Reddit reviews Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are

http://www.amazon.com/Synaptic-Self-How-Brains-Become/dp/0142001783/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311384751&sr=8-1

Also look it up on Google books.

It covers topics with enough depth for you to actually learn something, while keeping things way more brief and interesting than a typical textbook, plus it has a bunch of very helpful illustrations. It does all that while still teaching you a substantial amount of the science, experiments, terminology and theories.

Don't forget that it's also 12 dollars.

As the saying goes, this book is like a good skirt. Long enough to cover the material, but short enough to keep things interesting. Enough said. I can't recommend it enough.

Some excellent popular book options are:

The Tell Tale Brain - V.S. Ramachandran

Phantoms in the Brain - V.S. Ramachandran

Synaptic Self - Joseph LeDoux


Also mentioned by other posters, Norman Doidge and Oliver Sacks.

All of these are really approachable for beginners and I enjoyed them all greatly as an undergrad way back when.

Hi there,

Some suggestions for ya!

The Quest for Consciousness by Christof Koch. Minimal neuroscience background required, but the more you know, the more you'll derive from this book. Focused on illustrating how complex networks can manifest behaviour (and consciousness). Outside of Koch's regular pursuits as an electrophysiology, he worked alongside Francis Crick (ya that one), to study arousal and consciousness. It's a fantastic read, and it's quite humbling.

Rhythms of the Brain by Gyorgy Buzsaki. Written for neuroscientists and engineers as an introductory textbook into network dynamics, oscillations, and behaviour. One of my favorite books in the field, but it can also be the most challenging.

Treatise of Man by Rene Descarte. Personal favorite, simply because it highlights how far we've come (e.g. pineal gland, pain, and animal spirits).

Synaptic Self by Joseph LeDoux provides the fantastic realization that "you are your synapse". Great circuit/network book written with a lot of psychological and philosophical considerations.

Finally...

Physical control of the mind--towards of psychocivilized society by the one and only Jose Delgado. (In)Famous for his experiments where he stopped a bull charging at him through amygdala stimulation- along with some similar experiments in people- Delgado skirts the line between good intention and mad science. It's too bad he's not taught more in history of neuroscience.

> pause for thought.

to be pendantic, he paused because his brain entered flight mode then his eyes registered the children and his brain switched to fight mode. he may have had the after thought "RUN, oh shit kids, PICK THEM UP" but in reality his brain automatically acted and "he" was not consciously making any of these decisions

read this book as it completely explains how the human brain works and that our concept of consciousness is actually made up by our brain and decision making is ultimately out of our control

While there is still much we don't know about the brain and how it works to generate consciousness, we are not completely in the dark and a lot of exciting work is being done. Here is a good article in scientific American about it:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-consciousness/

If you'd like to explore it further I can personally recommend synaptic self by Joseph LeDoux.
Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are https://www.amazon.com/dp/0142001783/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_40PEDb8MH4JXZ

It's a very good book.

I think we are far in the clear at this point in asserting that consciousness is generated in the brain. I don't think it will be long before we can actually read the contents of consciousness digitally.