The New Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes in a Complex World |  | Author: Elkhonon Goldberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
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Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 102268
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0195329406
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.825
EAN: 9780195329407
ASIN: 0195329406
Publication Date: August 12, 2009
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Product Description
Elkhonon Goldberg's groundbreaking The Executive Brain was a classic of scientific writing, revealing how the frontal lobes command the most human parts of the mind. Now he offers a completely new book, providing fresh, iconoclastic ideas about the relationship between the brain and the mind. In The New Executive Brain, Goldberg paints a sweeping panorama of cutting-edge thinking in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology, one that ranges far beyond the frontal lobes. Drawing on the latest discoveries, and developing complex scientific ideas and relating them to real life through many fascinating case studies and anecdotes, the author explores how the brain engages in complex decision-making; how it deals with novelty and ambiguity; and how it addresses moral choices. At every step, Goldberg challenges entrenched assumptions. For example, we know that the left hemisphere of the brain is the seat of language--but Goldberg argues that language may not be the central adaptation of the left hemisphere. Apes lack language, yet many also show evidence of asymmetric hemispheric development. Goldberg also finds that a complex interaction between the frontal lobes and the amygdale--between a recently evolved and a much older part of the brain--controls emotion, as conscious thoughts meet automatic impulses. The author illustrates this observation with a personal example: the difficulty he experienced when trying to pick up a baby alligator he knew to be harmless, as his amygdala battled his effort to extend his hand. The New Executive Brain, Goldberg affirms Goldberg's place as one of our most creative and insightful scientists, offering lucid writing and bold, paradigm-shifting ideas.
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| Customer Reviews:
Outstanding but difficult book by a great scientist August 24, 2009
J. Kel
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I feel honored and embarrassed by being the first reviewer of this book.
I am not a scientist and I admittedly struggled with the book so this review will be written from the point of view of a naive reader -- i.e. I am fairly familiar with some of the sciences, but not neuroscience. Be forewarned: the vocabulary/terminology used throughout this book can be overwhelming, even intimidating, not at times, but frequently. The depth of the ideas is quite deep. That the mind is what the brain does is probably the highest level statement that one can make, it is the "Open Sesame," to a world of astonishing complexity, beauty, and fragility. There is so much here in fact that a single reading will hardly do it justice. I had read another book by Goldberg, The Wisdom Paradox, found it accessible and loved it. It really has affected my life for the better. But this book is a whole order of magnitude beyond that. What Goldberg does, in addition to providing glimpses into his fascinating life (the man really needs to write an autobiography) -- unless you are a neuro-scientist -- is completely blow apart (the weak verb "deconstruct" hardly does it justice) every preconception and stale idea you may have on how the brain works. I have a strong interest in autism, for example, and this was the first book that gave me the beginning of an understanding as to why there are so many more males than females with the condition. I mention that in particular because if you are a PC reader, you may not be happy with this book. But Goldberg is fearless which makes for not only fascinating (and in regards to some of the case studies, heartbreaking) reading but thrilling as well.
So who might want to read this, other than specialist? Readers of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's "My Stroke of Insight" might want to give it a go as might people who enjoy Oliver Sack's works, but again be forewarned: this book is the real deal. Prepare to spend time with it. For the most part the author speaks to the reader as he would to a colleague. This is quite different from most science books these days. I think the primary audience are those who A) really want to understand how the brain works (at least as much as current science can tell us) or B) those who are involved in caretaker situations, e.g. autistic people, people with strokes or who have suffered head injuries (as Dr. Goldberg informs us, there are yearly 2 million TBIs -- Traumatic Brain Injuries -- in American alone). So what are you waiting for?
As for negatives, there are a couple. The book has some typoes. There aren't many and they aren't serious but they are there. Presumably they will be removed from future editions. The other is that towards the end of the book Dr. Goldberg lets himself get carried away with an analogy, what one might term the neuromorphic view of how human societies will evolve in the future. It's mildly diverting but questionable -- neurons do not have intentionality as we think of it in human terms, so the science of human action is ignored, rendering his speculations dubious at best. Worse is his primary source: he states (p. 279): "My favorite newspaper, the New York Times, has provided me with the necessary polemic ammunition." Oh dear. Someone should have warned him. But this sort of thing happens. Even the great Einstein, when he wandered into the areas of global disarmament and world government, wrote stuff that would have been viewed as crankish if it had come from anyone else.
I'm trusting, Dr. Goldberg, despite my criticism, would not mind the comparison with Einstein.
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