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Book Cover
E-book
Author Guillery, R. W., author.

Title The brain as a tool : a neuroscientist's account / Ray Guillery ; [with original illustrations by Lizzie Burns]
Edition First edition
Published Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017
©2017

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xii, 267 pages) : illustrations
Contents Machine generated contents note: pt. I How do we relate to the world? -- 1. The role of the brain -- 2. The pathways for perception -- 3. The pathways for action -- 4. The subcortical motor centres -- pt. II My route to the thalamic gate -- 5. Starting to study the brain -- 6. The mamillothalamic pathways: my first encounter with the thalamus -- 7. Comparative anatomical studies of the hypothalamus that led to studies of thalamic synapses -- pt. III Arriving at the thalamic gate -- 8. Defining the functional components of the thalamic gate -- 9. Thalamic higher-order driver inputs as sensorimotor links -- 10. The hierarchy of cortical monitors -- pt. IV Higher cortical functions -- 11. Relating the neural connections to actions and perceptions -- 12. Interacting with the world -- 13. The role of the thalamocortical hierarchy -- 14. The neural origins of a sense of self with a brief note on free will
Summary There are two distinct views about the functions of our brains and their origins. The standard view, taught in most neuroscience texts, has incoming messages about the world sent to the cerebral cortex, with the cortex then producing an appropriate motor output. The interactive view, largely expressed by philosophers and psychologists, stresses the continuous sensorimotor interactions of the brain with the world. 'The brain as a tool' focuses on thalamo-cortical interactions on the basis of the interactive view, exploring the phylogenetically new transthalamic corticocortical pathways of mammals that link a hierarchy of cortical areas to each other and back to the phylogenetically older motor centres for control of action. The book demonstrates how messages in these pathways produce an anticipation of our own actions and perceptions. In relating neural events to conscious processing and our sense of self, Guillery summarizes important evidence which links neuroscience with psychology and philosophy. This book is essential reading for neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists and philosophers
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Perception.
Neural networks (Neurobiology)
Neurosciences.
Cognition.
Brain.
Cognitive neuroscience.
Sensorimotor Cortex -- physiology
Perception
Cognition
Psychomotor Performance -- physiology
Neurosciences
Brain
cognition.
brains.
PSYCHOLOGY -- Reference.
MEDICAL -- Neuroscience.
Brain
Cognition
Cognitive neuroscience
Neural networks (Neurobiology)
Neurosciences
Perception
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780191844317
0191844314
9780192529534
0192529536