
In Search of Memory
The Emergence of a New Science of Mind
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Narrated by:
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James Anderson Foster
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By:
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Eric R. Kandel
Memory binds our mental life together. We are who we are in large part because of what we learn and remember. But how does the brain create memories?
Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel intertwines the intellectual history of the powerful new science of the mind - a combination of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology - with his own personal quest to understand memory.
A deft mixture of memoir and history, modern biology and behavior, In Search of Memory brings listeners from Kandel's childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna to the forefront of one of the great scientific endeavors of the 20th century: the search for the biological basis of memory.
©2006 Eric R. Kandel (P)2018 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















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Excellent1
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Comphensive , insightful, and inspiring.
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The cerebral cortex is concerned with perception, action, language, and planning. Three structures lie within…amygdala coordinates autonomic and endocrine responses in the context of emotional states.
—Eric R. Kandel
How is a neuron like a signal? Inside this book we explore this and Freud (as usual) has a part in deciphering. In the brain---hard cheese like consistency—each cell is truly unique. Faces and how they are processed by the brain and the reactivity on the parts of facial recognition is an interesting study. We find how our responses gauge our reality at the time and what our brain retains. Information in a neural circuit travels, in what way?
Noting well that this is a book review and not a report---and we take a voyage to Kristallnacht (1938) with Dr. Kandel and the transition of Vienna from being the center of culture to a place of oppression and humiliation. Personally, I can attest and confer being in Vienna (one of the most stunning cities in the world) it’s hard to imagine the horror that occurred. Must read! Savor, buy and share with loved ones. If light reading is your preference, this may not be the ideal choice.
Is a neural circuit like a red or green signal?
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As an example, the most important thing in doing biological research is to choose which system to study (e.g. focusing on giant squid axons was crucial in early days of neuroscience), if not which question to ask -- Dr. Kandel detailed both topics throughout the book. As we follow his career, we see how he started with interests in cognitive functions from a psychoanalytic perspective, and ended up studying learning and memory using invertebrate neurons. His story shows us although it is important to be creative and diligent in doing research, it is more important to work in the right direction. I also particularly like some of his observations on the scientific methodologies, such as how psychoanalysis sadly drifted further and further away from experiments and objectivity, and the story about the philosopher Karl Popper's interaction with his colleague on a concrete scientific issue, of whether synaptic signal should be electrical or chemical.
There are some caveats with some of his advices, though. Dr. Kandel took great risk in his career when he took a leap of faith in studying the invertebrate neuron, an unpopular direction warned by his colleagues then, and he considered it an important and successful move. It's true scientific progress requires creativity and exploration, but it's also true that Dr. Kandel came from a well-educated family and was already on a path to success mere by being at NIH. Many scientists with less stellar resume and fewer alternative career options would have much less leisure in taking such risks. I felt that he didn’t stress his privileged position enough, and this story might be somewhat impractical for many.
Review
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Who is this book for?
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This is an autobiography, not a book on science
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Is not a book on memory
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