Molecular Genetics and the Human Personality

出版者:Amer Psychiatric Pub Inc

作者:Benjamin, Jonathan, M.D. (EDT)/ Ebstein, Richard P. (EDT)/ Belmaker, Robert H., M.D. (EDT)

页数:360

出版时间:2002-2

价格:$ 102.83

装帧:HRD

isbn号码:9780880487559

具体描述

In the 1960's and 1970's, personality and mental illness were conceptualized in an intertwined psychodynamic model. Biological psychiatry for many un-weaved that model and took mental illness for psychiatry and left personality to psychology. This book brings personality back into biological psychiatry, not merely in the form of personality disorder but as part of a new intertwined molecular genetic model of personality and mental disorder. This is the beginning of a new conceptual paradigm!! This breakthrough volume marks the beginning of a new era, an era made possible by the electrifying pace of discovery and innovation in the field of molecular genetics. In fact, several types of genome maps have already been completed, and todayAs experts confidently predict that we will have a smooth version of the sequencing of the human genomeAwhich contains some 3 billion base pairs Such astounding progress helped fuel the development of this remarkable volume, the first ever to discuss the brand-newAand often controversialAfield of molecular genetics and the human personality. Questioning, critical, and strong on methodological principles, this volume reflects the point of view of its 35 distinguished contributorsAall pioneers in this burgeoning field and themselves world-class theoreticians, empiricists, clinicians, developmentalists, and statisticians. For students of psychopathology and others bold enough to hold in abeyance their understandable misgivings about the conjunction of Amolecular geneticsA and Ahuman personality,A this work offers an authoritative and up-to-date introduction to the molecular genetics of human personality. The book, with its wealth of facts, conjectures, hopes, and misgivings, begins with a preface by world-renowned researcher and author Irving Gottesman. -The authors masterfully guide us through Chapter 1, principles and methods; Chapter 4, animal models for personality; and Chapter 11, human intelligence as a model for personality, laying the groundwork for our appreciation of the remaining empirical findings of human personality qua personality. -Many chapters (6, 7, 9, 11, and 13) emphasize the neurodevelopmental and ontogenetic aspects of personality, with a major emphasis on the receptors and transporters for the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. Though these neurotransmitters are a rational starting point now, the future undoubtedly will bring many other candidate genes that today cannot even be imagined, given our ignorance of the genes involved in the prenatal development of the central nervous system. -Chapter 3 provides an integrative overview of the broad autism phenotype, and as such will be of special interest to child psychiatrists. Chapters 5, 8, and 10 offer enlightening information on drug and alcohol abuse. Chapter 14 discusses variations in sexuality. -Adding balance and mature perspectives on how all the chapters complement and sometimes challenge one another are Chapter 2, written by a major figure in the renaissance of the relevance to psychopathology of both genetics and personality; Chapters 15-17, informed critical appraisals citing concerns and cautions about premature applications of this information in the policy arena; and Chapter 18, a judicious contemplation by the editors themselves of this promisingAand, to some, alarmingAfield. Clear and meticulously researched, this eminently satisfying work is written to introduce the subject to postgraduate students just beginning to develop their research skills, to interested psychiatric practitioners, and to informed laypersons with some scientific background.

用户评价

阅读过程中，我注意到作者在引用文献和构建论据时，展现出一种近乎偏执的平衡感。他似乎非常擅长将看似对立的学派观点并置，然后通过一种巧妙的论证路径将它们重新整合起来，形成一个更加包容和全面的视角。例如，在讨论到某些系统内部的反馈回路时，作者引述了来自不同领域，比如生态学和信息论中的类比模型，并将这些模型放在一个统一的框架下进行比较分析。这种跨领域的融会贯通，极大地拓宽了我的认知边界。我特别欣赏作者在处理争议性议题时的态度——他从不急于下定论，而是倾向于描绘出整个辩论的全景图，让读者自己去权衡不同证据的权重。这种严谨的、非教条主义的写作方式，使得这本书即便在涉及前沿和尚未完全定论的领域时，依然保持了极高的可信度。它不贩卖确定性，而是贩卖更高级的、关于不确定性的理解。

