From Monkey Brain to Human Brain: A Fyssen Foundation Symposium [Hardcover]

Stanislas duhamel (Editor), Jean-René Duhamel (Editor), Marc D. Hauser (Editor), Giacomo Rizzolatti (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2005 | Series: Fyssen Foundation Symposium

The extraordinary overlap between human and chimpanzee genomes does not result in an equal overlap between human and chimpanzee thoughts, sensations, perceptions, and emotions; there are considerable similarities but also considerable differences between human and nonhuman primate brains. From Monkey Brain to Human Brain uses the latest findings in cognitive psychology, comparative biology, and neuroscience to look at the complex patterns of convergence and divergence in primate cortical organization and function.Several chapters examine the use of modern technologies to study primate brains, analyzing the potentials and the limitations of neuroimaging as well as genetic and computational approaches. These methods, which can be applied identically across different species of primates, help to highlight the paradox of nonlinear primate evolution -- the fact that major changes in brain size and functional complexity resulted from small changes in the genome. Other chapters identify plausible analogs or homologs in nonhuman primates for such human cognitive functions as arithmetic, reading, theory of mind, and altruism; examine the role of parietofrontal circuits in the production and comprehension of actions; analyze the contributions of the prefrontal and cingulate cortices to cognitive control; and explore to what extent visual recognition and visual attention are related in humans and other primates.The Fyssen Foundation is dedicated to encouraging scientific inquiry into the cognitive mechanisms that underlie animal and human behavior and has long sponsored symposia on topics of central importance to the cognitive sciences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This amazing volume modernizes Darwin by showing how closely the human and monkey brain are linked in morphology and genetics. Its chapters demonstrate that even our most impressive cognitive achievements of language, mathematics, and empathy are all illuminated by the relevant primate circuitry."--Michael Posner, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

About the Author

Jean-René Duhamel is Director of Research, Institute of Cognitive Science at CNRS, Lyon.

Stanislas Dehaene is Director of Research at INSERM's Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Paris.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: A Bradford Book (June 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262042231
• ISBN-13: 978-0262042239
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A difficult but hugely rewarding read, October 5, 2009

By 

Eliot Miranda (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Monkey Brain to Human Brain: A Fyssen Foundation Symposium (Hardcover)

This is an in-depth and very well-structured set of papers on the cutting edge of brain research as of 2004. The basic research tools are in the main functional magnetic resonance imaging and comparative brain mapping that enables comparisons of typically macaque brains against human brains "in the normal subject".

The set of papers is extremely well-edited so that it really does function as a book. There is introductory material on fMRI, brain mapping, brain development and evolution, that supports later chapters on neural plasticity, number and word sense, reciprocal altruism, mirror neurons (the basis of our mimicry and hence learning of speech), and much more.

This book is, however, slanted towards a reader with a good background in brain structure. This book badly needs a comprehensive glossary. If you're up to the challenge, though, you'll find it a hugely rewarding read.