The Human Brain: A Guided Tour by Susan Greenfield

Description

What would you see if you removed the skull from the human brain and then slowly worked your way deeper and deeper into the brain, to the level of an individual neuron? With renowned brain researcher Susan Greenfield as your guide, here is your chance to gain a bird's eye view of the human brain--and to learn more about what the brain is, how it works, what happens when one part of the brain is made dysfunctional through stroke or accident, how brain mood-modifying drugs find their show more targets.In a particularly fascinating chapter, Greenfield surveys for us how a brain is built and then takes us on a tour of the developing brain from the moment of conception.Throughout Greenfield poses the larger questions all readers want to consider, including: At what stage does individuality creep into the developing brain? How does the collection of circuits of neurons give rise not just to an individual brain but an individual consciousness? What might a fetus be conscious of? show less

Recommendations

How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now by William H. Calvin

How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now

William H. Calvin

How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker

How the Mind Works

Steven Pinker

The Private Life of the Brain by Susan Greenfield

The Private Life of the Brain

Susan Greenfield

Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness by Daniel C. Dennett

Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness

Daniel C. Dennett

River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life by Richard Dawkins

River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life

Richard Dawkins

Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter

Mapping the Mind

Rita Carter

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain by John J. Ratey

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

John J. Ratey

Laboratory Earth: The Planetary Gamble We Can't Afford to Lose by Stephen H. Schneider

Laboratory Earth: The Planetary Gamble We Can't Afford to Lose

Stephen H. Schneider

Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality by Jared Diamond

Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Jared Diamond

The Making of Memory: From Molecules to Mind by Steven Rose

The Making of Memory: From Molecules to Mind

Steven Rose

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness by Antonio Damasio

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness

Antonio Damasio

Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by V. S. Ramachandran

Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind

V. S. Ramachandran

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks

The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion and Science by Steven Mithen

The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion and Science

Steven Mithen

One Renegade Cell: How Cancer Begins by Robert A. Weinberg

One Renegade Cell: How Cancer Begins

Robert A. Weinberg

Plan and Purpose In Nature by George C. Williams

Plan and Purpose In Nature

George C. Williams

An Anatomy of Thought: The Origin and Machinery of the Mind by Ian Glynn

An Anatomy of Thought: The Origin and Machinery of the Mind

Ian Glynn

Nature's Numbers by Ian Stewart

Nature's Numbers

Ian Stewart

The Origin of Humankind by Richard Leakey

The Origin of Humankind

Richard Leakey

The Last Three Minutes: Conjectures About the Ultimate Fate of the Universe by Paul Davies

The Last Three Minutes: Conjectures About the Ultimate Fate of the Universe

Paul Davies

Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution by Lynn Margulis

Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution

Lynn Margulis

Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See by Donald D. Hoffman

Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See

Donald D. Hoffman

The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human Brain Defies Replication, Medication, and Explanation by John Horgan

The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human Brain Defies Replication, Medication, and Explanation

John Horgan

The Runaway Brain: The Evolution of Human Uniqueness by Christopher Wills

The Runaway Brain: The Evolution of Human Uniqueness

Christopher Wills

The Cerebral Code: Thinking a Thought in the Mosaics of the Mind by William H. Calvin

The Cerebral Code: Thinking a Thought in the Mosaics of the Mind

William H. Calvin

Conversations on Consciousness: What the Best Minds Think about the Brain, Free Will, and What It Means to Be Human by Susan Blackmore

Conversations on Consciousness: What the Best Minds Think about the Brain, Free Will, and What It Means to Be Human

Susan Blackmore

Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett

Consciousness Explained

Daniel C. Dennett

The 21st Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind by Steven Rose

The 21st Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind

Steven Rose

The Language of the Genes by Steve Jones

The Language of the Genes

Steve Jones

Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language by Steven Pinker

Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language

Steven Pinker

Y: The Descent Of Men by Steve Jones

Y: The Descent Of Men

Steve Jones

The Oxford Companion to the Mind by Richard L. Gregory

The Oxford Companion to the Mind

Richard L. Gregory

Big Questions in Science by Harriet Swain

Big Questions in Science

Harriet Swain

A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination by Gerald Edelman

A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination

Gerald Edelman

The Origin Of The Universe by John D. Barrow

The Origin Of The Universe

John D. Barrow

The Human Mind by Robert Winston

The Human Mind

Robert Winston

Mendel's Demon: Gene Justice and the Complexity of Life by Mark Ridley

Mendel's Demon: Gene Justice and the Complexity of Life

Mark Ridley

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel C. Dennett

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life

Daniel C. Dennett

Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penrose

Shadows of the Mind

Roger Penrose

In the Blood: God, Genes and Destiny by Steve Jones

In the Blood: God, Genes and Destiny

Steve Jones

Eye and Brain by Richard L. Gregory

Eye and Brain

Richard L. Gregory

The Faber Book of Science by John Carey

The Faber Book of Science

John Carey

The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life by Paul Davies

The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life

Paul Davies

A History of the Mind: Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness by Nicholas Humphrey

A History of the Mind: Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness

Nicholas Humphrey

Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins

Climbing Mount Improbable

Richard Dawkins

Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins

Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

Richard Dawkins

Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds by Daniel C. Dennett

Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds

Daniel C. Dennett

An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks

An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

Oliver Sacks

The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation by Matt Ridley

The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation

Matt Ridley

Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology by Daniel C. Dennett

Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology

Daniel C. Dennett

Complete Recommendations

Member Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

All Ratings
4
4
½3
12
4
2

2 reviews

isovector 204 reviews

I read about 20% of this book before putting it down. It's too light and fluffy for my liking, and (in the part I read, at least) focuses *significantly more* on things we know now to be incorrect (eg. phrenology) than on anything else.

Dec 13, 2020

PDCRead 1,644 reviews

An older, and probably now out of date overview of the human brain, based on her Christmas lectures from a number of years ago.

It is a straightforward to read, and she explains the concepts well.

Apr 6, 2020