Brain Arousal and Information Theory

Brain Arousal and Information Theory PDF Author: Donald W PFAFF
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674042107
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Arousal is fundamental to all cognition. It is intuitively obvious, absolutely necessary, but what exactly is it? In Brain Arousal and Information Theory, Donald Pfaff presents a daring perspective on this long-standing puzzle. Pfaff argues that, beneath our mental functions and emotional dispositions, a primitive neuronal system governs arousal. Employing the simple but powerful framework of information theory, Pfaff revolutionizes our understanding of arousal systems in the brain. Starting with a review of the neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurochemical components of arousal, Pfaff asks us to look at the gene networks and neural pathways underlying the brain's arousal systems much as a design engineer would contemplate information systems. This allows Pfaff to postulate that there is a bilaterally symmetric, bipolar system universal among mammals that readies the animal or the human being to respond to stimuli, initiate voluntary locomotion, and react to emotional challenges. Applying his hypothesis to heightened states of arousal--sex and fear--Pfaff shows us how his theory opens new scientific approaches to understanding the structure of brain arousal. A major synthesis of disparate data by a preeminent neuroscientist, Brain Arousal and Information Theory challenges current thinking about cognition and behavior. Whether you subscribe to Pfaff's theory or not, this book will stimulate debate about the nature of arousal itself.

Brain Arousal and Information Theory

Brain Arousal and Information Theory PDF Author: Donald W PFAFF
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674042107
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book Here

Book Description
Arousal is fundamental to all cognition. It is intuitively obvious, absolutely necessary, but what exactly is it? In Brain Arousal and Information Theory, Donald Pfaff presents a daring perspective on this long-standing puzzle. Pfaff argues that, beneath our mental functions and emotional dispositions, a primitive neuronal system governs arousal. Employing the simple but powerful framework of information theory, Pfaff revolutionizes our understanding of arousal systems in the brain. Starting with a review of the neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurochemical components of arousal, Pfaff asks us to look at the gene networks and neural pathways underlying the brain's arousal systems much as a design engineer would contemplate information systems. This allows Pfaff to postulate that there is a bilaterally symmetric, bipolar system universal among mammals that readies the animal or the human being to respond to stimuli, initiate voluntary locomotion, and react to emotional challenges. Applying his hypothesis to heightened states of arousal--sex and fear--Pfaff shows us how his theory opens new scientific approaches to understanding the structure of brain arousal. A major synthesis of disparate data by a preeminent neuroscientist, Brain Arousal and Information Theory challenges current thinking about cognition and behavior. Whether you subscribe to Pfaff's theory or not, this book will stimulate debate about the nature of arousal itself.

From the Couch to the Lab

From the Couch to the Lab PDF Author: Aikaterini Fotopoulou
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019960052X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 507

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Book Description
Can the psychodynamics of the mind be correlated with neurodynamic processes in the brain? The book revisits a question that scientists and psychoanalysts have been asking for more than a century. It brings together experts from Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychiatry and Neurology to consider this question.

Music and the Functions of the Brain: Arousal, Emotions, and Pleasure

Music and the Functions of the Brain: Arousal, Emotions, and Pleasure PDF Author: Mark Reybrouck
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889454525
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
Music impinges upon the body and the brain. As such, it has significant inductive power which relies both on innate dispositions and acquired mechanisms and competencies. The processes are partly autonomous and partly deliberate, and interrelations between several levels of processing are becoming clearer with accumulating new evidence. For instance, recent developments in neuroimaging techniques, have broadened the field by encompassing the study of cortical and subcortical processing of the music. The domain of musical emotions is a typical example with a major focus on the pleasure that can be derived from listening to music. Pleasure, however, is not the only emotion to be induced and the mechanisms behind its elicitation are far from understood. There are also mechanisms related to arousal and activation that are both less differentiated and at the same time more complex than the assumed mechanisms that trigger basic emotions. It is imperative, therefore, to investigate what pleasurable and mood-modifying effects music can have on human beings in real-time listening situations. This e-book is an attempt to answer these questions. Revolving around the specificity of music experience in terms of perception, emotional reactions, and aesthetic assessment, it presents new hypotheses, theoretical claims as well as new empirical data which contribute to a better understanding of the functions of the brain as related to musical experience.

Hormones, Brain and Behavior Online

Hormones, Brain and Behavior Online PDF Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 008088783X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 6035

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Book Description
Hormones, Brain, and Behavior, Second Edition is a comprehensive work discussing the effect of hormones on the brain and, subsequently, behavior. This major reference work has 109 chapters covering a broad range of topics with an extensive discussion of the effects of hormones on insects, fish, amphibians, birds, rodents, and humans. To truly understand all aspects of our behavior, we must take every influence (including the hormonal influences) into consideration. Donald Pfaff and a number of well-qualified editors examine and discuss how we are influenced by hormonal factors, offering insight, and information on the lives of a variety of species. Hormones, Brain, and Behavior offers the reader comprehensive coverage of growing field of research, with a state-of-the-art overview of hormonally-mediated behaviors. This reference provides unique treatment of all major vertebrate and invertebrate model systems with excellent opportunities for relating behavior to molecular genetics. The topics cover an unusual breadth (from molecules to ecophysiology), ranging from basic science to clinical research, making this reference of interest to a broad range of scientists in a variety of fields. Available online exclusively via ScienceDirect. A limited edition print version is also available. Comprehensive coverage of a growing field of research Unique treatment of all major vertebrate and invertebrate model systems with excellent opportunites for relating behavior to molecular genetics Covers an unusual breadth ranging from molecules to ecophysiology, and from basic science to clinical research

