Bringing together contributors working on a common problem but addressing different levels of brain organization by way of different tehniques, The Mind-Brain Continuum seeks to determine which scientific questions are most pressing as we move toward discovering the neurobiology of psychological processes. As the title implies, contributions are organized around the notion that mental activity is brain activity, providing a broad, integrated view of a particular subset of brain function. The focus is on sensory perception, processes that include somatosensory, auditory and olfactory processes, as well as research on vision.

This insightful book proposes a holistic theory of the development of self, drawing on interdisciplinary literature in existential-phenomenology, neurophenomenology, intracrinology, endocrinology, and naturopathic medicine. The psychoneurointracrine hypothesis bridges the gap between the mind and brain, providing a framework to explain the complex system that facilitates development of one’s sense of self and well-being. The book challenges assumptions in present day neuroscience and psychiatry, placing the mind and brain on a continuum of health and growth rather than reducing the study of human consciousness to neurobiological terms and pathological classifications. “In this landmark book, Susan Gordon presents a bold hypothesis, one that underscores the importance of psychoneurointracrine activity and links it to female neurology and the development of one’s sense of self. She brilliantly places this activity, which serves as a mind-body bridge, within the frameworks of neurophenomenology and non-linear dynamics. Her psychoneurointracrine hypothesis is a tour de force, one that is holistic, integrating intracrinology with psychology and neurology. This hypothesis undercuts the current assumption that the mind is an epiphenomenon of the brain, creating a paradigm that impacts science’s understanding of behavior, experience, consciousness, and human agency.” Stanley Krippner, PhD, Affiliated Distinguished Faculty, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA “In her fascinating book, Susan Gordon develops a novel theory about the biological connection between mind, brain, and organism. Drawing on empirical research on the role of the female hormonal system in basal states of self and mood, she shows that the biochemistry of the endocrine system must be viewed as an indispensable foundation for the emergence of embodied self-awareness. The homeostasis and hormonal balance of the organism is integral to the sense of well-being and the development of meaning, but it is also continually modulated and influenced by the subject’s experience of his or her world. In this way, she makes a decisive contribution to a theory of embodiment that goes far beyond a computational theory of the brain to focus on the biochemical-organismic processes at the root of the mind.” Thomas Fuchs, MD, PhD, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, DE

Bringing together contributors working on a common problem but addressing different levels of brain organization by way of different techniques, The Mind-Brain Continuum seeks to determine which scientific questions are most pressing as we move toward discovering the neurobiology of psychological processes. As the title implies, contributions are organized around the notion that mental activity is brain activity, providing a broad, integrated view of a particular subset of brain function. The focus is on sensory perception, processes that include somatosensory, auditory, and olfactory processes, as well research on vision. ContributorsAlbert S. Bregman, Patricia S. Churchland, Martha Constantine-Paton, Antonio R. Damasio, Hannah Damasio, Howard Eichenbaum, Rodolfo R. Llinás, Nikos K. Logothetis, Christoph von der Malsburg, Stephen E. McAdams, Michael M. Merzenich, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, John A. Simmons, Wolf Singer

BRILLIANTLY EXPLORING TODAY'S CUTTING-EDGE BRAIN RESEARCH, MIND WIDE OPEN IS AN UNPRECEDENTED JOURNEY INTO THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN PERSONALITY, ALLOWING READERS TO UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES AND THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES AS NEVER BEFORE. Using a mix of experiential reportage, personal storytelling, and fresh scientific discovery, Steven Johnson describes how the brain works -- its chemicals, structures, and subroutines -- and how these systems connect to the day-to-day realities of individual lives. For a hundred years, he says, many of us have assumed that the most powerful route to self-knowledge took the form of lying on a couch, talking about our childhoods. The possibility entertained in this book is that you can follow another path, in which learning about the brain's mechanics can widen one's self-awareness as powerfully as any therapy or meditation or drug. In Mind Wide Open, Johnson embarks on this path as his own test subject, participating in a battery of attention tests, learning to control video games by altering his brain waves, scanning his own brain with a $2 million fMRI machine, all in search of a modern answer to the oldest of questions: who am I? Along the way, Johnson explores how we "read" other people, how the brain processes frightening events (and how we might rid ourselves of the scars those memories leave), what the neurochemistry is behind love and sex, what it means that our brains are teeming with powerful chemicals closely related to recreational drugs, why music moves us to tears, and where our breakthrough ideas come from. Johnson's clear, engaging explanation of the physical functions of the brain reveals not only the broad strokes of our aptitudes and fears, our skills and weaknesses and desires, but also the momentary brain phenomena that a whole human life comprises. Why, when hearing a tale of woe, do we sometimes smile inappropriately, even if we don't want to? Why are some of us so bad at remembering phone numbers but brilliant at recognizing faces? Why does depression make us feel stupid? To read Mind Wide Open is to rethink family histories, individual fates, and the very nature of the self, and to see that brain science is now personally transformative -- a valuable tool for better relationships and better living.

Continuing A.E. van Vogt's World of Null-A In this heart-stopping sequel to A.E. van Vogt's World of Null-A, Gilbert Gosseyn, the superhuman amnesiac with a double brain, must pit his wits once more against the remorseless galactic dictator Enro the Red and the mysterious shadow-being known as The Follower. And he must do it while he is being hurled headlong through unimaginable distances in space, in time, and through alternate eternities to fend off the death and complete the rebirth of the Universe itself! At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

An argument for a Copernican revolution in our consideration of mental features—a shift in which the world-brain problem supersedes the mind-body problem. Philosophers have long debated the mind-body problem—whether to attribute such mental features as consciousness to mind or to body. Meanwhile, neuroscientists search for empirical answers, seeking neural correlates for consciousness, self, and free will. In this book, Georg Northoff does not propose new solutions to the mind-body problem; instead, he questions the problem itself, arguing that it is an empirically, ontologically, and conceptually implausible way to address the existence and reality of mental features. We are better off, he contends, by addressing consciousness and other mental features in terms of the relationship between world and brain; philosophers should consider the world-brain problem rather than the mind-body problem. This calls for a Copernican shift in vantage point—from within the mind or brain to beyond the brain—in our consideration of mental features. Northoff, a neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and philosopher, explains that empirical evidence suggests that the brain's spontaneous activity and its spatiotemporal structure are central to aligning and integrating the brain within the world. This spatiotemporal structure allows the brain to extend beyond itself into body and world, creating the “world-brain relation” that is central to mental features. Northoff makes his argument in empirical, ontological, and epistemic-methodological terms. He discusses current models of the brain and applies these models to recent data on neuronal features underlying consciousness and proposes the world-brain relation as the ontological predisposition for consciousness.

Joseph J. Fins calls for a reconsideration of severe brain injury treatment, including discussion of public policy and physician advocacy.