Neuropsychology category: 992 books

What do these have in common? A soprano who can’t sing from a printed score, a violoncellist who can’t keep from crying while playing, a woman who can walk backwards but not forwards, a man who can’t move his hands unless he’s playing the violin, a priest who can’t say the words “you”...

A cutting-edge, research-based inquiry into how we influence those around us and how understanding the brain can help us change minds for the better. In The Influential Mind, neuroscientist Tali Sharot takes us on a thrilling exploration of the nature of influence. We all have a duty to affect...

A refreshing guide to becoming a healthier, happier self. We humans tend to get in our own way time and time again—whether it comes to not speaking up for ourselves, going back to bad romantic partners, dieting for the umpteenth try, or acting on any of a range of bad habits we just can’t...

**　　關於人類的行為，前所未有的完整分析** 　　「要說《行為》是我曾讀過最棒的非虛構作品，也一點都不誇張。」──大衛．巴瑞許（David P. Barash），《華爾街日報》 　　這本書只有研究人類行為的世界級科學家薩伯斯基寫得出來，《行為》一書回答了人類最根本的問題：我們的行為從何而來？ 　　 　　上冊中，薩波斯基──神經科學家與靈長類動物學家──穿梭在數種學科之間，揭露我們的一舉一動背後的故事。從不同角度剖析人類行為，沒有一塊石頭忘了翻面，涵蓋從基本生物學到內分泌，到神經科學、心理學、社會學、演化理論等等的每一件事。他說故事的功力有目共睹，且深具內在邏輯。透過追溯一個行為發生前的不同時間段與系統，對目標多次出擊。 　　他首先檢視在精準時刻之內，究竟是什麼造就了人類行為，然後再一個階段一個階段往前追溯，最終回溯到我們這個物種更深的文化、歷史和基因遺傳。 　　於是，他以一秒之內的神經科學解釋開始著手，探討在行為發生一秒前大腦發生了什麼事？接著往後退一步，看到再前一個時刻，也就是兩秒到一分鐘之前，究竟我們看到、聽到及聞到什麼，促發了神經的反應而產生了行為？接著，又進一步回溯幾小時到幾天前，探討那些促使神經系統做出反應的荷爾蒙如何運作？在此，他擴大了我們的視野，讓我們思考神經生物學、內分泌學，以及我們環境給予我們刺激的感官世界，嘗試解釋發生了什麼事情。 　　薩伯斯基繼續推進，嘗試找出哪些環境因素會影響一個人的大腦，因此追溯到我們的青少年與童年時期、胎內環境，甚至追溯到精卵結合的那刻。最終，他試著解釋比起個人更大的種種影響因素，即文化如何形塑群體意識，而哪些生態因素又形塑文化，以此類推，最終回溯到幾千年甚至幾百萬年前，造成我們這物種演化的種種因素。透過匯總所有因素，瞭解人類的行為如何被創造出來。 　　✽✽✽ 　　下冊中，薩伯斯基著手探討人類最棘手的問題──分我群和他群、階層制度、從眾與服從、合作與競爭、同理心與慈悲心、自由意志的行使、人們對於隱喻和真實的混淆、戰爭與和平等等，從我們靈長類動物的生物起源，到人類獨特的行為模式，做了深刻、揪心但又不失幽默的分析。 　　尤其，我們的大腦會快速把人分成我群和他群，而且這種分類往往基於微小的差異、隨機的標準，這種歷程會自動化發生在我們的潛意識中，之後再透過認知來合理化。而這會影響我們的行為。讓我們分為我群之人做出最好的行為，卻對被分為他群的人做出糟糕的行為。 　　人類歷史上的戰爭、大屠殺與迫害等等，幾乎都源自於此。然而，這種區分異己的心理要如何治癒呢？生物學可以給我們什麼解方呢？作者告訴我們，儘管人類彼此傷害的行為普世皆然，但也非無可避免，透過大腦科學提供的洞見，我們可以避免讓傷害再次發生。薩伯斯基獨特的幽默，將本書寫的充滿智慧與人情味。長達近千頁的書，從頭到尾都趣味盎然，且例證豐富，無論各個領域的讀者都能從中有所收穫。 **　　重點節錄： 　　針對人類暴力、攻擊和競爭行為，分析得最好的一本書** 　　・你不可能在尚未理解恐懼（杏仁核和恐懼及攻擊有關）時，就理解攻擊行為。 　 　　・基因的重點不是無可避免的命運，而是潛力和易受影響的程度。基因無法單獨決定任何事情。基因與環境的交互作用無所不在。比起改變基因本身，改變環境對基因的調控作用，更能產生重大影響。 　　・我們在潛意識中把世界分成我群和他群，並偏好我群。我們很容易被操弄，在幾秒之內，就能決定誰是我群、誰是他群。 　　・說生物系統運作得「很好」是價值中立的評估；完成美好或惡劣的事情都需要紀律、努力與意志力。「做正確的事」永遠都視脈絡而定。 　　・人類發明了社經地位，等於創造出其他具階層的靈長類動物前所未見的從屬形式。 　　・若有人相信大家做出恐怖又傷害的事也沒關係，這不是好事。這世界的痛苦有更大一部分來自有些人雖然反對恐怖的行為，卻在一些特殊情況時，讓自己成為例外。通往地獄的道路由合理化鋪成。 　　・不管是高深莫測的道德推理能力，或者能感受到強烈的同理心，都不代表能夠真正做出困難、勇敢又富有慈悲心的事情。 　　・人類願意為了象徵性的神聖價值而殺戮或被殺。透過協商，可以維持與他群的和平；理解和尊重他們神聖價值的強度有助於維持長久的和平。 　　・我們最糟的行為、我們譴責與懲罰的行為，是生物機制的產物。但別忘了，同樣的道理也適用於我們最好的行為。 　　・有些人的作為提供了驚人的、展現最佳人性的例子，而那些人和我們其他人其實沒有多大的差異。 得獎紀錄 　　★...

