This book deals with the inarticulate form elements hidden in the unconscious structure of a work of art or—what comes to the same thing — with the unconscious structure of the perception processes by which we actively create or passively enjoy these unconscious form elements. In order to become aware of inarticulate forms we have to adopt a mental attitude not dissimilar to that which the psycho-analyst must adopt when dealing with unconscious material, namely some kind of diffuse attention.

A neurobiologist reexamines the personal nature of perception in this groundbreaking guide to a new model for our senses. We think of perception as a passive, mechanical process, as if our eyes are cameras and our ears microphones. But as neurobiologist Susan R. Barry argues, perception is a deeply personal act. Our environments, our relationships, and our actions shape and reshape our senses throughout our lives. This idea is no more apparent than in the cases of people who gain senses as adults. Barry tells the stories of Liam McCoy, practically blind from birth, and Zohra Damji, born deaf, in the decade following surgeries that restored their senses. As Liam and Zohra learned entirely new ways of being, Barry discovered an entirely new model of the nature of perception. Coming to Our Senses is a celebration of human resilience and a powerful reminder that, before you can really understand other people, you must first recognize that their worlds are fundamentally different from your own.

Consciousness is one of the most significant scientific problems today. Renewed interest in the nature of consciousness - a phenomenon long considered not to be scientifically explorable, as well as increasingly widespread availability of multimodal functional brain imaging techniques (EEG, ERP, MEG, fMRI and PET), now offer the possibility of detailed, integrated exploration of the neural, behavioral, and computational correlates of consciousness. The present volume aims to confront the latest theoretical insights in the scientific study of human consciousness with the most recent behavioral, neuroimaging, electrophysiological, pharmacological and neuropathological data on brain function in altered states of consciousness such as: brain death, coma, vegetative state, minimally conscious state, locked-in syndrome, dementia, epilepsy, schizophrenia, hysteria, general anesthesia, sleep, hypnosis, and hallucinations. The interest of this is threefold. First, patients with altered states of consciousness continue to represent a major clinical problem in terms of clinical assessment of consciousness and daily management. Second, the exploration of brain function in altered states of consciousness represents a unique lesional approach to the scientific study of consciousness and adds to the worldwide effort to identify the "neural correlate of consciousness". Third, new scientific insights in this field have major ethical and social implications regarding our care for these patients.

This book examines how the experiences of hearing voices and seeing visions were understood within the cultural, literary, and intellectual contexts of the medieval and early modern periods. In the Middle Ages, these experiences were interpreted according to frameworks that could credit visionaries or voice-hearers with spiritual knowledge, and allow them to inhabit social roles that were as much desired as feared. Voice-hearing and visionary experience offered powerful creative possibilities in imaginative literature and were often central to the writing of inner, spiritual lives. Ideas about such experience were taken up and reshaped in response to the cultural shifts of the early modern period. These essays, which consider the period 1100 to 1700, offer diverse new insights into a complex, controversial, and contested category of human experience, exploring literary and spiritual works as illuminated by scientific and medical writings, natural philosophy and theology, and the visual arts. In extending and challenging contemporary bio-medical perspectives through the insights and methodologies of the arts and humanities, the volume offers a timely intervention within the wider project of the medical humanities. Chapters 2 and 5 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The 2nd edition of this book provides novel topics and studyies in boundaries of networks and Big Data Systems.The central theme of this book is the extent to which the structure of the free dynamical boundaries of a system controls the evolution of the system as a whole. Applying three orthogonal types of thinking - mathematical, constructivist and morphological, it illustrates these concepts using applications to selected problems from the social and life sciences, as well as economics. In a broader context, it introduces and reviews some modern mathematical approaches to the science of complex systems. Standard modeling approaches (based on non-linear differential equations, dynamic systems, graph theory, cellular automata, stochastic processes, or information theory) are suitable for studying local problems. However they cannot simultaneously take into account all the different facets and phenomena of a complex system, and new approaches are required to solve the challenging problem of correlations between phenomena at different levels and hierarchies, their self-organization and memory-evolutive aspects, the growth of additional structures and are ultimately required to explain why and how such complex systems can display both robustness and flexibility. This graduate-level text addresses a broader interdisciplinary audience, keeping the mathematical level essentially uniform throughout the book, and involving only basic elements from calculus, algebra, geometry and systems theory.

Humans and the Third Dimension; A Journey of Discovery The Limits of Our Perceptions Our Three-Dimensional World: A Familiar Reality Space and Time: Basic Concepts The Limits of Human Perception: Sight, Hearing, Touch Other Senses: Smell and Taste The Sixth Sense: Intuition and Insight The Subconscious and the Superconscious: Hidden Worlds Dreams and Reality: Is There a Difference? Parallel Universes: Possibilities and Scenarios Quantum Physics: On the Nature of Reality Quantum Entanglement: Separate But Connected Superposition: Being in More Than One State Quantum Examples: Reflections in Daily Life Time Travel: Is It Possible? The Theory of Relativity of Time: Einstein's Legacy Black Holes: The End of Time? Wormholes: Transitioning from One Dimension to Another The Theory of the Multiverse: Infinite Possibilities The Fourth Dimension and Beyond: Challenges of Conceptualization Human Consciousness and Dimensions: Is There a Connection? Aura and Energy Fields: Invisible Worlds Meditation and Consciousness Expansion: New Perspectives Astral Travel: Unconscious Experiences Telepathy and Remote Influence: Mind Power Dream Interpretation: Signs of the Subconscious Kabbalah and Dimensions: The View of the Ancient Sages Buddhism and Dimensions: Spiritual Development Hinduism and Dimensions: Karma and Reincarnation Shamanism and Dimensions: Spiritual Journeys Human Body and Energy Centers: Chakras Chakra Balancing and Healing: Holistic Approach Frequencies and Vibrations: The Language of Energy Crystals and Energy: Healing and Balance Reiki and Energy Healing: Modern Applications Spiritual Applications: Interdimensional Connections Traces of the Unseen World: Historical Examples Mysterious Events: The Unexplained Phenomenon UFOs and Aliens: Fact or Fiction? Exploration of the Unknown: A Continuous Process Man's Place in the Universe: Existential Questions