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The Myth of Mirror Neurons
- The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
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Publisher's summary
An essential reconsideration of one of the most far-reaching theories in modern neuroscience and psychology.
In 1992, a group of neuroscientists from Parma, Italy, reported a new class of brain cells discovered in the motor cortex of the macaque monkey. These cells, later dubbed mirror neurons, responded equally well during the monkey's own motor actions, such as grabbing an object, and while the monkey watched someone else perform similar motor actions. Researchers speculated that the neurons allowed the monkey to understand others by simulating their actions in its own brain.
Mirror neurons soon jumped species and took human neuroscience and psychology by storm. In the late 1990s theorists showed how the cells provided an elegantly simple new way to explain the evolution of language, the development of human empathy, and the neural foundation of autism. In the years that followed, a stream of scientific studies implicated mirror neurons in everything from schizophrenia and drug abuse to sexual orientation and contagious yawning.
In The Myth of Mirror Neurons, neuroscientist Gregory Hickok reexamines the mirror neuron story and finds that it is built on a tenuous foundation - a pair of codependent assumptions about mirror neuron activity and human understanding. Drawing on a broad range of observations from work on animal behavior, modern neuroimaging, neurological disorders, and more, Hickok argues that the foundational assumptions fall flat in light of the facts. He then explores alternative explanations of mirror neuron function while illuminating crucial questions about human cognition and brain function: Why do humans imitate so prodigiously? How different are the left and right hemispheres of the brain? Why do we have two visual systems? Do we need to be able to talk to understand speech? What's going wrong in autism? Can humans read minds?
The Myth of Mirror Neurons not only delivers an instructive tale about the course of scientific progress - from discovery to theory to revision - but also provides deep insights into the organization and function of the human brain and the nature of communication and cognition.
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You've probably seen it before: a human brain dramatically lit from the side, the camera circling it like a helicopter shot of Stonehenge, and a modulated baritone voice exalting the brain's elegant design in reverent tones... to which this book says: Pure nonsense.
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Best general-public Brain Science book to date
- By Francisco on 02-14-11
By: David J. Linden
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Mind in Motion
- How Action Shapes Thought
- By: Barbara Tversky
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Mind in Motion, psychologist Barbara Tversky shows that spatial cognition isn't just a peripheral aspect of thought, but its very foundation, enabling us to draw meaning from our bodies and their actions in the world. Our actions in real space get turned into mental actions on thought, often spouting spontaneously from our bodies as gestures. Spatial thinking underlies creating and using maps, assembling furniture, devising football strategies, designing airports, understanding the flow of people, traffic, water, and ideas.
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Physically difficult to listen to
- By Claire Hay on 11-08-19
By: Barbara Tversky
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The Age of Insight
- The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
- By: Eric R. Kandel
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed forever how we think about the human mind - our conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions - and how mind and brain relate to art.
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Worth the listen
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-19
By: Eric R. Kandel
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A User's Guide to the Brain
- Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain
- By: John J. Ratey
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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John Ratey, best-selling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, lucidly explains the human brain's workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives.
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Great book, mediocre narration
- By Dr. B on 09-25-18
By: John J. Ratey
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Ungifted
- Intelligence Redefined
- By: Scott Barry Kaufman
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In Ungifted, cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman - who was relegated to special education as a child - sets out to show that the way we interpret traditional metrics of intelligence is misguided. Kaufman explores the latest research in genetics and neuroscience, as well as evolutionary, developmental, social, positive, and cognitive psychology, to challenge the conventional wisdom about the childhood predictors of adult success. He reveals that there are many paths to greatness, and argues for a more holistic approach to achievement that takes into account each young person’s personal goals, individual psychology, and developmental trajectory.
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Great content for the intellectually curious
- By ZestyFresh on 08-11-17
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The Bilingual Brain
- And What It Tells Us About the Science of Language
- By: Albert Costa, John W. Schwieter - translator
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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How do two languages coexist in the same brain? Why is it possible to forget a language? What are the advantages and challenges of being bilingual? Over half of the world's population is bilingual, and yet this fascinating, complex ability is understood by few. In The Bilingual Brain, leading expert Albert Costa explores the science of language through a wide range of cutting-edge studies and examples from South Korea to Spain and Canada.
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Brains make language and language makes brains
- By Andy P. on 08-25-20
By: Albert Costa, and others
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Entangled Minds
- Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality
- By: Dean Radin PhD
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Is everything connected? Can we sense what's happening to loved ones thousands of miles away? Why are we sometimes certain of a caller's identity the instant the phone rings? Do intuitive hunches contain information about future events? Is it possible to perceive without the use of the ordinary senses? Many people believe that such "psychic phenomena" are rare talents or divine gifts. Others don't believe they exist at all. But the latest scientific research shows that these phenomena are both real and widespread.
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Boring as all get out but…
- By rebekah higgins on 01-12-20
By: Dean Radin PhD
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Permanent Present Tense
- The Unforgettable Life of the Amnesic Patient, H.M.
- By: Suzanne Corkin
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Permanent Present Tense tells the incredible story of Henry Gustav Molaison, known only as H. M. until his death in 2008. In 1953, at the age of 27, Molaison underwent a dangerous "psychosurgical" procedure intended to alleviate his debilitating epilepsy. The surgery went horribly wrong, and when Molaison awoke he was unable to store new experiences. For the rest of his life, he would be trapped in the moment. But Molaison’s tragedy would prove a gift to humanity.
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Read Luke Dittrich's "Patient H.M." first...
- By Douglas on 11-07-16
By: Suzanne Corkin
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Wild Justice
- The Moral Lives of Animals
- By: Marc Bekoff, Jessica Pierce
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male?
