk, and keep the trains running on time.

Covering the basics of both neuroscience and neural computing with a user-friendly, but not oversimplified, prose style, Spitzer then moves on to the often striking similarities in function between simple electronic networks and mechanisms within the brain. Keeping in mind the importance of recognizing models as such, he takes pains to point out that there are some aspects of computing for which there is little comparison to biological systems. However, the similarities between different network degradations and such diverse problems as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and depression are compelling and potentially important. It's not often that we get a new batch of metaphors to help us understand ourselves; this may be the paradigm shift we've been waiting for. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

In neural network theory, scientists use computers and mathematics to model complex brain functions. Here, Spitzer, professor and chairman of the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Ulm, Germany, offers lay readers an accessible introduction to the workings of that theory. His goal is not to reduce faculties of higher intelligence, behavior and emotion to the mechanistic. Rather, he hopes to further our understanding of the elaborate, elegant connections between the physical and the cerebral, with an eye toward practical benefits for humanity. Spitzer begins with basics, explaining what neurons are and how they work through electrochemical impulses. He moves on to distinctions between the organic minds of humans and the artificial intelligence of computers. Although computer models of neural networks are valuable tools in comprehending brain mechanics, Spitzer is careful to keep visible the differences between human and machine. And results from the latest experiments in brain chemistry and neural linkages, he reports, contradict some cherished hypotheses on learning and behavior. He explains, for instance, how recent work in the field gainsays widely held linguistic theories concerning deep-seated universal capacities for language. He also explores the relationship of experience to learning and behavior, challenging some contemporary epistemological assertions. Easy-to-follow diagrams and a practical glossary will help readers with limited knowledge of this intriguing yet esoteric realm. Illustrations throughout.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 359 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1st edition (March 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262194066
• ISBN-13: 978-0262194068
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,298,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally clear, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mind within the Net: Models of Learning, Thinking, and Acting (Hardcover)

This exceptionally clear and lucid books describes with masterful clarity the recent advances in the area of theoretical modeling of the human brain using artificial neural networks. It not only introduces a subject which normally requires a considerable amount of mathematics very clearly, but also explores the consequences on such modeling on our everyday's life with great clarity. Other books with less mathematics and more "philosophy" are also not so easy to read, but this one stands out for its clarity. Admittedly the level is introductory, as fine details are not covered, but it makes you feel that you must immediately start to go deeper on these subjects, as it is written in a very engaging style. Reading this book is a great intellectual pleasure.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are neural networks the basis for brain function?, December 1, 1999

By 

R. Lockmiller "rlockmiller" (Fair Oaks, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mind within the Net: Models of Learning, Thinking, and Acting (Hardcover)

Even though I'm not a neuroscientist or neural computing expert, I found this book to be an excellent discussion of neural networks and how they seem to at least provide models for (and may actually be the primary mechanism of) brain function.

In the book's three sections ("Basics", "Principles", and "Applications"), Spitzer's lucid writing describes neural networks, current concepts in learning, how cortical organization relates to networks, and many specific examples which describe how research is illuminating the challenging topic of how the mind works.

His illustrations complement the text perfectly, he cites references as needed, he provides a glossary of the terms he uses, and his index provides quick access for review.

This book has been a pleasure to read, and I hope the author updates it as research progresses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars English translation describing Neural Networks without GREEK, May 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mind within the Net: Models of Learning, Thinking, and Acting (Hardcover)

Nearly every publication that touches computational neuroscience is saturated with mathematics. Spitzer accurately depicts the defining characteristics of neurons, and presents abstract network models with very little emphasis on the mathematical theory that other authors believe is necessary to describe neural networks.

It's refreshing to experience a book that describes complex, technical issues, but reads more like an entertaining story.