Conversations With Neil's Brain: The Neural Nature Of Thought And Language

by William H. Calvin, George A. Ojemann

In a series of stories before, after, and even during neurosurgery, an epileptic patient, Neil; his surgeon, George Ojemann; and neuroscientist William Calvin work together to remove a portion of Neil's temporal lobe. If they do it right, they will have a good chance of putting an end to Neil's seizures. If they slice too far to the left or right, they will wipe out essential parts of Neil's memory, or his ability to follow a joke to the punch line, or maybe his ability to recognize his wife's face. In essence, they can erase or alter parts of Neil. Conversations with Neil's Brain takes us inside the operating room and allows us to be part of this eerie process of discovery, using it to provide a unique window on human consciousness and the nature of human identity. The mapping of Neil's brain brings to life as never before the astounding specificity by which the brian operates, making clear why language, memory, and decision making are so complex, and why the cures for such ailments as learning disabilities, mental disorders, Alzheimer's, and strokes continue to elude the world's best medical efforts. In the context of this unique surgical drama, Conversations with Neil's Brain unfolds as an intensely compelling read.

Genres: Medicine, Science, Nonfiction, Neuroscience, Medical, Brain, Psychology

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

William H. Calvin, Ph.D., is a theoretical neurobiologist, Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the author of a dozen books, mostly for general readers, about brains and evolution.

(source)

Reviews

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings when I started to read this book as it was an obligatory book for one of my subject seminars. Studying Conference Interpretation, neurology isn't exactly a topic I had a lot of knowledge on. My biggest concern was, will I even understand this book?

I breezed through it in 3 days. The way it was written and the easy to comprehend explanations of how different brain parts work made it very enjoyable. Moreover, I actually managed to remember quite a lot of the information given in this book without much effort.

I'd definitely recommend "Conversations with Neil's Brain" to anyone who wants to gain knowledge about the brain that's presented in a fairly simple way.

[Gamze Yalçınkaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bazı kitaplardan öğrendikleriniz fizyoloji derslerinden daha fazlası olabilir. Bu da benim için onlardan bir tanesi. Kendi beyninizin derinleriyle konusabilmeniz için de bir fırsat sanıyorum.

[Khanh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely not a light read, and probably not comprehensible if you do not have an interest in neuroscience. Personally, I absolutely loved this book and I see rereading it multiple times in my future.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

NEUROSURGERY ON A COMPOSITE EPILEPTIC PATIENT SPURS A CONVERSATION

William H. Calvin (born 1939) is a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, and a well-known popularizer of neuroscience and evolutionary biology (e.g., see his books 'The Ascent of Mind: Ice Age Climates and the Evolution of Intelligence,' and 'Inside the Brain'). George Ojemann is a neurosurgeon, who collaborated with Calvin on the 'Inside the Brain' book.

They wrote in this 1994 book, "rather than consciousness or awareness, neurologists prefer to talk about something they can objectively measure: levels of arousability... Arousal is not the same as attention, another aspect of consciousness. Arousal is general, not specific like attention... But equating 'conscious' with 'arousable' creates appalling problems. It tends to be interpreted as ascribing consciousness to any organism that has irritability. And irritability is a property of all living tissue... With so many major synonyms... you can see why everyone gets a little confused talking about consciousness." (Pg. 22-23)

They observe, "Somewhere... during the 6 million years since we last shared a common ancestor with our chimpanzee cousins, our predecessors appear to have minimized a system that assigned meaning to individual sounds... How and when and where was this conversion done? That's the big question of anthropology and linguistics. It appears that much of it probably happened in the last 2.5 million years... because that's when hominid brain size and its surface infolding pattern were also changing... So we may not know WHEN language abilities changed within that long period, but we surely know a big aspect of WHAT changed." (Pg. 247)

They note, "consciousness wasn't in your brain stem either... Selective-attention circuits up in the thalamus and the cortex have a lot more to do with it. Consciousness is more like a searchlight that moves around from one part of the cerebral cortex to another... If you set the consciousness threshold at talking to yourself... then you've said that only humans are conscious... [and] you'll probably leave out some essential considerations. Such as that changing focus of selective attention, why we get bored after a while even when satisfied." (Pg. 270)

They summarize "neural Darwinism": "So pattern, copying, variations, competition for a work space, and a multifaceted environment that biases the competition are five of the six essentials of a Darwinian process. The sixth is to close the loop... all someone is trying to convey is that random variations are being shaped up by selective survival into a meaningful pattern... [A Darwin Machine] refers to the whole class of computing machines, each of which uses those six essentials of a Darwinian process." (Pg. 284-285)

The "dialogue" format of much of the book will appeal to some readers; I personally found it annoying, at times.