从纯粹的阅读体验来看，这本书对读者的先验知识储备提出了较高的要求，这一点是毋庸置疑的。它并非为零基础的爱好者准备的入门读物，很多时候，作者会假设读者已经对某些基础概念有了清晰的认识，并在此基础上展开更深层次的探讨。对于有一定学术背景的读者来说，这无疑是一种福音，它提供了一个可以跳过基础介绍、直击核心问题的路径。但对于初次接触该领域的读者，可能会感到有些吃力，需要辅以其他辅助材料才能跟上节奏。不过，如果能坚持下来，这本书所带来的智力上的回报是巨大的。它不仅传授了知识，更重要的是，它塑造了一种观察世界、分析问题的思维模式。读完之后，我感觉自己看待许多日常现象的角度都发生了微妙但本质的变化，仿佛是戴上了一副全新的滤镜去审视周遭的世界。这本书的价值，最终体现在它对读者认知结构重塑的深刻影响上。

这部书的封面设计着实引人注目，那种深邃的蓝色调配上金色的字体，立刻就给人一种既专业又带有某种神秘感的印象。我是在一个偶然的机会在一家独立书店里发现它的，当时就被它封面上那种略带复古的排版风格所吸引。书本的装帧质量相当上乘，纸张厚实，拿在手里沉甸甸的，阅读体验感很好，不是那种轻飘飘的印刷品能比拟的。我特意翻阅了目录，内容结构似乎非常严谨，章节之间的逻辑过渡非常流畅。我个人对宏观层面的理论构建一直很感兴趣，而这本书的导论部分似乎就提供了一个非常扎实的理论框架，让人感觉作者在试图构建一个宏大的叙事体系，去解释一些看似随机的现象。它的主题似乎暗示着对复杂系统如何演化出特定模式的探讨，这种跨学科的视角，结合其扎实的学术底蕴，让人对后续的深入阅读充满期待。虽然我还没有来得及完全读完，但仅凭其引人入胜的开篇和精美的制作工艺，就已经让我觉得这是一次值得的投入。它不像那种快餐式的科普读物，而更像是一件需要时间去细细品味的艺术品。

这本书的节奏把握得非常巧妙，虽然内容密度极高，但叙事节奏却如同精心编排的交响乐。开篇部分的宏大铺陈之后，中间章节开始进入细节的打磨，充满了大量的案例分析和数据图表的解读。这些案例的选择非常具有代表性，往往是从极为微小的个体现象切入，然后逐步引导我们看到其背后隐藏的、影响深远的宏观规律。我发现自己经常会因为书中一个看似不起眼的实验结果而停下来，花上十几分钟去琢磨这个结果如何支撑了作者在前面建立起来的理论大厦。这种“由微观到宏观”的螺旋式上升阅读体验，让人欲罢不能。书中的图表设计也极为出色，它们并非简单的装饰，而是与文字论述紧密结合，起到了画龙点睛的作用。有时候，一个复杂的数学模型，在配上作者的精妙注解后，突然间就变得清晰可辨了。这证明了作者在教学和表达能力上的高超水准。

这本书的语言风格，初读之下，给我带来了一种强烈的“学术对话”感。作者似乎并不满足于简单地陈述事实，而是不断地在与读者进行一种深层次的思辨。很多句子结构相当复杂，充满了精妙的从句和转折，这要求读者必须集中全部注意力去消化每一个论点。我发现自己经常需要停下来，反复咀嚼那些包含着大量限定词和专业术语的段落，但这并非是一种折磨，反而像是在解开一个精巧的数学谜题。书中对特定概念的界定尤其严苛，似乎生怕因为一个模糊的措辞而削弱了整个论证的说服力。比如，它对“结构性偏好”的定义，就用了整整两页的篇幅进行阐释和区分，这在一般的读物中是极为罕见的。这种对精确性的极致追求，使得本书的论述充满了力量感，让人不得不承认其背后深厚的知识积累。它更像是一份深思熟虑的学术报告，而非轻松愉快的散文集，适合那些希望在理论层面深挖下去的求知者。