Synopses & Reviews
and#147;Neuroscientist Giovanni Frazzetto enters the restless realm of human emotion through the portals of physiology, genetics, history, art and philosophy. Anger, guilt, anxiety, grief, empathy, joy and love are anatomized in turn, enlivened with research on everything from the role of monoamine oxidase A in anger to the engagement of opioid receptors as we thrill to music. And who knew that surrealist Salvador Dali created an art installation in the shape of a giant caterpillar to explore the process of sedation?and#8221;
and#151;Nature
and#160;
Is science ever enough to explain why we feel the way we feel?
In this engaging account, renowned neuroscientist Giovanni Frazzetto blends cutting-edge scientific research with personal stories to reveal how our brains generate our emotions. He demonstrates that while modern science has expanded our knowledge, investigating art, literature, and philosophy is equally crucial to unraveling the brainand#8217;s secrets. What can a brain scan, or our reaction to a Caravaggio painting, reveal about the deep seat of guilt? Can ancient remedies fight sadness more effectively than antidepressants? What can writing poetry tell us about how joy works? Structured in seven chapters encompassing common human emotionsand#151;anger, guilt, anxiety, grief, empathy, joy, and loveand#151;Joy, Guilt, Anger, Love offers a way of thinking about science and art that will help us to more fully understand ourselves and how we feel.
Review
Introduction xi
PART I
Unpleasantness in Vermont 3
Gage's Brain Revealed 20
A Modern Phineas Gage 34
In Colder Blood 52
PART II
Assembling an Explanation 83
Biological Regulation and Survival 114
Emotions and Feelings 127
The Somatic-Marker Hypothesis 165
PART III
Testing the Somatic-Marker Hypothesis 205
The Body-Minded Brain 223
A Passion for Reasoning 245
Postscriptum 253
Notes and References 269
Further Reading 293
Acknowledgments 299
Index 301
Review
and#8220;In Frazzettoand#8217;s book, the Italian researcher and writer offers a fine primer on six emotions plus empathy. But before diving into the biology of each emotion (the role of the amygdala in fear and of serotonin reuptake in grief), he inspects his target through the lenses of psychology, philosophy, art and personal experience. What you see is that poetry offers more insight into our feelings than does neuroanatomy or biochemistry.and#8221;
and#8212;Washington Post and#160;
and#8220;Neuroscientist Giovanni Frazzetto enters the restless realm of human emotion through the portals of physiology, genetics, history, art and philosophy. Anger, guilt, anxiety, grief, empathy, joy and love are anatomized in turn, enlivened with research on everything from the role of monoamine oxidase A in anger to the engagement of opioid receptors as we thrill to music. And who knew that surrealist Salvador Dali created an art installation in the shape of a giant caterpillar to explore the process of sedation?and#8221;
and#8212;Nature
and#160;
and#8220;A remarkable look at the power of human emotion and the overuse of science in justifying human nature. . . . Refreshing. . . . Interweaving psychological and scientific experiments with endearing personal anecdotes and historical retellings, Frazzetto shows that we are, indeed, more than the sum of our brain scans. While his knowledge of case studies is impressive, itand#8217;s his own dealings with strong emotions like grief and love that make the book appealing. . . .and#160; Frazzetto has produced an homage to the history and of mankindand#8217;s devotion to flights of the heart and sparks of the brain.and#8221;
and#8212;Publishers Weekly
and#160;
and#8220;[An] intriguing book . . . . An enjoyable illumination of and#8216;that most private and shadowy territory, our emotions.and#8221;
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
and#160;
and#8220;A masterful meld of science, art, and memoir on what makes us human.and#8221;
and#8212;Allen Frances, author of Saving Normal
and#160;
and#8220;Engaging... very refreshing. His analogies and images when explaining the science are often illuminating and sometimes inspired.and#8221;
and#8212;Henry Marsh, The Times, UK
and#8220;Wonderfully lucid.and#8221;
and#8212;Lisa Appignanesi, author of Mad, Bad and Sad and All About Love
and#8220;Intriguing... eye-opening. Frazzetto explains with admirable clarity.and#8221;
and#8212;James McConnachie, The Sunday Times, UK
and#8220;Frazzettoand#8217;s book guides readers through the latest neurological research, stopping at each revelation to question what has been discovered.and#8221;
and#8212;Philip Maughan, The New Statesman
and#8220;I finished feeling that I had learned a lot effortlessly ... his expressive style of writing is very enjoyable to read.and#8221;
and#8212;Matt Chorley, Popular Science UK
and#160;
Review
"Engaging. . . . Very refreshing. . . . His analogies and images when explaining the science are often illuminating and sometimes inspired."
