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A Short-Cut to Understanding Affective Neuroscience
A Short-Cut to Understanding Affective Neuroscience is a remarkable book that will appeal to academics and laymen, theoreticians and clinicians. Readers will appreciate Lucy Biven's thorough research and her straightforward language. She does not avoid complexity and uncertainty when addressing challenging questions in neuroscience.
-Donald Past President and Distinguished Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society
This book clarifies and evaluates vast amounts of neuroscientific research, arriving at a clear and concise framework that demonstrates how to ground mental health practice in the results of neuroscience.
With a seamless narrative that weaves and explains complex theories, experimental research, and clinical practice, this book will interest mental health professionals and anyone who wants to learn more about the affective life of people and other mammals.
Beginning with a survey of the theories of affective consciousness, this book first shows that, for all mammals, affects are unique experiences of pleasure and pain, emanating from deep noncognitive brain structures. These subcortical structures in and around the brain stem generate seven basic types of affective consciousness, the existence and breadth of which have important implications for the practice of psychotherapy and psychiatry. For example, the two distinct types of anxiety, each originating in a different system, explain the effectiveness of different medications.
Understanding affects also provides the theoretical basis for conditioning where disparate ideas, as affect-laden memories, can become associated. Thus, by understanding a client's affects, a psychotherapist can make sense of seemingly disconnected ideas that arise in the therapeutic conversation.
-Donald Past President and Distinguished Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society
This book clarifies and evaluates vast amounts of neuroscientific research, arriving at a clear and concise framework that demonstrates how to ground mental health practice in the results of neuroscience.
With a seamless narrative that weaves and explains complex theories, experimental research, and clinical practice, this book will interest mental health professionals and anyone who wants to learn more about the affective life of people and other mammals.
Beginning with a survey of the theories of affective consciousness, this book first shows that, for all mammals, affects are unique experiences of pleasure and pain, emanating from deep noncognitive brain structures. These subcortical structures in and around the brain stem generate seven basic types of affective consciousness, the existence and breadth of which have important implications for the practice of psychotherapy and psychiatry. For example, the two distinct types of anxiety, each originating in a different system, explain the effectiveness of different medications.
Understanding affects also provides the theoretical basis for conditioning where disparate ideas, as affect-laden memories, can become associated. Thus, by understanding a client's affects, a psychotherapist can make sense of seemingly disconnected ideas that arise in the therapeutic conversation.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 6, 2022
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October 15, 2025
A Short-Cut to Understanding Affective Neuroscience is an insightful and accessible exploration of how emotions shape both human and animal minds. Lucy Biven masterfully bridges complex neuroscience with practical understanding, making intricate theories feel clear and relevant. Her explanations of affective systems and their role in mental health offer profound implications for therapy and psychiatry. What stands out most is her ability to merge scientific rigor with genuine curiosity about the emotional lives of living beings. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the biological roots of emotion and the bridge between brain science and psychology
Displaying 1 of 1 review