El cerebro social

by Michael S. Gazzaniga

Durante siglos, el pensamiento occidental ha alimentado la idea de que nuestra conducta y nuestros pensamientos son producto de una entidad unitaria -la «mente»- que reside en ese intrincado laberinto de conexiones neuronales que es el cerebro. Desentrañar la estructura oculta en la densa maraña cerebral es uno de los grandes desafíos de la ciencia moderna. Michael Gazzaniga -famoso por sus experimentos sobre el cerebro dividido- es uno de los exploradores que con más éxito se ha adentrado en este laberinto. El cerebro social es la crónica de sus viajes por las moradas de la mente, escrita en el lenguaje llano, asequible a todo el mundo y portadora de noticias la mítica mente unitaria y consciente no existe. Lo que se oculta en el interior del laberinto es una «sociedad» de sistemas relativamente independientes (módulos), capaces de funcionar unos al margen de otros, y de los que nuestra conciencia muchas veces no tiene noticia. En palabras de D. Dennet, este libro constituye «una apasionante introducción a una serie de formas nuevas y sorprendentes de pensar sobre la mente humana».

Genres: Psychology, Neuroscience, Science, Nonfiction, Brain

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Michael S. Gazzaniga, one of the premiere doctors of neuroscience, was born on December 12, 1939 in Los Angeles. Educated at Dartmouth College and California Institute of Technology, he is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he heads the new SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind.

His early research examined the subject of epileptics who had undergone surgery to control seizures. He has also studied Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients and reveals important findings in books such as Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind.

While many of his writings are technical, he also educates and stimulates readers with discussions about the fascinating and mysterious workings of the brain. Books such as The Social Brain and The Mind's Past bring forth new information and theories regarding how the brain functions, interacts, and responds with the body and the environment.

Reviews

[Kyt Dotson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's neuroscience and fairly solid at that. Doing a good job of speaking down to a lay person (aside from my medical knowledge and a lot of brain studies, I am far behind the concepts related in this book.) It's taken me weeks to read. I am hoping that I might use what I learn from it in some of my fiction; however, a lot of the knowledge in this book is out of date for neuroscientific research. Not the book's fault, it's from the 80s. We've learned a lot since then

I would suggest it for anyone who would like a look into the development of modern neuroscience.

I loved this book, glad to get a chance to read it.

It's connection to paleoanthropology really caught my attention with expectations on early human brain development.

[Leonardo]

Sobre experimentos de desconexión callosa o cerebro dividido.

Citado en La mente Pág.177-178

[Karalynn Shade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the neurological modules and how they developed which in turn tells us how we come to believe in religion. Very good book if you’re looking to learn more about how we think and why. Even without a medical background, I found this book relatively easy to understand. All in all a great read!

[Eric Hertenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pioneer of Split-Brain research discusses modular theory of consciousness. Here's a guy who knows what he's talking about, and he knows how to say it too. Good for augmenting that Comparative Neuroscience class you're taking, or for reading half-drunk at the beach, like I did.

[Tim Petersik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas, but very poorly written. Was there no editor here?