Conflict, Arousal, and Curiosity

Conflict, Arousal, and Curiosity PDF Author: D. E. Berlyne
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description


Categorical Versus Dimensional Models of Affect

Categorical Versus Dimensional Models of Affect PDF Author: Ralph D. Ellis
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027241570
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
One of the most important theoretical and empirical issues in the scholarly study of emotion is whether there is a correct list of “basic” types of affect or whether all affective states are better modeled as a combination of locations on shared underlying dimensions. Many thinkers have written on this topic, yet the views of two scientists in particular are dominant. The first is Jaak Panksepp, the father of Affective Neuroscience. Panksepp conceptualizes affect as a set of distinct categories. The leading proponent of the dimensional approach in scientific psychology is James Russell. According to Russell all affect can be decomposed into two underlying dimensions, pleasure versus displeasure and low arousal versus high arousal. In this volume Panksepp and Russell each articulate their positions on eleven fundamental questions about the nature of affect followed by a discussion of these target papers by noted emotion theorists and researchers. Russell and Panksepp respond both to each other and to the commentators. The discussion leads to some stark contrasts, with formidable arguments on both sides, and some interesting convergences between the two streams of work.

ADHD Comorbidities

ADHD Comorbidities PDF Author: Thomas E. Brown
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1585621587
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
The only book that covers the multiple ways in which ADHD is complicated by other psychiatric and learning disorders in both children and adults, ADHD Comorbidities: Handbook for ADHD Complications in Children and Adults features comprehensive, research-based information on ADHD and its full range of coexisting syndromes. Contributing researcher-clinicians, familiar with the complications that additional disorders pose, summarize in accessible language what is currently known about ADHD and its comorbidities, from preschool age to adulthood. These authors describe how ADHD leads to different profiles at different stages of development and how to adjust treatment strategies for both ADHD and additional disorders to reduce the impairments resulting from their combination. The book offers a new paradigm for understanding ADHD, viewing it not as a simple behavior disorder but as a complex developmental impairment of executive functions in the brain. This important handbook gives developmental context to ADHD by describing how symptoms at preschool onset differ from those of older age at onset. Clinicians will find practical help for patients whose ADHD appears in conjunction with 11 other syndromes -- from mood disorders to developmental coordination disorder -- and acquire valuable guidance on adapting and adjusting medications and other interventions to optimize treatment effects for the wide diversity of complex cases that embody ADHD.

Webs of Influence

Webs of Influence PDF Author: Nathalie Nahai
Publisher: Pearson UK
ISBN: 0273781588
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
As legions of businesses scramble to set up virtual-shop, we face an unprecedented level of competition to win over and keep new customers online. At the forefront of this battleground is your ability to connect with your customers, nurture your relationships and understand the psychology behind what makes them click. In this book The Web Psychologist, Nathalie Nahai, expertly draws from the worlds of psychology, neuroscience and behavioural economics to bring you the latest developments, cutting edge techniques and fascinating insights that will lead to online success. Webs of Influence delivers the tools you need to develop a compelling, influential and profitable online strategy which will catapult your business to the next level – with dazzling results.

Handbook of Neuroscience for the Behavioral Sciences, Volume 1

Handbook of Neuroscience for the Behavioral Sciences, Volume 1 PDF Author: Gary G. Berntson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470083565
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 722

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Book Description
As technology has made imaging of the brain noninvasive and inexpensive, nearly every psychologist in every subfield is using pictures of the brain to show biological connections to feelings and behavior. Handbook of Neuroscience for the Behavioral Sciences, Volume I provides psychologists and other behavioral scientists with a solid foundation in the increasingly critical field of neuroscience. Current and accessible, this volume provides the information they need to understand the new biological bases, research tools, and implications of brain and gene research as it relates to psychology.

Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry

Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry PDF Author: David B. Arciniegas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521875013
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 685

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Book Description
The merger of behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry into a single medical subspecialty, Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry, requires an understanding of brain-behavior relationships and a clinical approach that transcends the traditional perspectives of neurology and psychiatry. Designed as a primer of concepts and principles, and authored by a multidisciplinary group of internationally known clinical neuroscientists, this book divides into three sections: • Structural and Functional Neuroanatomy (Section I) addresses the neuroanatomy and phenomenology of cognition, emotion, and behavior • Clinical Assessment (Section II) describes neuropsychiatric history taking, neurological and mental status examinations, neuropsychological assessment, and neuroimaging, electrophysiologic, and laboratory methods • Treatment (Section III) discusses environmental, behavioral, rehabilitative, psychological, social, pharmacological, and procedural interventions for cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders. By emphasizing the principles of Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry, this book will improve your understanding of brain-behavior relationships and inform your care of patients and families affected by neurobehavioral disorders.