How do emotions affect your basic decision making? Why do certain smells prompt long-forgotten memories, and what makes us suddenly self-conscious? How does the biological organ, the brain, give rise to all of the thoughts in your head – enable you to think, to feel, to be conscious and aware – to have 'a mind'?Introducing Mind and Brain explains what the sciences have to say about planning and action, language, memory, attention, emotions and vision. It traces the historical development of ideas about the brain and its function from antiquity to the age of neuro-imaging. Clearly explained by Professor of Psychology Angus Gellatly and award-winning artist Oscar Zarate, they invite you to take a fresh look at the nature of mind, consciousness and personal identity.
Emeritus Professor Angus Gellatly’s research interests are in cognitive psychology broadly conceived. Over the years they have included memory, reasoning, ergonomics and cognitive development. He has also explored how the sociology of knowledge can be applied to psychological knowledge claims and has been particularly concerned with how attributions of cognitive competence are or are not made to humans, animals and machines. The focus of his current research interest is in visual cognition. He has had recent ESRC grants to investigate visual attention and visual masking. The aim of this work is to understand the processes involved in deriving a representation of the environment in terms of objects and background, and how these processes influence and are influenced by different forms of visual attention. Or, put more simply, why you usually do but sometimes don't see what's in front of you!
Covers a lot of really fascinating things in an entertaining and digestible way, with just enough said about things for me to get an idea of what I'd like to do further reading on. And that's exactly what an Introducing book should do.
This was a good introduction to vocabulary and theory. The illustrations and diagrams are both entertaining and informative. I have enjoyed many books from this series.
Mind and brain, what's the difference? A graphic novel overview of the human history of the concept of our minds and how they work, going over lobotomies, drugs, neuroscience, and the ancient Greeks. Science-heavy with a pinch of philosophy and theory.
The historical description of the human understanding of the brain enhances our motivation to read further. But Eastern history is ignored. But the graphics vindicate the saying, "one picture is worth a thousand words ". A great read.
"Introducing Mind and Brain: A Graphic Guide" von Angus Gellatly und Oscar Zárate 4/5☆
Auf meinem Kurztrip nach Amsterdam habe ich die Introducing-Reihe in einem Buchladen gesehen und war komplett begeistert. Es werden wissenschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Themen kurz und auf allgemeinverständliche Weise als eine Art Comic dargestellt. Obwohl der Laden nicht mal das gesamte Angebot der Reihe führte, konnte ich mich nicht entscheiden und da die Bücher auch nur 5€(!) kamen, habe ich dieses und ein weiteres (dessen Rezension folgen wird) gekauft. Ich war wirklich komplett gehypet und habe mich so aufs Lesen gefreut und ich denke, dabei auch zu hohe Erwartungen gehabt.
"Mind and Brain" beschäftigt sich weitgehend mit den Grundlagen der Neurobiologie und viele Studieninhalt konnte ich wiederentdecken. Ich war jedoch auch positiv überrascht, wie viel Neues es zu Lernen gab, da unter anderem auf verschiedenste Krankheiten eingegangen wurde.
Ich hätte mir aber irgendwie gewünscht, dass mehr Humor verwendet wird, wie es bei Comics der Fall war. Es gab zwar auch lustiges Stellen, aber meistens waren die Zeichnungen nur Teil des Textes. Außerdem wäre mir eine deutlichere Einteilung in Kapitel lieb gewesen, obwohl man schon Unterteilungen erkennen konnte. Eigentlich stört es mich auch nicht, dass das Buch in Schwarz-Weiß war, aber an einigen Stellen wurde bewusst auf die Farbe der Zeichnungen eingegangen und da ist der Farbdruck einfach sinnvoller.
Das Buch war sehr interessant, war super schnell und einfach zu lesen und ich werde mir nach dem zweiten Buch auch mehr Teile der Reihe besorgen, jedoch war es - durch meine sehr hohen Erwartungen - nicht der heilige Gral, den ich mir erhofft hatte.
Mind & Brain by Angus Gellatly and Oscar Zarate is a thought provoking book. Professor Angus Gellatly describes the studies on the brain that scientists have been doing over time. Experiments on animals and primates seem to show that human behavior originates in the brain, which is the house of emotions. It seems that the brain regulates human actions. It retains the memory of individual experiences and acts consequently. Brain memory is similar to the ‘engrams’ that L. Ron Hubbard describes in his book, Dianetics. Angus Gallantly makes no mention of the existence of the soul. I have described something about the interaction between body and mind or soul in my books Travels of the Mind and The Vibrations of Words. However, I consider Mind & Brain by Angus Gellatly and Oscar Zarate a good starting point for further studies on the existence or not of the soul, which possibly governs the human body, including the brain. Ettore Grillo
I enjoyed this book but got bored by it at the end :( I think I preferred the parts that I have studied in school because it was easier to understand. The parts I didn’t recognize were a little harder to grasp and I got a bit tired of it. However! I think this book will be great to return to if I ever need a quick and easy explanation of something.
3.5 stars It's a fun educational read if you're curious about how our minds biologically work. The chopping of the content into bite sized facts makes it easy to understand and does not overwhelm the reader.
Has good technical review with biological explaination. The illustrations help to present the idea. The books flow from the early history which is good for overall view