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What Some Of Us Have Always Known...
- By Douglas on 12-12-13
By: Marc Bekoff, and others
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The Self Illusion
- Why There Is No "You" Inside Your Head
- By: Bruce Hood
- Narrated by: Bruce Hood
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.
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Disappointing
- By David R Pinsof on 05-10-12
By: Bruce Hood
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Supernormal
- Science, Yoga, and the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities
- By: Dean Radin PhD, Deepak Chopra MD
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Can yoga and meditation unleash our inherent supernormal mental powers, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition? Is it really possible to perceive another person's thoughts and intentions? Influence objects with our minds? Envision future events? And is it possible that some of the superpowers described in ancient legends, science fiction, and comic books are actually real, and patiently waiting for us behind the scenes? Are we now poised for an evolutionary trigger to pull the switch and release our full potentials?
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great balance of science and wisdom traditions
- By Jayne on 03-16-18
By: Dean Radin PhD, and others
What listeners say about The Myth of Mirror Neurons
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Heartist
- 06-18-15
Excellent overview of a very dense and viscous topic
Enjoyed listening to this book, though it was tough going in many spots.
Needs a fairly good science and specifically neuroscience background to comprehend to any degree of understanding.
Very thought provoking on the subject of Mirror Neurons that have become the master explanation for all things Brain. Puts the function and theory in its place leaving wide gaping holes that research will fill, hopefully.
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2 people found this helpful
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- David L. Crogan
- 04-11-15
lots of information, slow reader
I came into this knowing nothing about the subject matter so it was good from that perspective. author went on a wild ride of ideas that were good then disproven then reproven. book reader was very slow, I ended up playing it at 1.5 times normal speed and understood him just fine
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jonathan
- 09-20-19
Highly technical
I find no fault with the logic or science of this book. I'm not a neuroscientist or psychologist but have an interest in these topics. A lot of it would have been easier to follow in print whee I can easily reread sections. That said I think the author did an excellent job debunking mirror neurons and I have a general understanding of why after this.
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- Conor Cox
- 07-20-15
Great idea terrible execution
What did you like best about The Myth of Mirror Neurons? What did you like least?
The idea of the book, a thorough dissection of a scientific theory for the public audience, is a great one and the first half of the book is excellent. But by the second half of the book he drowns himself in obscure attacks against various critics and half cocked theories about how consciousness might work.
What could Gregory Hickok have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
The book could have been about half the length and it would have been perfect, it felt like it tread the same ground over and over from different angles, a fine idea in a scientific paper but it makes for a disconnected and unpleasant book.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Eric Martin?
The performer was snoozeville, the material was weak but the person reading it did it with so little zest and zeal that I would often get lost halfway through paragraphs. I'd love if he narrated it with the power Dan Carlin brings to the equally dry topic of history. I don't think I'd avoid a book read by him but he wouldn't draw me in.
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- Gary
- 09-30-14
Something to offend all mirror neuronscientist
You get two things with this book. You get an incredible interesting exposition on the workings of the mind (consciousness) and a narrative that ties that story together by showing how mirror neurons almost certainly aren't what you thought they were.
The author does not reject the existence of mirror neurons in humans, but he does poke holes in most of what you probably have been told about them in a host of other books and articles. He gives very nuanced arguments to how the available data doesn't always mean what mirror neuron experts say they do. The author is an expert in the understanding of how we communicate. He'll delve into the "motor theory of speech" and how that deservedly fell out of disrepute over time and was resurrected only because that gave mirror neurons such a central role. The results of various experiments supporting that hypothesis are not always best explained by the ways mirror neuron advocates claim and sometimes they ignore the better explanations.
This is a real strength of the book. While showing how better explanations for the experiments and data are available which don't excessively rely on mirror neurons the author never shies way from educating the listener on the embodied processes of thinking.
I love neuroscience and books about the workings of the mind and human behavior. While reading such books, mirror neurons kept popping up in sections of those books, but over time, I started to realize that the advocates for the magical workings of the mirror neurons did not always make sense and there seemed to be better explanations available. This book tells me why my caution radar was beeping.
I'm sure a lot of experts in the field probably hate this book, but I can recommend this book because it will teach the listener to be cautious about mirror neuron claims, and help the listener learn a little bit more about the way the brain works without overwhelming the listener with too many names of brain parts which I only end up forgetting.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Dan B
- 03-14-18
Emphatically justifies its thesis
This book beats the concept of mirror neurons being the root of so many behaviors that were attributed to them in recent decades well into the ground. Admittedly the continuous returning to that thesis after covering so much evidence for it was a little tiring. However, the side trips into related topics like autism were very interesting.
This is a pretty dry book, but unfortunately the reader made it exceptionally dry. I wish a different reader could have injected more enthusiasm into the topic.
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- Bastian
- 01-15-15
Worst narrator ever
Interesting material, but the narrator was so choppy in disjointed in his speaking that I often found myself repeating things in my head for clarity. I would have preferred to read this in book form.
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1 person found this helpful
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- serine
- 03-21-16
excellent scientific review of the evidence
Excellent critical review of the available literature on mirror neurons (and how the data have been largely misinterpreted). The chapter on autism was fantastic.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chase White
- 07-03-24
Very serious but useful
Looking into this book is like looking into your own brain, you have some ideas, you have some questions, and over time you get it.
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- meh
- 07-10-15
WWF style takedown of a poorly conceived hypothesis
Beyond his cutting through the bunk of mirror neuron speculation, Hickok presents a wonderful meditation on how the neuroscience program works on a macro level by tracing through the development of this theory. Very instructive and pleasant listen. 10/10
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3 people found this helpful