What is the principle purpose of a brain? A simple question, but the answer has taken millennia for us to begin to understand. So critical for our everyday existence, the brain still remains somewhat of a mystery. Gary L. Wenk takes us on a tour of what we do know about this enigmatic organ, showing us how the workings of the human brain produce our thoughts, feelings, and fears, and answering …
Brain science matters. The strange computational material in our skulls is the perceptual machinery by which we navigate the world, the stuff from which decisions arise, the material from which imagination is forged. Our dreams and our waking lives emerge from its billions of zapping cells. A better understanding of the brain sheds light on what we take to be real in our personal relationships …
There are three main kinds of neurons. Sensory neurons are coupled to receptors specialised to detect and respond to different attributes of the internal and external environment. The receptors sensitive to changes in light, sound, mechanical and chemical stimuli subserve the sensory modalities of vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste. When mechanical, thermal or chemical stimuli to the skin …