Este libro electrónico contiene las obras completas de Sigmund Freud.

God is great—for your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Based on new evidence culled from brain-scan studies, a wide-reaching survey of people’s religious and spiritual experiences, and the authors’ analyses of adult drawings of God, neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and therapist Mark Robert...

Anthony Peake's first book, Is There Life After Death?: The Extraordinary Science of What Happens When We Die, cause a considerable stir. In The Daemon: A Guide to Your Extraordinary Secret Self, Peake expands on one of the most enigmatic areas of his previous book, the proposition that all consciously...

A leading cognitive scientist argues that a deep sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. From John Locke to Sigmund Freud, philosophers and psychologists have long believed that we begin life as blank moral slates. Many of us take for granted that babies are born selfish and that it is...

A groundbreaking exploration of the “science of enlightenment,” told through the lens of the journey of Siddhartha (better known as Buddha), by Guardian science editor James Kingsland. In a lush grove on the banks of the Neranjara in northern India—400 years before the birth of Christ,...

These days it’s hard to count on the world outside. So it’s vital to grow strengths inside like grit, gratitude, and compassion—the key to resilience, and to lasting well-being in a changing world. True resilience is much more than enduring terrible conditions. We need resilience every...

“Big questions are Gazzaniga’s stock in trade.” —New York Times “Gazzaniga is one of the most brilliant experimental neuroscientists in the world.” —Tom Wolfe “Gazzaniga stands as a giant among neuroscientists, for both the quality of his research and his ability to communicate...

Why do testicles hang the way they do? Is there an adaptive function to the female orgasm? What does it feel like to want to kill yourself? Does "free will" really exist? And why is the penis shaped like that anyway? In Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?, the research psychologist...

Opal Irene Whiteley was born in 1897 in Washington and was raised in Oregon, and died at the Napsbury Hospital in England as a psychiatric patient, at the age of ninety-four in 1992. How did a brilliant young American girl with a passion for geology and nature study come to end her life institutionalized in England?

Having studied how boys and girls develop differently, Michael Gurian turns his attention to adult men in this entertaining, informative, and groundbreaking book on the male brain. Following two decades of neurobiological research, What Could He Be Thinking? answers the questions women and the world...