Background
Edelman, Gerald Maurice was born on July 1, 1929 in New York City. Son of Edward and Anna (Freedman) Edelman.
( This significant contribution to neuroscience consists ...)
This significant contribution to neuroscience consists of two papers, the first by Mountcastle an, the second by Edelman. Between them, they examine from different but complementary directions the relationships that connect the higher brain--memory, learning, perception, thinking--with what goes on at the most basic levels of neural activity, with particular stress on the role of local neuronal circuits.Edelman's major hypothesis is that "the conscious state results from phasic reentrant signaling occurring in parallel processes that involve associations between stored patterns and current sensory or internal input." This selective process occurs by the polling of degenerate primary repertoires of neuronal groups that are formed during embryogenesis and development. Edelman's theory extrapolates to the brain the selectionistic immunological theories for which he was awarded the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Mountcastle's paper reviews what is known about the actual structure of various parts of the neo cortex. He relates the large entities of the neocortex to their component modules--the local neuronal circuits--and shows how the complex interrelationships of such a distributed system can yield dynamic distributed functioning.There are strong conceptual parallels between Mountcastle's idea of cortical columns and their functional subunits and Edelman's concept of populations of neurons functioning as processors in a brain system based on selectional rather than instructional principles. These parallels are traced and put into perspective in Francis Schmitt's Introduction.
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( Already the subject of considerable pre-publication dis...)
Already the subject of considerable pre-publication discussion, this magisterial work by one of the nation’s leading neuroscientists presents a radically new view of the function of the brain and nervous system. Its central idea is that the nervous system in each individual operates as a selective system resembling natural selection in evolution, but operating by different mechanisms. By providing a fundamental neural basis for categorization of the things of this world it unifies perception, action, and learning. The theory also completely revises our view of memory, which it considers to be a dynamic process of recategorization rather than a replicative store of attributes. This has deep implications for the interpretation of various psychological states from attention to dreaming.Neural Darwinism ranges over many disciplines, focusing on key problems in developmental and evolutionary biology, anatomy, physiology, ethology, and psychology. This book should therefore prove indispensable to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in these fields, to students of medicine, and to those in the social sciences concerned with the relation of behavior to biology. Beyond that, this far-ranging theory of brain function is bound to stimulate renewed discussions of such philosophical issues as the mind-body problem, the origins of knowledge, and the perceptual basis of language.
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( If you had a complete copy of a dinosaur’s DNA and the ...)
If you had a complete copy of a dinosaur’s DNA and the genetic code, you still would not be able to make a dinosauror even determine what one looked like. Why? How do animals get their shape and how does shape evolve? In this important book, Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman challenges the notion that an understanding of the genetic code and of cell differentiation is sufficient to answer these questions. Rather, he argues, a trio of related issues must also be investigatedthe development of form, the evolution of form, and the morphological and functional bases of behavior. Topobiology presents an introduction to molecular embryology and describes a comprehensive hypothesis to account for the evolution and development of animal form.
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( A genuine understanding of how mental states arise from...)
A genuine understanding of how mental states arise from the structure and function of the brain would be, as William James declared in 1892, ”the scientific achievement before which all past achievements would pale.” Can a comprehensive biological theory of consciousness be constructed in 1990? Any attempt has to reconcile evidence garnered from such diverse fields as developmental and evolutionary biology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy.Having laid the groundwork in his critically acclaimed books Neural Darwinism (Basic Books, 1987) and Topobiology (Basic Books, 1988), Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman now proposes a comprehensive theory of consciousness in The Remembered Present. Integrating findings generated by the recent explosive growth in the neurosciences with current knowledge of anatomy, cell biology, and psychology, Edelman has been able to construct a detailed model of how we become aware of our own existence.In addition to providing a scientific account of brain function and consciousness, the theory advanced in The Remembered Present will have a significant impact on a wide variety of fields. It provides a new outlook that may prompt fundamental revisions in the way linguists view language, physicians classify mental diseases, and philosophers look at the mind-body problem.
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( We are on the verge of a revolution in neuroscience as ...)
We are on the verge of a revolution in neuroscience as significant as the Galilean revolution in physics or the Darwinian revolution in biology. Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman takes issue with the many current cognitive and behavioral approaches to the brain that leave biology out of the picture, and argues that the workings of the brain more closely resemble the living ecology of a jungle than they do the activities of a computer. Some startling conclusions emerge from these ideas: individuality is necessarily at the very center of what it means to have a mind, no creature is born value-free, and no physical theory of the universe can claim to be a ”theory of everything” without including an account of how the brain gives rise to the mind. There is no greater scientific challenge than understanding the brain. Bright Air, Brilliant Fire is a book that provides a window on that understanding.
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(A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imaginati...)
A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination by Edelman, Geral...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M3SE5CG/?tag=2022091-20
( How does the firing of neurons give rise to subjective ...)
