The New Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes in a Complex World

· Oxford University Press
3.0
2 reviews
Ebook
352
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

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. In the years since the original Executive Brain, Goldberg has remained at the front of his field, constantly challenging orthodoxy. In this revised and expanded edition, he affirms his place as one of our most creative and insightful scientists, offering lucid writing and bold, paradigm-shifting ideas.

Ratings and reviews

3.0
2 reviews
A Google user
July 26, 2011
Very interesting and well-written. Offers unique and intriguing analysis for important findings. Even though, too much is written about unrelated issues such as the author's biography, which far from boring but doesn't help you learn about the executive brain. Just remember: this is not a textbook! It is not an overview of the frontal lobes' function, and it doesn't contain very technical information and explicit analysis. It isn't even a good source for references, since there are so few experiments mentioned in the book, most of them done by Goldberg. All of this is perfectly fine if you either have background in neuroscience or you're a naive reader wishing to have some nice and easy reading. If you want to become a neuroscientist buy Stuss & Knight's "Principles of Frontal Lobe Function".
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About the author

Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D. is Clinical Professor of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine. He was a student of the great Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, and is the author of The Executive Brain and The Wisdom Paradox.

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