6. Disorders of dreaming
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Disorders of dreaming’ looks at the way in which the brain systems mediating dreaming can become exaggerated or distorted, with unwelcome consequences. Nightmares and night terrors are ...
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8. The new neuropsychology of dreaming
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
illustrates that the development of brain imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has made it possible ...
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4. Autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder
Uta Frith
in Autism: A Very Short Introduction
‘Autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder’ asks: why is autism a neurodevelopmental disorder? Mental disorders that are ultimately due to genetic causes and present from early childhood are ...
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1. The autism spectrum
Uta Frith
in Autism: A Very Short Introduction
‘The autism spectrum’ examines three individuals from different parts of the autism spectrum. It explains how all of the ‘autisms’ originate from before birth, and all affect the developing ...
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8. Epilogue
Michael O’Shea
in The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
The ‘Epilogue’ asks: Will we ever truly understand the brain? Modern imaging techniques, such as fMRI, have provided valuable insights into the localization of specific mental actions in ...
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1. Sleep through the ages
Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
in Sleep: A Very Short Introduction
We used to think of sleep as a state of suspended activity and unconsciousness. Nowadays, we regard sleep as an inconvenience at best, a weakness at worst. Sleep has considerable benefits. ...
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2. From humours to cells: components of mind
Michael O’Shea
in The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
‘From humours to cells’ explores historical perspectives on the brain. The Greeks were the first to see that the brain was central to thought. Hippocrates postulated that there were four ...
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4. From the Big Bang to the big brain
Michael O’Shea
in The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
‘From the Big Bang to the big brain’ charts the evolutionary history of the nervous system. The ability to sense and act on environmental stimuli exists even in single celled organisms. ...
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9. Dreaming, learning, and memory
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Dreaming, learning, and memory’ considers the work of Robert Stickgold and the popular theory that brain activation in sleep is necessary for us to reorder the information inside our ...
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1. What is dreaming?
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘What is dreaming?’ examines what causes dreaming, and discusses why dreams are so strange and hard to remember. Dreaming is most usefully defined and measured through perceptual, ...
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10. Dream consciousness
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Dream consciousness’ describes how modern sleep science has contributed to the dramatic progress of the last decade in understanding the brain basis of consciousness, and how that ...
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2. Why did the analysis of dream content fail to become a science?
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
‘Why did the analysis of dream content fail to become a science?’ focuses on Freud's psychoanalytic model as it was developed in his Project for a Scientific Psychology (1895) and The ...
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7. Seeing and the brain
Michael Land
in The Eye: A Very Short Introduction
About 27 per cent of the human brain cortex is predominantly visual in function, but there are many other areas that are involved less exclusively in visual processing. ‘Seeing and the ...
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7. From theory to practice
Uta Frith
in Autism: A Very Short Introduction
‘From theory to practice’ explains that autistic disorders are far too heterogeneous and too complex for a single satisfying account. It is frustrating that there is no answer yet to what ...
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2. The human brain
Susan Blackmore
in Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edn)
‘The human brain’ considers the brain as a vast network of connections from which come our extraordinary abilities: perception, learning, memory, reasoning, language, and somehow or ...
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5. Science
Ronald de Sousa
in Love: A Very Short Introduction
Scientific scrutiny of love cannot reduce it to mere physical processes. Other perspectives are needed to explain why these mechanisms exist in the first place and what role they play in ...
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Conclusion
J. Allan Hobson
in Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction
The conclusion highlights three concepts that were not predicted by dream theorists. Firstly, dreaming and other states of consciousness are related to changes in the level of brain ...
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Cognitive Neuroscience: A Very Short Introduction
Richard Passingham
Cognitive neuroscience was born in the late 1970s when the study of patients who had suffered brain damage or injury to limited parts of the brain revealed different components and the ...
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1. Thinking about the brain
Michael O’Shea
in The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
‘Thinking about the brain’ asks: How do we even begin to contemplate our own thoughts? Thinking about the brain creates a self-referential paradox — we need to use our brain to think about ...
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3. Signalling in the brain: getting connected
Michael O’Shea
in The Brain: A Very Short Introduction
‘Signalling in the brain’ outlines the mechanisms of nervous signalling, which needs to be accurate, reliable, and quick. It is brought about by the movement of ‘action potentials’ across ...
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