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.
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( Burgeoning advancements in brain science are opening up...)
Burgeoning advancements in brain science are opening up new perspectives on how we acquire knowledge. Indeed, it is now possible to explore consciousnessthe very center of human concernby scientific means. In this illuminating book, Dr. Gerald M. Edelman offers a new theory of knowledge based on striking scientific findings about how the brain works. And he addresses the related compelling question: Does the latest research imply that all knowledge can be reduced to scientific description? Edelman’s brain-based approach to knowledge has rich implications for our understanding of creativity, of the normal and abnormal functioning of the brain, and of the connections among the different ways we have of knowing. While the gulf between science and the humanities and their respective views of the world has seemed enormous in the past, the author shows that their differences can be dissolved by considering their origins in brain functions. He foresees a day when brain-based devices will be conscious, and he reflects on this and other fascinating ideas about how we come to know the world and ourselves.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300120397/?tag=2022091-20
(Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge by Edelm...)
Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge by Edelman, Gerald M. [Yale ...
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biochemist educator neuroscientist
Edelman, Gerald Maurice was born on July 1, 1929 in New York City. Son of Edward and Anna (Freedman) Edelman.
Bachelor of Science, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, 1950. Doctor of Science, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, 1974. Doctor of Medicine, University Pennsylvania, 1954.
Doctor of Science, University Pennsylvania, 1973. Doctor of Philosophy, Rockefeller Institute, New York City, 1960. Doctor of Science (honorary), Gustavus Adolphus College, 1975.
Doctor of Science (honorary), Williams College, 1976. Doctor of Science (honorary), University Paris, 1989. LSc (honorary), University Cagliari, 1989.
Doctor of Science (honorary), Georgetown University, 1989. Doctor of Science (honorary), University degli Studi di Napoli, 1990. Doctor of Science (honorary), Tulane University, 1991.
Doctor of Science (honorary), University Miami, 1995. Doctor of Science (honorary), Adelphi University, 1995. Doctor of Science (honorary), University Bologna, 1998.
Doctor of Science (honorary), University Minnesota, 2000. Doctor of Science (honorary), Moscow State University, 2008. Doctor of Science (honorary), Rockefeller University, 2008.
Doctor of Science (honorary), University Louvain, 2009. Doctor of Medicine (honorary), University Siena, Italy, 1974. Doctor of Medicine (honorary), U de A Coruña, Spain, 2000.
Medical house officer of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, 1954—1955. Assistant physician Rockefeller Institute Hospital, 1957—1960. Assistant professor, assistant dean graduate studies Rockefeller Institute, 1960—1963, associate professor, associate dean, 1963—1966.
Professor of Rockefeller University, 1966—1974, Vincent Astor distinguished professor, 1974—1992. Professor, chairman of department neurobiology Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, since 1992. Member of biophysics and biophysics chemistry study section National Institutes of Health, 1964—1967.
Member of advisory board Basel Institute Immunology, Switzerland, 1970—1977, chairman, 1975—1977. Non-resident fellow, trustee Salk Institute Biological Studies, La Jolla, 1973—1985, board trustees, 1975—1985. Founder, director Neurosciences Institute, New York City, 1981—1993, La Jolla, 1993—1995, San Diego, since 1995.
Captain of United States Army Medical Corps, 1955-1957.
( How does the firing of neurons give rise to subjective ...)
( A genuine understanding of how mental states arise from...)
( Already the subject of considerable pre-publication dis...)
( If you had a complete copy of a dinosaur’s DNA and the ...)
( We are on the verge of a revolution in neuroscience as ...)
( This significant contribution to neuroscience consists ...)
( Burgeoning advancements in brain science are opening up...)
(A Universe Of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imaginati...)
(Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge by Edelm...)
(New edition)
(Reprint)
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Author: The Mindful Brain, 1978, Neural Darwinism, 1987, Topobiology, 1988, The Remembered Present, 1989, Bright Air, Brilliant Fire, 1992, A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination, 2000, Wider than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness, 2004, Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge, 2006.
Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry' Study Section, National Institute of Health 1964-1967, Scientific Council, Centre for Theoretical Studies 1970-1972, The Harvey Society since 1974. N.A.S. American Academy, of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society, Genetics Society, American Chemistry Society, American Society of Biological Chemists, American Association of Immunologists, American Society for Cell Biology, Society for Developmental Biology, Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society, Council on Foreign Relations, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Japanese Biochemical Society, Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.
Academy, des Sciences. Board of Trustees, Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Board of Overseers Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania.
Board Scientific Overseers, The Jackson Laboratory. Board of Trustees, Carnegie Institute of Washington, member Advisory Committee. Advisory Board, The Basel Institute for Immunology 1970-1977.
Board of Governors, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
Married to Maxine Morrison, June 11, 1950. Children: Eric, David, Judith.