and#8212;The Times (UK)
and#8220;Frazzettoand#8217;s book guides readers through the latest neurological research, stopping at each revelation to question what has been discovered. He asks which is better for fending off anxiety: medical research on rats, or philosophy? Is a bizarre neurological syndrome the key to understanding love, or did Shakespeare crack that one in his sonnets?and#8221;
and#8212;The New Statesman
and#160;
Synopsis
"Although I cannot tell for certain what sparked my interest in the neural underpinnings of reason, I do know when I became convinced that the traditional views on the nature of rationality could not be correct". Thus begins a book that takes the reader on a journey of discovery, from the story of Phineas Gage, the famous nineteenth-century case of behavioral change that followed brain damage, to the contemporary recreation of Gage's brain; and from the doubts of a young neurologist to a testable hypothesis concerning the emotions and their fundamental role in rational human behavior. Drawing on his experiences with neurological patients affected by brain damage (his laboratory is recognized worldwide as the foremost center for the study of such patients), Antonio Damasio shows how the absence of emotion and feeling can break down rationality. In the course of explaining how emotions and feelings contribute to reason and to adaptive social behavior, Damasio also offers a novel perspective on what emotions and feelings actually are: a direct sensing of our own body states, a link between the body and its survival-oriented regulations, on the one hand, and consciousness, on the other. Descartes' Error leads us to conclude that human organisms are endowed from the very beginning with a spirited passion for making choices, which the social mind can use to build rational behavior.
Synopsis
Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a personandrsquo;s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartesandrsquo; Error in 1995. Antonio Damasioandmdash;"one of the worldandrsquo;s leading neurologists" (The New York Times)andmdash;challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior.
Synopsis
A breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before.
In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries.
A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested
in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying
consciousness.
Synopsis
Is science ever enough to explain why we feel the way we feel? In this engaging account, renowned neuroscientist Giovanni Frazzetto blends cutting-edge scientific research with personal stories to reveal how our brains generate our emotions. He demonstrates that while modern science has expanded our knowledge, investigating art, literature, and philosophy is equally crucial to unraveling the brainand#8217;s secrets. What can a brain scan, or our reaction to a Caravaggio painting, reveal about the deep seat of guilt? Can ancient remedies fight sadness more effectively than antidepressants? What can writing poetry tell us about how joy works? Structured in seven chapters encompassing common human emotionsand#151;anger, guilt, anxiety, grief, empathy, joy, and loveand#151;Joy, Guilt, Anger, Love offers a way of thinking about science and art that will help us to more fully understand ourselves and how we feel.
About the Author
Antonio Damasio, a neurologist and neuroscientist, is at the University of Southern California, where he directs a new brain research institute dedicated to the study of emotion and creativity. He is also an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute. The recipient of numerous awards (several shared with his wife Hanna Damasio, also a neurologist and neuroscientist), he is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of two other widely acclaimed books, The Feeling of What Happens and Looking for Spinoza.
Table of Contents
Introduction xi
PART I
Unpleasantness in Vermont 3
Gage's Brain Revealed 20
A Modern Phineas Gage 34
In Colder Blood 52
PART II
Assembling an Explanation 83
Biological Regulation and Survival 114
Emotions and Feelings 127
The Somatic-Marker Hypothesis 165
PART III
Testing the Somatic-Marker Hypothesis 205
The Body-Minded Brain 223
A Passion for Reasoning 245
Postscriptum 253
Notes and References 269
Further Reading 293
Acknowledgments 299
Index 301