At the same time, he was immersed in street life. Today he is a cutting-edge neuroscientist—Columbia University's first tenured African American professor in the sciences—whose landmark, controversial research is redefining our understanding of addiction.In this provocative and eye-opening memoir, he recalls his journey of self-discovery and weaves his past and present. Hart goes beyond the hype of the antidrug movement as he examines the relationship among drugs, pleasure, choice, and motivation, both in the brain and in society. His findings shed new light on common ideas about race, poverty, and drugs, and explain why current policies are failing.Though Hart escaped neighborhoods that were dominated by entrenched poverty and the knot of problems associated with it, he has not turned his back on his roots. Determined to make a difference, he tirelessly applies his scientific research to help save real lives. But balancing his former street life with his achievements today has not been easy—a struggle he reflects on publicly for the first time.A powerful story of hope and change, of a scientist who has dedicated his life to helping others, High Price will alter the way we think about poverty, race, and addiction—and how we can effect change.

    The book made accessible to clinicians and other professionals a polyvagal perspective that provided new concepts and insights for understanding human behavior. The perspective placed an emphasis on the important link between psychological experiences and physical manifestations in the body. That book was brilliant but also quite challenging to read for some.Since publication of that book, Stephen Porges has been urged to make these ideas more accessible and The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory is the result. Constructs and concepts embedded in polyvagal theory are explained conversationally in The Pocket Guide and there is an introductory chapter which discusses the science and the scientific culture in which polyvagal theory was originally developed. Publication of this work enables Stephen Porges to expand the meaning and clinical relevance of this groundbreaking theory.

    It is believed that we must commit 10,000 hours to master a skill.  According to Lieberman, each of us has spent 10,000 hours learning to make sense of people and groups by the time we are ten.  Social argues that our need to reach out to and connect with others is a primary driver behind our behavior.  We believe that pain and pleasure alone guide our actions.  Yet, new research using fMRI – including a great deal of original research conducted by Lieberman and his UCLA lab -- shows that our brains react to social pain and pleasure in much the same way as they do to physical pain and pleasure.  Fortunately, the brain has evolved sophisticated mechanisms for securing our place in the social world.  We have a unique ability to read other people’s minds, to figure out their hopes, fears, and motivations, allowing us to effectively coordinate our lives with one another.  And our most private sense of who we are is intimately linked to the important people and groups in our lives.  This wiring often leads us to restrain our selfish impulses for the greater good.  These mechanisms lead to behavior that might seem irrational, but is really just the result of our deep social wiring and necessary for our success as a species.   Based on the latest cutting edge research, the findings in Social have important real-world implications.  Our schools and businesses, for example, attempt to minimalize social distractions.  But this is exactly the wrong thing to do to encourage engagement and learning, and literally shuts down the social brain, leaving powerful neuro-cognitive resources untapped.  The insights revealed in this pioneering book suggest ways to improve learning in schools, make the workplace more productive, and improve our overall well-being.

    

    The human brain has evolved a complex circuitry that allows it to be socially intelligent. This social machinery has only just begun to be studied in detail. One function of this circuitry is to attribute awareness to others: to compute that person Y is aware of thing X. In Graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. Damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. Graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications of this new theory.

    All she remembers is an unusually unpleasant doll...Why are there two identical castles on the island? Who is the mysterious man in the bowler hat? And above all, what is the purpose of the tests Anna is put through?Read, listen and peek into three-dimensional photographs to solve the bizarre mysteries of DEVICE 6.

    Written by pioneers and leaders in the arts therapies and psychology fields, the book includes 6 sections that examine mindfulness and the arts therapies from different perspectives: 1) the history and roots of mindfulness in relation to spirituality, psychotherapy and the arts therapies; 2) the role of the expressive arts in cultivating mindful awareness; 3) innovative approaches that add mindfulness to the arts therapies; 4) arts therapies approaches that are inherently mindfulness-based; 5) mindfulness in the training and education of arts therapists; and 6) the neuroscience underlying mindfulness and the arts therapies.  Contributors describe their pioneering work with diverse applications: people with cancer, trauma, chronic pain, substance abuse, severe mental illness, clients in private practice, adolescents at camp, training dance and art therapists, and more. This rich resource will inspire and rejuvenate all clinicians and educators.

