Brain-mind : from neurons to consciousness and creativity /
Paul Thagard.
- xvii, 318 pages ; 25 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
What are minds? -- How brains make minds -- Perception and imagery -- Concepts -- Rules -- Analogies -- Emotions -- Consciousness -- Action and intention -- Language -- Creativity -- The self.
"Brain-Mind presents a unified, brain-based theory of cognition and emotion, with applications to the most complex kinds of thinking, right up to consciousness and creativity. Unification comes from systematic application of Chris Eliasmith's powerful new Semantic Pointer Architecture, a highly original synthesis of neural network and symbolic ideas about how the mind works. Thagard will show the relevance of semantic pointers to a full range of important kinds of mental representations, from sensations and imagery to concepts, rules, analogies, and emotions. Neural mechanisms can then be used to explain many phenomena concerning consciousness, action, intention, language, creativity, and the self. Because of their broad importance, Thagard has tried to make Eliasmith's ideas accessible to a broad audience with no special background in neuroscience or mathematics. The value of a unified theory of thinking goes well beyond psychology, neuroscience, and the other cognitive sciences"--