[Johnny Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and surprisingly readable dive into how our brains create thought and language. The authors use a fictional dialogue between a neurosurgeon and a neuroscientist to explain complex brain functions, making dense topics like neural firing, memory, and speech feel accessible.

It’s a blend of storytelling and science that works well — especially if you’re curious about how the mind translates into words. Some sections get technical, but overall it’s an engaging exploration of the brain’s inner conversations.

[Kati Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little beyond me.

[E.berre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hormonların gücü ile birlikte aldığım ve elime yapışan bir kitap. Yine inat ederek son günde tamamladım. Beynin işleyişine karşı bir merakınız varsa tavsiye ederim yoksa öyküsü çok ilgi çekici değil.

[Ayyuce Demirbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normalde İngilizce yorum yazmayı düşünüyordum ama kitabın toplamda 10 yorumu var ve 7 tanesi İngilizce, 3 tanesi Türkçe. Bu sebeple Türkçe yorum sayısına katkıda bulunmak istedim. Henüz 110. sayfadayım ve kitabı çok beğendim. Yapay zeka alanında çalışıyorum, bu kitap bana yeni bakış açıları kazandırdı. Her sayfasında yeni ve hepsi birbirinden ilginç şeyler öğreniyorum. Goodreads'de gördüğüm kadarıyla kitabın çevirisinin yapıldığı tek dil Türkçe. Bu kadar harika bir kitap nasıl olmuş da okunmamış şaşırdım ve üzüldüm. Son senelerde okuduğum en harika kitaplardan biri, abartmıyorum. Öğretici olduğu gibi sürükleyici de. Konu ilginizi çekiyorsa mutlaka okuyun derim. Ayrıca William Calvin'in web sayfasına ve YouTube kanalına da bakabilirsiniz. İlgi çekici paylaşımları ve video dersleri var.

[Emire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emniyet kemeri takmadığı için geçirdiği trafik kazasında kafasını çarpmış olan Neil, her ne kadar kazadan sağ kurtulsa da bir süre sonra epilepsi nöbetleri başlar. Gittikçe şiddetlenen nöbetler sonucu beyninin ilgili kısmının alınmasına yönelik bir operasyona karar verilir. Hasta uyanıkken yapılan bu tür ameliyatlar beyin haritalarının çıkarılmasında oldukça yararlı. Kitapta ameliyat öncesinde, sırasında ve sonrasında Neil ile yapılan sohbetler yer alıyor. Ama bu sohbetler hava durumu üzerine değil tabii. Bir nöropsikolog ve bir beyin cerrahının ortak yazarlığından oluşan kitapta beynin işleyişi ve “bilinç” ile ilgili Neil’in soruları ve daha çok William C. Calvin’in yanıtları var. Kitabı okuyabilmek için bir miktar sinir fizyolojisi bilgisine ihtiyaç olduğu kesin. Derseniz ki; “ben beynin işleyişini ve benliğimi neyin oluşturduğunu merak ediyor ve internet desteği de alarak birşeyler öğrenmek ve buna zaman harcamak istiyorum”, o zaman okumanızı tavsiye ederim

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fairly weak, perhaps ultimately because there isn't enough known about the topic of the book (thought, language, and the brain) to make the book interesting. Most of it was if you poke the brain here or destroy this part of the brain, so-and-so happens. Definitely one of those books that should have been an essay but they dragged it out into a full book to try to make a little $$.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I've bought more than once. I can never hold onto my own copy long, before I find someone to whom I must give it. Neurology has never entertained me more than in these pages.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I read this book was in college. I have since reread this book a few times. It's a fascinating look at the parts of the brain and how the brain works. It brings the science of the brain to life.

[Paul Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to read for anyone who is getting into neuroscience. Its written in a very entertaining manner yet it goes over basic concepts of neuroscience very well. Enjoyed it very much.

[Abdul Jaleel]

Review of medical microbiology and immunology by warren levinson