The Accidental Mind

戴维·J·林登(David J.Linden)是美国约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院教授、神经科学家，对小脑突触可塑性有专门的研究。

出版者:Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

作者:David J. Linden

页数:288

出版时间:2008-12-15

价格:USD 21.00

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780674030589

图书标签:神经科学思维心理学脑科学科普psychology认知科学English

The brain, that "cobbled-together mess," is the subject of this lively mix of solid science and fascinating case histories. Linden, a neuroscientist from Johns Hopkins University, offers "the Reader's Digest version" of how the brain functions, followed quickly by the "real biology," before tackling the big questions: Why are people religious? How do we form memories? What makes sleep so vital to mental health? Which is more important, nature or nurture? Linden tackles these problems head on, debunking myths (people do, in fact, use more than 10 percent of their brains) and offering interesting trivia (Einstein's brain was a bit on the small side) along the way. Anti-evolutionary arguments are answered in a chapter titled "The Unintelligent Design of the Brain," in which Linden proposes that it's the brain's "weird agglomeration of ad hoc solutions" that makes humans unique. The book's greatest strength is Linden's knack for demystifying biology and neuroscience with vivid similes (he calls the brain, weighing two percent of total body weight and using 20 percent of its energy, the "Hummer H2 of the body"). Though packed with textbook-ready data, the book grips readers like a masterful teacher; those with little science experience may be surprised to find themselves interested in-and even chuckling over-the migration of neurons along radial glia, and anxious to find out what happens next.

读后感

作者站在脑科学理论研究的前沿，用大家都能理解的语言叙述大脑的构成，作用。写的清晰，明了，专业人士沈颖教授翻译的也很流畅。值得对脑科学，神经科学、行为和认知感兴趣的人一读。  

作者站在脑科学理论研究的前沿，用大家都能理解的语言叙述大脑的构成，作用。写的清晰，明了，专业人士沈颖教授翻译的也很流畅。值得对脑科学，神经科学、行为和认知感兴趣的人一读。  

这本科学普及读物如此通俗易懂，却又发人审醒。 我们对于大脑的认识，甚至一些坚信不宜的知识，很多都是错误的。逐渐地，大脑被我们神话了，像一个拥有未知力量的宝藏。 如今，是时候揭开这层面纱，透过乱生的头发和粘粘的脑组织，睹一睹庐山的真面目了。

这本书的英文版和中文版我都在看。此书做了有益的科普，例如引言中就说了：“仅仅使用了大脑10%的说法是没有根据的”。但是也有些以讹传讹，例如第一章引用的Phineas Gage的案例，特别是第18页对Gage死因的描述完全是道听途说，极大影响了这本书的可信性。作为进化论的信奉者，...  

用户评价

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好像是一本非常被推崇的关于brain的科普而又严谨的书。个人感觉，比我以前看的那两本要赞很多。书中对，感官的错觉（大部分时候），记忆的形成（微观基础和宏观行为），性与自我性别的认知，梦和宗教错觉（或者说是超自然的感觉）的脑构造基础，和最impressive的brain这个design的优劣讨论和进化论以及一次性设计的讨论，都非常的吸引人。非常易懂，好像这本书还拿了一个科普读物中的很大的奖， 很推荐。

这种书用audiobook简直太不合适了。图书馆的书到手，手工照书画了几幅图，仔细查了字典，清楚了许多许多。不过发现用中文学英文的术语是音译或者翻译的颇勉强，有些脱离了词根什么的，反而完全没办法记。应该在读其他脑科学的书之前先读这个入门的。sigh.

The brain is like an ice cream cone with new scoops piled on at each stage of our linage. It is a kludge from accidental design. The prefrontal cortex which is hub of cognitive thinking is of very limited functions, our memory is usually misattributed, biased and often twisted by emotions...所以不能完全相信自己的大脑，因为它经常”自欺欺人”