Results for the keyword brain
Alain Prochiantz
The Anatomies of Thought What do squid think about ?
When we watch a squid facing up to a predator, we see it recoil, agitate the tentacles, spray a jet of ink, and then make use of the temporary blindness of the predator in order to escape to a safe hiding place. Are we able to say what it is thinking ? Evidently, we know that this behaviour is not the result of a reflex unleashed by the sight of an enemy. The mollusc is not however conscious of its acts, at least not in the sense that we, as human beings, understand this term. It is true that we are the product of a evolution of species, and that, although this may not be welcome news for everyone, we share a common ancestry with the octopus, or even the fly. Even if the structure of our cortex, and the invention of language allows us to write about octopuses (or flies), and not the other way round, the fact remains that these evolutive roots, in the same way as other animal species, including invertebrates, have something to teach us about the nature of our thoughts. Alain Prochiantz
Geneviève Delaisi de Parseval
The Art of Dealing With Old Age
Without denying the reality of ageing, this sensitive book goes against negative views of old age, and portrays it as a new way to “grow”.
Jean-Philippe Lachaux
The Attentive Brain Improving Concentration With the Neurosciences
Why study attention? Focused attention is rare and precious...
Albert Costa
The Bilingual Brain
A fascinating book on what has often been a controversial topic; a lively summary of the state of the art.
Ranka Bijeljac-Babic
The Bilingual Child
This is the first French-language book for the general reader on bilingualism from the earliest age. Most previous studies were published in specialized journals and in English, not easily accessible to non-specialists. A representative synthesis of current scientific trends and evidence of the interest among researchers in this field. Solid guidance for parents in search of good practices to develop with their children.
Alain Prochiantz
Biology in the Bedroom
Inspiring himself from La Philosophie dans le boudoir by Sade and the major philosophical works of the 18th century, Alain Prochiantz, who is a neurobiologist, explains by means of a dialogue, the progress of embryology and neurobiology and gives us the elements so that we can understand and measure the stakes of the recent discovery of the genes of development. Alain Prochiantz heads the Laboratory for the Development and Evolution of the Nervous System at the École normale supérieure. He is notably the author of Strategies of the Embryo, and Claude Bernard, the Physiological Revolution.
Gerald M. Edelman
The Biology of Consciousness
How do we think? What makes us beings that are endowed with conscience, capable of memory, of perceiving the surrounding world, of feeling passion? This book presents an ensemble of mechanisms that compose the human spirit and addresses the progress of the neuroscientific revolution: the biology of the brain and the study of its evolution are in the process of surrendering to us the key to conscience itself. Gerald. M. Edleman, winner of the Nobel Prize for medicine, heads the Institute of Neurosciences at La Jolla, California.