We are our brains : a neurobiography of the brain, from the womb to Alzheimer's

Summary: "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 chapters, Swaab explains what is going on in our brains at every stage of life, including how a fetus's brain develops and the role that pregnancy plays in solidifying certain aspects of our identity; the radical neurological changes that occur during adolescence; what happens when we fall in love; and the neurological basis for a host of different disorders and personality traits"--

Record details

ISBN: 9780812992960 (hardback : alk. paper)
ISBN: 0812992962 (hardback : alk. paper)
ISBN: 9780679644378 (ebook)
ISBN: 0241003725 (Cloth)
ISBN: 9780241003725 (Cloth)
Physical Description: print
xxvi, 417 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition: First U.S. Edition.
Publisher: New York : Spiegel & Grau, [2014]
Copyright: ©2014

Content descriptions

General Note:

Includes index.

Formatted Contents Note:

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.