Cortex and Mind: Unifying Cognition

by Joaquín M. Fuster

This book presents a unique synthesis of the current neuroscience of cognition by one of the world's authorities in the field. The guiding principle to this synthesis is the tenet that the entirety of our knowledge is encoded by relations, and thus by connections, in neuronal networks of our cerebral cortex. Cognitive networks develop by experience on a base of widely dispersed modular cell assemblies representing elementary sensations and movements. As they develop cognitive networks organize themselves hierarchically by order of complexity or abstraction of their content. Because networks intersect profusely, sharing commong nodes, a neuronal assembly anywhere in the cortex can be part of many networks, and therefore many items of knowledge. All cognitive functions consist of neural transactions within and between cognitive networks. After reviewing the neurobiology and architecture of cortical networks (also named cognits ), the author undertakes a systematic study of
cortical dynamics in each of the major cognitive functions--perception, memory, attention, language, and intelligence. In this study, he makes use of a large body of evidence from a variety of methodologies, in the brain of the human as well as the nonhuman primate. The outcome of his interdisciplinary endeavor is the emergence of a structural and dynamic order in the cerebral cortex that, though still sketchy and fragmentary, mirrors with remarkable fidelity the order in the human mind.

Genres: Neuroscience, Science

294 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2002

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que hp para irse por las ramas, pero buen libro

[Mengsen Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was picked as the textbook for a cognitive neuroscience class I took this fall. One word to describe: 'organic'. For most of the cogneuro textbooks I read before, I could not find a coherent logic to connect the whole book, which made it hard to pick up relevant knowledge dispersed across different chapters. Although there are many arguments or intrinsic assumptions I do not agree, I had a very good learning experience, especially on connectionism perspectives. I feel that Fuster really put his heart in it when writing this book. Nevertheless, he tried hard to keep his phrasing accurate, but there are still things like 'the right hemisphere was not activated in this task' sort of segments appears to be very misleading. No need to nitpicking but remain cautious.

[Bernard Kripkee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful overview of some current approaches to the functions of the cerebral cortex. The book emphasizes the notion of "cognits" (units of cognition) as complex networks of neurons, each spread through much of the cerebral cortex. The brain according to Fuster is not a factory-like assembly line with sensory input being processed, station by station, into perceptions. Neither is it a telephone switchboard of digital units. Instead, it is a complex of interacting networks, richly interconnected, with activity flowing both inward (from the sensorium) and outward, both excitatory and inhibitory.