A Brain for Innovation

The Neuroscience of Imagination and Abstract Thinking
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-0-231-21336-3
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 552 g

What sets humans apart from other animals? Perhaps more than anything else, it is the capacity for innovation. The accumulation throughout history of discoveries big and small has enabled us to build global civilizations and gain power to shape our environment. But what makes humans as a species so innovative?

Min W. Jung offers a new understanding of the neural basis of innovation in terms of humans’ exceptional capacity for imagination and high-level abstraction. He provides an engaging account of recent advances in neuroscience that have shed light on the neural underpinnings of these profoundly important abilities. Jung examines key discoveries concerning the hippocampus and neural circuits that have demystified the processes underlying imagination and abstract thinking. He also considers how these capacities might have evolved as well as possible futures for intelligence.

Bringing together disparate findings in neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and artificial intelligence, A Brain for Innovation develops a unified perspective on the mechanisms of imagination, abstract thought, and creativity. Presenting cutting-edge neuroscientific research in a way that is accessible to readers without a background in the subject, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the biological basis of one of the most fundamental aspects of human nature.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jung, Min W.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Biologische Psychologie, Neuropsychologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Neurowissenschaften, Kognitionswissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Hippocampus and Imagination
Chapter One. Hippocampus: From Memory to Imagination
Chapter Two. False Memory
Chapter Three. Place Cells and Hippocampal Replay
Part II: The Neural Symphony of Imagination
Chapter Four. Neural Circuits of the Hippocampus
Chapter Five. Value-Based Decision-Making
Chapter 6. Remembering Rewarding Futures
Chapter Seven. The Evolution of Imagination
Part III: The Neural Foundation of Abstraction
Chapter Eight. Abstract Thinking and Neocortex
Chapter Nine. Prefrontal Cortex
Chapter Ten. The Human Revolution and Associated Brain Changes
Chapter Eleven. Deep Neural Network
Part IV: Beyond Imagination and Abstraction
Chapter Twelve. Sharing Ideas and Knowledge through Language
Chapter Thirteen. On Creativity
Chapter Fourteen. The Future of Innovation
Epilogue
Appendix 1: Dentate Gyrus
Appendix 2: Value-Coding Neurons
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Min W. Jung is a vice director of the Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions at the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea and a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He received his PhD from the University of California, Irvine. His primary interests are the neural mechanisms of memory, imagination, and decision making.