    Pribram.In THE FORM WITHIN, Dr. Pribram takes us on a compelling journey from the dawn of our collective “recorded perceptions” in cave paintings to our greatest achievements as a species. He explains the important task of mapping the brain; the discovery of our holographic processing of memory and perception; and the detailed research that has created our understanding of self-organizing biological systems.Along the way, Pribram shares the intimate interactions he has had with luminaries of twentieth-century science, including David Bohm, Francis Crick, John Eccles, Dennis Gabor, Hubel and Wiesel, Wolfgang Kohler, Karl Lashley, Aleksandr Romanovitch Luria, Ilya Prigogine, B. F. Skinner, Eugene Sokolov, and many others.But this riveting glimpse into our past is only a part of the story. Pribram also provides us with insightful breakthroughs into a science of the future, and points the way to where our understanding of the brain is headed.

    However, we become less and less confident when we are called to answer fundamental questions about the relationships between consciousness and the physical world. Why is the cerebral cortex associated with consciousness, but not the liver, the heart, the cerebellum or other neural structures? Why does consciousness fade during deep sleep, while cortical neurons remain active? Can unresponsive patients with an island of active cortex surrounded by widespread damage be conscious? Is an artificial system that outperforms people at driving, recognizing faces and objects, and answering difficult questions conscious?Using the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) as a guiding principle, Sizing up Consciousness explores these questions, taking the reader along a fascinating journey from the cerebral cortex to the cerebellum, from wakefulness to sleep, anesthesia, and coma, supercomputers, octopuses, dolphins, and much more besides.By translating theoretical principles into practical measurements, the book outlines a preliminary attempt to identify a general rule to size up the capacity for consciousness within the human skull and beyond. Sizing up Consciousness is a short, accessible book, spanning neuronal activity to existential considerations and is essential reading for anyone interested in awareness and cognition.

    In How Things Shape the Mind, Lambros Malafouris proposes a cross-disciplinary analytical framework for investigating the ways in which things have become cognitive extensions of the human body. Using a variety of examples and case studies, he considers how those ways might have changed from earliest prehistory to the present. Malafouris's Material Engagement Theory definitively adds materiality -- the world of things, artifacts, and material signs -- into the cognitive equation. His account not only questions conventional intuitions about the boundaries and location of the human mind but also suggests that we rethink classical archaeological assumptions about human cognitive evolution.

    But after a horrible accident, she didn't know the difference between a hairbrush and a hammer. Molly got a severe brain injury from carbon monoxide poisoning. Her husband died as he lay next to her in the hotel bed. Molly had a baseline pulse, but was declared clinically dead. After nine days in a coma, Molly emerged. But not the Molly her family knew. That Molly was gone. This is not a story about recovery. Molly got better, then worse, and then simply different. She is still the oldest of four sisters, but she is a new Molly. This astonishing memoir from the second oldest sister chronicles Molly's brain injury and its impact on the sisters' close relationship and on the entire family. Told with engaging candor, this account delves into the harrowing complexities of this most damaging and mysterious of impairments, and reveals how a close-knit family was turned inside out and was forever changed by an "invisible injury." Revealed in startling twists and turns, this gritty, yet shining story of a life departed and also restarted is laced with frustration and lingering loss, but also long on humor and joy. Full of spirit and insights, Molly and her family struggle with brain injury using courage and creativity, determination and hope, while always vulnerable to its unrelenting dilemmas.

    Traditional arguments such as "nature versus nurture" are rapidly disappearing because of the realization that just as we are affecting our environments, so too do these altered environments restructure our cognitive abilities and outlooks. If the biological and technological breakthroughs are promising benefits such as extended life expectancies, these same discoveries also have the potential to improve in significant ways the quality of our built environments. This poses a compelling challenge to conventional architectural theory...This is the first book to consider these new scientific and humanistic models in architectural terms. Constructed as a series of five essays around the themes of beauty, culture, emotion, the experience of architecture, and artistic play, this book draws upon a broad range of discussions taking place in philosophy, psychology, biology, neuroscience, and anthropology, and in doing so questions what implications these discussions hold for architectural design.Drawing upon a wealth of research, Mallgrave argues that we should turn our focus away from the objectification of architecture (treating design as the creation of objects) and redirect it back to those for whom we design: the people inhabiting our built environments.

