"What is it that makes you distinct from me? Identity is a term much used but hard to define. For that very reason, it has long been a topic of fascination for philosophers but has been regarded with aversion by neuroscientists - until now. Susan Greenfield takes us on a journey in search of a biological interpretion of this most elusive of concepts, guiding us through the social and psychiatric perspectives and ultimately into the heart of the physical brain. As the brain adapts exquisitely to environment, do cultural challenges of the 21st century mean that we are facing unprecedented changes to identity itself?"--Back cover.

A neuroscientist demystifies the subject of consciousness in this up-to-date discussion of mind-body connections. How does the firing of neurons give rise to subjective sensations, thoughts, and emotions? How can the disparate domains of mind and body be reconciled? The quest for a scientifically based understanding of consciousness has attracted study and speculation across the ages. In this direct and non-technical discussion of consciousness, Dr. Gerald M. Edelman draws on a lifetime of scientific inquiry into the workings of the brain to formulate answers to the mind-body questions that intrigue every thinking person. Concise and understandable, the book explains pertinent findings of modern neuroscience and describes how consciousness arises in complex brains. Edelman explores the relation of consciousness to causation, to evolution, to the development of the self, and to the origins of feelings, learning, and memory. His analysis of the brain activities underlying consciousness is based on recent remarkable advances in biochemistry, immunology, medical imaging, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology, yet the implications of his book extend farther--beyond the worlds of science and medicine into virtually every area of human inquiry.

Dr. Mandler looks at the ways in which human beings interpret emotional experiences, by forming mental structures or schemas. Looking at the depth and variety of human emotional experience, Mandler examines not only the psychological processes but also the bodily reactions. He brings in historical aspects of emotion and human consciousness and discusses applications to lives of clinical psychologists and their patient.

This book is about the emotional language and biological language of the body, which Keleman puts together. He says, We do not have bodies, we are our bodies. Emotional reality and biological ground are the same and cannot, in any way, be separated or distinguished. Life incarnate is a process of individual human experience manifesting in the body.

What exactly is "human nature"? Are we correct in accepting ourselves as unchangeable, determined by biology, or is this idea an obstacle to our cognitive, emotional, and evolutionary development? George Mandler explores these questions from a fresh evolutionary and social perspective. He examines the burgeoning field of evolutionary psychology and suggests a mid-course correction. Topics are approached from a variety of backgrounds, drawing on relevant literature and Mandler's own research. He begins with what we know about evolution and gene expression, then moves on to the complex phenomena of consciuosness and emotion. The constraints of both nature and nurture are discussed as limiting forces on human development, and natural selection is considered in the context of our social fabric, which draws on both psychological and anthropological knowledge. Mandler considers human difference, particularly in regard to intelligence and gender, and discusses the nature of human values, including our need for morality and freedom. The book concludes with an appraisal of human cognition and language.