Review
One of the key issues in modern scientific research is how the brain works, and, as a consequence, how we become the individuals we are. Joseph LeDoux, Professor of Science at the Centre for Neural Science and the Department of Psychology at New York University, has demonstrated his authoritative research in The Emotional Brain and (with Michael Gazzaniga) The Integrated Mind, and here he turns his attention to this most crucial of questions. In lucid, cogently argued prose, he argues that the key to everything the brain does lies in our synapses. In physical terms, these minute spaces between neurons are the channels of communication by means of which we think, act, imagine, feel and use our memory. And these synapses permit interactions between the brain systems, encode the essence of what makes us individuals, maintaining the integrity of our personalities from moment to moment, from week to week and from year to year. In a style that is never hijacked by the technical, we are told how the various modular functions in the brain work, how the synaptic organization of individual brain systems is set up as infants develop and how this organization is modified by all the experiences that affect us in the course of a lifetime. A major area for examination here is the notion that the self is sustained by coordinated learning which occurs simultaneously in diverse systems, many of which function implicitly or unconsciously. This is an excellent, intelligently structured and insightful guide to a topic of vital interest. (Kirkus UK)
Product Description
Joseph Le Doux believes that the synapses - the little spaces between the neurons in our brains - are the key to everything the brain does. They are the channels of communication by which we think, act, imagine, feel and remember. But synapses do more. They also allow interactions between mental processes, allowing us to remember the important stuff in life better than the trivial. What's more, synapses encode the essence of the individual, allowing us to be the same person from moment to moment, week to week and year to year. In short, the self is synaptic.
