The Human Brain - (Science Masters Series) by Susan A Greenfield (Paperback)

About the Book

A renowned brain researcher takes readers on a guided tour of the brain to show what today's cutting-edge scientists now know about how that mysterious and fascinating organ works. Readers gain an up-close and personal view of the human brain--what it is, how it works, how mood-modifying drugs find their targets, and more.

Book Synopsis

What would you see if you removed the skull from the human brain and then slowly worked your way deeper and deeper into the brain, to the level of an individual neuron? With renowned brain researcher Susan Greenfield as your guide, here is your chance to gain a bird's eye view of the human brain--and to learn more about what the brain is, how it works, what happens when one part of the brain is made dysfunctional through stroke or accident, how brain mood-modifying drugs find their targets.In a particularly fascinating chapter, Greenfield surveys for us how a brain is built and then takes us on a tour of the developing brain from the moment of conception.Throughout Greenfield poses the larger questions all readers want to consider, including: At what stage does individuality creep into the developing brain? How does the collection of circuits of neurons give rise not just to an individual brain but an individual consciousness? What might a fetus be conscious of?

About the Author

Susan Greenfield is professor of pharmacology and Fellow and Tutor in Medicine, Lincoln College, Oxford. She appears regularly on television, radio, and the lecture circuit, and writes regularly for the British press, including a bi-weekly science column for the Independent on Sunday. In 1994, she became the first woman to deliver the BBC's Royal Institution Christmas lectures in 165 years since its inception. She lives in Oxford, England.