We are our brains : a neurobiography of the brain, from the womb to Alzheimer's /
"The culmination of renowned neuroscientist D.F. Swaab's life's work, We Are Our Brains unlocks the mysteries of the most complex organism in the human body, providing a fascinating overview of the brain's role in nearly every aspect of human existence. In short, engaging chapter...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English Dutch |
| Published: |
New York :
Spiegel & Grau,
[2014]
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| Edition: | First U.S. edition. |
| Subjects: |
Table of Contents:
- We are our brains
- Metaphors for the brain
- 1. Development, birth, and parental care
- Subtle interaction between mother and child at birth
- Difficult birth as the first symptom of a developmental brain disorder
- Maternal behavior
- Paternal behavior
- Importance of a stimulating environment for early brain development
- Memories from the womb
- 2. Threats to the fetal brain in the "safety" of the womb
- Developmental brain disorders caused by environmental factors
- Developmental brain disorders caused by addictive substances and medication
- The short-term outlook of the unborn child
- Does a fetus feel pain?
- Body integrity identity disorder, a bizarre developmental disorder
- 3. Sexual differentiation of the brain in the womb
- A typical boy or girl?
- Gender-based differences in behavior
- Heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality
- Homosexuality : no choice
- Homosexuality in the animal kingdom
- Transsexuality
- Pedophilia
- 4. Puberty, love, and sexual behavior
- The adolescent brain
- Adolescent behavior
- The brain in love
- Disorders of the brain and sexuality
- 5. Hypothalamus: survival, hormones, and emotions
- Hormone production by the hypothalamus and streams of urine
- Surviving without a hypothalamus
- Depression
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
- Obesity
- Cluster headache
- Narcolepsy
- Fits of laughter without emotion
- Anorexia Nervosa is a disease of the brain
- 6. Addictive substances
- Cannabis and psychoses
- Ecstasy : brain damage after pleasure
- Substance abuse by politicians
- 7. The brain and consciousness
- Neglect : half a life
- Coma and related conditions
- Brain structures crucial for consciousness
- Importance of functional links between brain structures for consciousness
- Illusions and loss of self-consciousness
- "Filling in" missing information
- Notions about the mechanisms of consciousness
- 8. Aggression
- Born aggressive
- Young and aggressive
- Aggression, brain disorders, and prison
- Guilt and punishment
- Violent while asleep
- 9. Autism
- Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant
- Autism, a developmental disorder
- Savants
- Brains of savants
- 10. Schizophrenia and other reasons for hallucinations
- Schizophrenia, a disease of all ages and cultures
- Schizophrenia symptoms
- Schizophrenia, a developmental brain disorder
- Hallucinations due to a lack of stimuli
- Other hallucinations
- 11. Repair and electric stimulation
- Age-related blindness : macular degeneration
- Serendipity
- Deep brain stimulation
- Brain stimulation and happiness
- 12. The brain and sports
- Neuropornography : boxing
- Sex and the Olympic Games
- Death of the fittest
- 13. Moral behavior
- Prefrontal cortex : initiative, planning, speech, personality, and moral behavior
- Moral behavior : the human in the animal
- Unconscious moral behavior
- Moral networks
- What nature teaches us about a better society
- 14. Memory
- Kandel's research into memory and the collective amnesia of the Austrians
- The anatomy of memory
- The path to long-term memory
- Separate memory storage
- The implicit memory in the cerebellum
- 15. Neurotheology: the brain and religion
- Why are so many people religious?
- Evolutionary advantage of religion
- The religious brain
- A better world without religion?
- Unclean mussels and women
- Praying for another : a placebo for yourself
- Religious mania
- Temporal lobe epilepsy : messages from God
- Public reactions to my views on religion
- 16. There isn't more between Heaven and Earth
- Soul versus mind
- Heart and soul
- Pseudoscientific explanations of near-death experiences
- Effective placebos
- Traditional Chines medicine : sometimes more than a placebo
- Herbal therapy
- 17. Free will, a pleasant illusion
- Free will versus choice
- The brain as a giant, unconscious computer
- The unconscious will
- What free will isn't
- Free will and brain disorders
- 18. Alzheimer's disease
- Aging of the brain, Alzheimer's Disease, and other forms of Dementia
- Alzheimer's : the stages of deterioration
- "Use it or lose it" : reactivating neurons in Alzheimer's Disease
- Pain and Dementia
- Alzheimer's and the right moment for choosing to end one's life
- 19. Death
- The magic of life and death
- Dr. Deijman and Black Jan
- Civic disintegration course : dead obvious
- Netherlands Brain Bank
- Herbs for log life after death
- 20. Evolution
- Negotiation and increase in brain size
- The evolution of the brain
- Molecular evolution
- 21. Conclusion.