    This fascinating organ creates your personality and controls your reactions and emotions. It's responsible for how you perceive the world around you--all while controlling hundreds of physical functions like breathing, moving, circulation, and digestion. The brain is simply amazing!The Everything Guide to the Human Brain will help you to unlock the mysteries of the brain. You'll learn how the brain communicates with each part of the body, how it affects your emotional life, why you dream, and how you remember things. And you'll also get in-depth descriptions of brain disorders and how science and medicine are working to heal or reverse them. Written in plain English, this ultimate user's guide will help you learn about the most influential part of your body!

    Recent advances in neuroscience and engineering are making this a reality, opening the door to restoring and potentially augmenting human physical and mental capabilities. Medical applications such as cochlear implants for the deaf and deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease are becoming increasingly commonplace. Brain- computer interfaces (BCIs) (also known as brain- machine interfaces or BMIs) are now being explored in applications as diverse as security, lie detection, alertness monitoring, telepresence, gaming, education, art, and human augmentation. This introduction to the field is designed as a textbook for upper- level undergraduate and first year graduate courses in neural engineering or brain- computer interfacing for students from a wide range of disciplines. It can also be used for self- study and as a reference by neuroscientists, computer scientists, engineers, and medical practitioners. Key features include: Essential background in neuroscience, brain recording and stimulation technologies, signal processing, and machine learning. Detailed description of the major types of BCIs in animals and humans, including invasive, semi-invasive, noninvasive, stimulating, and bidirectional BCIs In-depth discussion of BCI applications and BCI ethics Questions and exercises in each chapter Supporting Web site with annotated list of book- related links

    Lessons from mind, brain, and education science are put into practice using students as a “lab” to test these theories. Strategies and approaches for doing so and a general list of “best practices” will guide and serve teachers, administrators, and parents.

    Discussion of habit, however, tends to neglect the most fundamental questions: What is habit? Habits, we say, are hard to break. But what does it mean to break a habit? Where and how do habits take root in us? Do only humans acquire habits? What accounts for the strength or weakness of a habit? Are habits something possessed or something that possesses? We spend a lot of time thinking about our habits, but rarely do we think deeply about the nature of habit itself.Aristotle and the ancient Greeks recognized the importance of habit for the constitution of character, while readers of David Hume or American pragmatists like C.S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey know that habit is a central component in the conceptual framework of many key figures in the history of philosophy. Less familiar are the disparate discussions of habit found in the Roman Stoics, Thomas Aquinas, Michel de Montaigne, Ren� Descartes, Gilles Deleuze, French phenomenology, and contemporary Anglo-American philosophies of embodiment, race, and gender, among many others.The essays gathered in this book demonstrate that the philosophy of habit is not confined to the work of just a handful of thinkers, but traverses the entire history of Western philosophy and continues to thrive in contemporary theory. A History of Habit: From Aristotle to Bourdieu is the first of its kind to document the richness and diversity of this history. It demonstrates the breadth, flexibility, and explanatory power of the concept of habit as well as its enduring significance. It makes the case for habit's perennial attraction for philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists.

    This field is known as attachment theory, and until now most of the cutting-edge insights have been written in “researcher-speak” and reserved for neurologists, psychologists, and others in the healing professions.Here veteran therapist and specialist in attachment disorders Daniel A. Hughes demystifies the research for lay people. By summarizing in short, easy-to-read “keys” the theory and brain science that underpin our ability to form relationships, he skillfully reveals how we can become better friends, spouses, siblings, and children. For anyone interested in how to develop meaningful new relationships or how to deepen and enrich their current ones, this book makes sense of it all.

    Neuromarketing and the brain sciences behind it provide new ways to look at the age-old question: why do consumers buy? Neuromarketing For Dummies goes beyond the hype to explain the latest findings in this growing and often misunderstood field, and shows business owners and marketers how neuromarketing really works and how they can use it to their advantage. You'll get a firm grasp on neuromarketing theory and how it is impacting research in advertising, in-store and online shopping, product and package design, and much more. Topics include:How neuromarketing works Insights from the latest neuromarketing research How to apply neuromarketing strategies to any level of advertising or marketing, on any budget Practical techniques to help your customers develop bonds with your products and services The ethics of neuromarketing Neuromarketing for Dummies demystifies the topic for business owners, students, and marketers and offers practical ways it can be incorporated into your existing marketing plans.

