The future of the brain : the promise and perils of tomorrow's neuroscience

Select an Action

Title:

Author:

Rose, Steven P. R. (Steven Peter Russell), 1938-

ISBN:

9780195154207

9780195308938

Personal Author:

Rose, Steven P. R. (Steven Peter Russell), 1938-

Publication Information:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2005.

Physical Description:

viii, 344 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Contents:

The promise and the threat -- The past is the key to the present -- From 1 to 100 billion in nine months -- Becoming human -- Becoming a person -- Having a brain, being a mind -- Ageing brains, wiser minds -- What we know, what we might know and what we can't know -- Healing the mind via the brain -- Modulating, mending or manipulating -- The next big thing? -- Ethics in a neurocentric world.

Abstract:

"In The Future of the Brian, Rose explores just how far neuroscience may help us understand the human brain - including consciousness - and to what extent cutting edge technologies should have the power to mend or manipulate the mind. Rose first offers a panoramic look at what we now know about the brain, from its three-billion-year evolution, to its astonishingly rapid development in the embryo, to the miraculous process of infant development (how a brain becomes a human). More important, he shows what all this science can - and cannot - tell us about the human condition. He examines questions that still baffle scientists: if our genes are 99% identical to those of chimpanzees, if our brains are composed of identical molecules, arranged in pretty similar cellular patterns, how come we are so different?

And he explores the potential threats and promises of new technologies and their ethical, legal, and social implications, wondering how far we should go in eliminating unwanted behavior or enhancing desired characteristics, focusing on the new "brain steroids" and on the use of Ritalin to control young children." "The Future of the Brain is a look at what the brain sciences are telling us about who we are and where we came from - and where we may be headed in the years ahead."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject Term:

Brain -- Popular works.

Neurosciences -- Popular works.

Electronic Access:

Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0635/2004023578-d.html
Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip052/2004023578.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168020394611	153 R797F 2005	1	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Brain repair, smart pills, mind-reading machines--modern neuroscience promises to soon deliver a remarkable array of wonders as well as profound insight into the nature of the brain. But these exciting new breakthroughs, warns Steven Rose, will also raise troubling questions about what it means to be human. In The Future of the Brain, Rose explores just how far neuroscience may help us understand the human brain--including consciousness--and to what extent cutting edge technologies should have the power to mend or manipulate the mind. Rose first offers a panoramic look at what we now know about the brain, from its three-billion-year evolution, to its astonishingly rapid development in the embryo, to the miraculous process of infant development (how a brain becomes a human). More important, he shows what all this science can--and cannot--tell us about the human condition. He examines questions that still baffle scientists: if our genes are 99% identical to those of chimpanzees, if our brains are composed of identical molecules, arranged in pretty similar cellular patterns, how come we are so different? And he explores the potential threats and promises of new technologies and their ethical, legal, and social implications, wondering how far we should go in eliminating unwanted behavior or enhancing desired characteristics, focusing on the new "brain steroids" and on the use of Ritalin to control young children. The Future of the Brain is a remarkable look at what the brain sciences are telling us about who we are and where we came from--and where we may be headed in the years ahead.