I of the vortex : from neurons to self /

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Llinás, Rodolfo R. (Rodolfo Riascos), 1934-
Edition:	1st ed.
Imprint:	Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2001. ©2001
Description:	1 online resource (x, 302 pages) : illustrations
Language:	English
Series:	Bradford book.
Subject:	Consciousness. Brain. Neural networks (Neurobiology) Brain -- Evolution. Brain -- physiology Mental Processes. Nerve Net Brain. Brain -- Evolution. Consciousness. Neural networks (Neurobiology) Electronic books.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11136857

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other uniform titles:	CogNet library.
ISBN:	9780262278454 0262278456 0262122332 9780262122337 0262621630 9780262621632
Notes:	"A Bradford book." Includes bibliographical references ([267]-293) and index. English. Print version record.
Summary:	In I of the Vortex, Rodolfo Llinas, a founding father of modern brain science, presents an original view of the evolution and nature of mind. According to Llinas, the 'mindness state' evolved to allow predictive interactions between mobile creatures and their environment. He illustrates the early evolution of mind through a primitive animal called the 'sea squirt.' The mobile larval form has a brainlike ganglion that receives sensory information about the surrounding environment. As an adult, the sea squirt attaches itself to a stationary object and then digests most of its own brain. This suggests that the nervous system evolved to allow active movement in animals. To move through the environment safely, a creature must anticipate the outcome of each movement on the basis of incoming sensory data. Thus the capacity to predict is most likely the ultimate brain function. One could even say that Self is the centralization of prediction. At the heart of Llinas's theory is the concept of oscillation. Many neurons possess electrical activity, manifested as oscillating variations in the minute voltages across the cell membrane. On the crests of these oscillations occur larger electrical events that are the basis for neuron-to-neuron communication. Like cicadas chirping in unison, a group of neurons oscillating in phase can resonate with a distant group of neurons. This simultaneity of neuronal activity is the neurobiological root of cognition. Although the internal state that we call the mind is guided by the senses, it is also generated by the oscillations within the brain. Thus, in a certain sense, one could say that reality is not all 'out there, ' but is a kind of virtual reality.
Other form:	Print version: Llinás, Rodolfo R. (Rodolfo Riascos), 1934- I of the vortex. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2001 0262122332
Standard no.:	9780262278454

Table of Contents:

1. Setting mind to mind
2. Prediction is the ultimate function of the brain
3. The embedding of universals through the embedding of motricity
4. Nerve cells and their personalities
5. Lessons from the evolution of the eye
6. The I of the vortex
7. Fixed action patterns : automatic brain modules that make complex movements
8. Emotions as FAPs
9. Of learning and memory
10. Qualia from a neuronal point of view
11. Language as the child of abstract thought
12. The collective mind?

I of the vortex : from neurons to self /

Similar Items