The Neural Mind: How Brains Think

by George Lakoff, Srinivas Narayanan

Offers an expansive, unified theory of thought that brings together the vast resources of neuroscience, computation, and cognitive linguistics.

What is an idea, and where does it come from? We experience thought as if it were abstract, but every thought is actually a physical thing, carried out by the neural systems of our brains. Thought does not occur neuron-by-neuron; it happens when neurons come together to form circuits and when simple circuits combine to form complex ones. Thoughts, then, derive their structures from the circuitry we also use for vision, touch, and hearing. This circuitry is what allows simple thoughts to come together into complex concepts, making meaning, creating metaphors, and framing our social and political ideas.

With The Neural Mind, George Lakoff, a pioneering cognitive linguist, and computer scientist Srini Narayanan deftly combine insights from cognitive science, computational modeling, and linguistics to show how thoughts arise from the neural circuitry that runs throughout our bodies. They answer key questions about the ways we make How does neural circuitry create the conceptual “frames” through which we understand our social lives? What kind of neural circuitry characterizes metaphorical thought, in which ideas are understood in terms of other ideas with similar structures? Lively and accessible, the book shows convincingly that the “metaphors we live by”—to use Lakoff’s famous phrase—aren’t abstractions but deeply embodied neural constructs.

The Neural Mind is the first book of its kind, bringing together the ideas of multiple disciplines to offer a unified, accessible theory of thought. A field-defining work, Lakoff and Narayanan’s book will be of interest not just to linguists and cognitive scientists but also to psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, journalists, sociologists, and political scientists—and anyone who wants to understand how we really think.

Genres: Science, Linguistics, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

Published June 24, 2025

About the author

George Lakoff is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at UC Berkeley and is one of the founders of the field of cognitive science.

He is author of The New York Times bestseller Don't Think of an Elephant!, as well as Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, Whose Freedom?, and many other books and articles on cognitive science and linguistics.

Reviews

[Bharath · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find neuroscience fascinating. The recent advances in understanding our brain and behaviors makes for interesting reading. AI adds intriguing possibilities to what we can uncover, as well as what humans & AI together can achieve. This is a detailed look at how our brains possibly create thought and ideas.

The key question is - how does a physical (neural) circuit create non-physical ideas? Research has shown that thought is a systems product – it is not a neuron-level outcome. I have read elsewhere as well on how the brain creates the world we see for us. A good example this book starts with is color, which does not exist in physical form. The color we see is a result of wavelengths objects reflect, the color cones in our retina and our neural circuitry. Hence, people do not have the exact same sense of color. Men & women, especially, often see differently due to chromosome differences (I now have a defense with my wife who tells me I many times incorrectly label many color shades). Similar to color, ideas are not physical entities. The working of the brain is complex – after all, it has to make sense of our context & events and provide a viewpoint to us (based on what it sees via eyes, hears via ears, etc).

This book takes a detailed look at how our brains are structured, work and potentially create thoughts and ideas. Though I mentioned at the start that I find neuroscience fascinating, I recognize that it is a complex subject. The research & citations in the book are extensive and while I appreciate the level of detail, I found many sections to be dense. Very interesting content but would have benefited with more conversational & experience-based writing.

Thanks to Netgalley, University of Chicago Press and the authors for a free electronic review copy.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinarily important book for anyone who wants to understand the relationship between our brains and our engagement with "external reality." Summarizing a vast amount of research in neuroscience, they establish that what we think of us the outside world is actually composed of networks of neurons. Beyond that, they outline, to the extent current research makes possible, the layers of structures in our brains and the ways they connect with one another. There's a ton to assimilate in the book and I'll definitely be going back to it after I've let it sink in for a while.

What stops it from being a clear five star book is that after about the half way point, the emphasis shifts to computer modeling and linguistic structures. I'm not convinced that their examples aren't more culture-bound than they suggest; many of the arguments rest on specific verbal constructions in English. It's way outside my area of competence, but there's quite a bit that didn't feel as definitve as the phrasings suggest. I wound up skimming the last third or so, but the first third will be embedded in the way I think about key issues for a long time.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very complicated book, obviously in my opinion and so especially for me, because it focuses on the way the brain thinks, assuming that all the biomolecular substrate is already clear. The brain organization that goes beyond individual neurons is then studied particularly in terms of what is involved in language, and this is where things get even more difficult although extremely interesting, but I'm sure I understood a tiny bit. Intriguing, brief and understandable remains the finale, however, in which the cognitive processes of the brain are compared to AI and the reasons why it remains essential not to mix the two plans, but to study them both well and thoroughly, because they have completely different purposes.

Questo é un libro molto complicato, ovviamente secondo me e quindi soprattutto per me, perché si focalizza sul modo di pensare che ha il cervello, dando per scontato che tutti il substrato biomolecolare sia giá chiaro. L'organizzazione celebrale che va oltre i singoli neuroni, viene poi studiata in particolare per quello che riguarda il linguaggio, e qui le cose si fanno ancora piú difficili anche se estremamente interessanti, ma sono sicura di aver capito una minima parte. Intressante, breve e comprensibile resta comunque il finale, nel quale i processi cognitivi del cervello vengono paragonati all'IA e le ragioni per cui resta fondamentale non mischiare i due piani, ma studiarli bene ed a fondo entrambi, perché hanno scopi compleamente differenti.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This groundbreaking book reveals how thoughts are physical, embodied neural constructs, not abstract concepts. Drawing on cognitive science, computational modeling, and linguistics, it explains how neural circuitry creates meaning, metaphors, and our understanding of the social and political world.

This is a fascinating book. It’s very technical and not particularly engaging for a lay audience. It reads more like a textbook but is full of unique information.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Sunz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate this book so much. I learned a lot of things about my brain that made me understand myself more. Not only that, it opens the door to a greater appreciation of neuroscience that can help us make sense of the political and social events that affect our lives in general. Even though the book is so dense with knowledge and could be challenging to read, the reader can still glean profound information that contributes to a deeper understanding of the mind, thoughts, the environment, language, and the society. So thankful to the University of Chicago Press, George Lakoff, Srini Narayanan, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advanced reader's copy of the book and share how this book changed the way I look at my brain. So mind-boggling.

[Sekar Writes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review and summary.

Have you ever stopped to wonder how we think? How we take in information, make sense of language, and build ideas? This book unpacks those questions in a structured but fascinating way, focusing on the neural mind and how our brains construct thought.

I loved how the book started from the smallest neural connections and built up to big-picture ideas like communication and social impact. It’s a bit technical, but the way it’s broken down kept me engaged. Not an easy read, but if you're curious about the science of thought, it’s absolutely worth your time!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my review.