    Are there universal principles governing our own communication system? Can we even see how close animals are related to us by constructing an evolutionary tree based on similarities and dissimilarities in acoustic signaling? Research on the role of emotions in acoustic communication and its evolution has often been neglected, despite its obvious role in our daily life. When we infect others with our laugh, soothe a crying baby with a lullaby, or get goose bumps listening to classical music, we are barely aware of the complex processes upon which this behavior is based. It is not facial expressions or body language that are affecting us, but sound. They are present in music and speech as "emotional prosody" and allow us to communicate not only verbally but also emotionally. This groundbreaking book presents a thorough exploration into how acoustically conveyed emotions are generated and processed in both animals and man. It is the first volume to bridge the gap between research in the acoustic communication of emotions in humans with those in animals, using a comparative approach. With the communication of emotions being an important research topic for a range of scientific fields, this book is valuable for those in the fields of animal behaviour, anthropology, evolutionary biology, human psychology, linguistics, musicology, and neurology.

    Molecular biologists study the mechanisms of protein synthesis and the myriad mechanisms of gene regulation. Ecologists study nutrient cycling mechanisms and their devastating imbalances in estuaries such as the Chesapeake Bay. In fact, much of biology and its history involves biologists constructing, evaluating, and revising their understanding of mechanisms.           With In Search of Mechanisms, Carl F. Craver and Lindley Darden offer both a descriptive and an instructional account of how biologists discover mechanisms. Drawing on examples from across the life sciences and through the centuries, Craver and Darden compile an impressive toolbox of strategies that biologists have used and will use again to reveal the mechanisms that produce, underlie, or maintain the phenomena characteristic of living things. They discuss the questions that figure in the search for mechanisms, characterizing the experimental, observational, and conceptual considerations used to answer them, all the while providing examples from the history of biology to highlight the kinds of evidence and reasoning strategies employed to assess mechanisms. At a deeper level, Craver and Darden pose a systematic view of what biology is, of how biology makes progress, of how biological discoveries are and might be made, and of why knowledge of biological mechanisms is important for the future of the human species.

    This is a book about how to do things. We have tried to make it as difficult as possible for you to reject the material in this book out of prejudice against one tradition or another. If we have been successful, you will see that the only way truly to evaluate the practices in this book is to try them for yourself.The EBook version of The Book of Good Practices is divided up into three volumes:Volume I: Learning Mindfulness and Self-AwarenessIntroductionAttention: Observances and AbstentionsRelaxation and StretchesMetabolism and FastingBreathingSense WithdrawalConcentrationAttention II – MindfulnessLoving Kindness and Compassion MeditationsAppendix I – Suggested Programs of StudyAppendix II –Additional ResourcesAbout the AuthorsVolume II: Neurological Skills for Well-Being and ExcellenceIntroductionChanging HabitsBeliefs and ValuesDecision Making and Goal SettingMaintaining and Improving Brain FunctionHemispheric ExercisesPeripheral VisionPain Control TechniquesLearning and Mnemonic TechniquesDreaming and Dream WorkAppendix I – Suggested Programs of StudyAppendix II –Additional ResourcesAbout the AuthorsVolume III: How to Empower Yourself and Influence OthersIntroductionSensory ProcessingAnchoringTrance and Trance Induction MethodsSensory Processing II – Sensory Sub-ModalitiesSensory Processing III – Sensory ImaginationSensory Processing IV – The Classical Elements and Subtle EnergyLanguage Patterns: Clear Thinking, Communication, and TranceSensory AcuityPacing and RapportPatterns for ChangeAppendix I – Suggested Programs of StudyAppendix II –Additional ResourcesAbout the AuthorsThe print version of The Book of Good Practices (available sometime in 2014) will be arranged with the chapters in a slightly different order and will be contained all in one volume.

    The authors have developed an innovative approach to reverse runaway pain by harnessing the brain's amazing neuroplastic ability to heal the body. The program presented in this workbook applies the discoveries of cutting edge research in the fields of Pain Medicine, Neurology, Immunology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience to help people transition from a life of chronic pain to a life of health and wellness. The book can be used independently or as a tool for an interactive partnership between practitioner and patient.

    In a thoughtful and entertaining manner, the book explores how the brain interprets art by engaging our sensations, thoughts, and emotions. It describes interesting findings from psychological and brain sciences as a way to understand our aesthetic response to art. Beauty, disgust, surprise, anger, sadness, horror, and a myriad of other emotions can occur as we experience art. Some artworks may generate such feelings rather quickly, while others depend on thought and knowledge. Our response to art depends largely on what we know--from everyday knowledge about the world, from our cultural backgrounds, and from personal experience. Filled with artworks from many traditions and time points, Experiencing Art offers insightful ways of broadening one's approach and appreciation of art.

    Most of us reach for a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, many of us occasionally eat some chocolate, some smoke a cigarette or take an herbal supplement, and some peopleuse illicit drugs. We know a great deal about the mechanisms by which the psychoactive components of these various products have their effects on human brain function, but the question of why they have these effects has been almost totally ignored.This book sets out to describe not only how, in terms of pharmacology or psychopharmacology, but more importantly why plant- and fungus-derived chemicals have their effects on the human brain. The answer to this last question resides, in part, with the terrestrial world's two dominant life forms, the plants and the insects, and the many ecological roles the 'secondary metabolite' plant chemicals are trying to play; for instance, defending the plant against insect herbivores whilst attracting insect pollinators. The answer also resides in the intersecting genetic heritage of mammals, plants, and insects and the surprising biological similarities between the three taxa. In particular it revolves around the close correspondence between the brains of insects and humans, and the intercellular signaling pathways shared by plants and humans.Plants and the Human Brain describes and discusses both how and why phytochemicals affect brain function with respect to the three main groups of secondary metabolites: the alkaloids, which provide us with caffeine, a host of poisons, a handful of hallucinogens, and most drugs of abuse (e.g.morphine, cocaine, DMT, LSD, and nicotine); the phenolics, including polyphenols, which constitute a significant and beneficial part of our natural diet; and the terpenes, a group of multifunctional compounds which provide us with the active components of cannabis and a multitude of herbal extractssuch as ginseng, ginkgo and valerian.

    The Good Practices Workbook contains blank journal forms and other material to assist you with recording your routines, diet, sleep patterns, and the results of your daily practices when performing the wide variety of exercises described in The Book of Good Practices (also by Taylor Ellwood and Bill Whitcomb).

    Applying brain Plasticity and advances and recover human ability.

    The fun begins with an engaging look at the biology behind the brain and eyes, complete with cool diagrams and a colorful "map" of the brain. Then they'll get to the core of the illusions, learning why some printed pictures appear to swirl madly on the page, how two colors can appear to be different when they are actually the same, how our eyes can pick out complete images in random pattern, and much more. From color conundrums to plays on perspective, the illusions in this book will leave readers wondering if they can ever really believe what they see.

    She argues that enactivism entails a view of cognition as not just embodied but also intrinsically affective, and she elaborates on the implications of this claim for the study of emotion in psychology and neuroscience.In the course of her discussion, Colombetti focuses on long-debated issues in affective science, including the notion of basic emotions, the nature of appraisal and its relationship to bodily arousal, the place of bodily feelings in emotion experience, the neurophysiological study of emotion experience, and the bodily nature of our encounters with others. Drawing on enactivist tools such as dynamical systems theory, the notion of the lived body, neurophenomenology, and phenomenological accounts of empathy, Colombetti advances a novel approach to these traditional issues that does justice to their complexity. Doing so, she also expands the enactive approach into a further domain of inquiry, one that has more generally been neglected by the embodied-embedded approach in the philosophy of cognitive science.

    

    New arguments and conclusions based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and other increasingly sophisticated technologies are being applied to debates and processes in the legal field, from lie detection to legal doctrine surrounding criminal law, including the insanity defense to legal theory.In Minds, Brains, and Law, Michael S. Pardo and Dennis Patterson analyze questions that lie at the core of implementing neuroscientific research and technology within the legal system. They examine the arguments favoring increased use of neuroscience in law, the scientific evidence available for thereliability of neuroscientific evidence in legal proceedings, and the integration of neuroscientific research into substantive legal doctrines.The authors also explore the basic philosophical questions that lie at the intersection of law, mind, and neuroscience. In doing so, they argue that mistaken inferences and conceptual errors arise from mismatched concepts, such as the disconnect between lying and what constitutes lying in manyneuroscientific studies. The empirical, practical, ethical, and conceptual issues that Pardo and Patterson seek to redress will deeply influence how we negotiate and implement the fruits of neuroscience in law and policy in the future.This paperback edition contain a new Preface covering developments in this subject since the hardcover edition published in 2013.

    Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. Social Learning provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin Laland define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students. Provides a comprehensive, practical guide to social learning research Combines theoretical and empirical approaches Describes techniques for the laboratory and the field Covers social learning mechanisms and strategies, statistical modeling techniques for field data, mathematical modeling of cultural evolution, and more