I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self

Amazon.com

What is it about neuroscience that graces its practitioners with humility? Rodolfo Llinas of the NYU School of Medicine continues this tradition of quietly tackling the deepest issues in I of the Vortex. This exposition on the evolution and development of consciousness is accessible and intriguing enough to interest readers more philosophically than scientifically oriented. Grounded in research, the book posits our awareness as an artifact of the cortico-thalamic binding of perceptions and movements in synchrony; Llinas uses this theory as a launching pad for more far-reaching considerations of selfhood all the more relevant for their correlation with the facts.

Charmingly illustrated with artistic and scientific images cleverly supporting the arguments, the book is a quick if challenging read, and it explains all the scientific basics for those approaching from the humanities. Synthesizing evolution, philosophy, and neuroscience is becoming an increasingly popular endeavor for introspective eggheads, and we should be grateful: the question of consciousness affects us all and touches on every other field, from theology to particle physics. I of the Vortex is a welcome contribution to the theory of mind and essential reading for the introspective. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

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.

Customer Reviews:

Thinking as an internalized movement!.......2007-06-24

Jorge Borges wrote, "I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities that I have visited, all my ancestors... Perhaps I would have liked to be my father, who wrote but has the decency of not publishing".
In the book "I of the vortex" Rodolfo Llinas gives another perspective on who am "I" and where "I" comes from, looking into the deep and dark recesses of the brain as a neuroscientist and physician, leaving God out from the game, unlike his maestro John Eccles, a dedicated theist, who wrote that "there is a Divine Providence operating over and above the materialistic happenings of biological evolution".
The ultimate thesis Llinas nominates is: "thinking is an internalized movement". He makes his point very clearly, based on his extensive knowledge and experience both as a scientist and writer. Perhaps thinking is an internalized movement? Perhaps not! The book "I of the vortex" is the ultimate read for those who ask Questions. An excellent book.

Readable and wide-ranging, but all from just one theoretical perspective.......2006-10-23

What is the "self" in neural terms? Few would be bold enough to claim an answer to that question. Yet in "I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self," Rodolfo Llinas sketches a very compelling picture of how the self, consciousness, and intelligence may arise in the brain.

Essentially, Llinas's argument goes as follows. First, brains are really only found in animals that move (so, obviously, plants do not have brains). In fact, at least one animal - the sea squirt - actually devours its own brain once it no longer needs to move. Although simple movements might be caused by oscillatory pattern generators in the spinal cord, the brain is necessary for more complex, sensory-guided movement. Why should this be so?

The answer Llinas provides is prediction, or in other words, a sensorimotor internal model of the world based on "dt lookahead" functions, interfacing the motor and sensory systems. Synchronized oscillations from the cerebellum (Llinas's area of expertise) carry out the motor-side of this computation, giving rise to the characteristic 8-12 Hz periodicity of the neural signals that command voluntary movements. At a higher frequency (40 Hz), other neuronal oscillations throughout the thalamocortical system serve to bind sensory representations together. And the subjective, cognitive correlate of the intersection of these oscillations is no less than the self: "this temporally coherent event that binds, in the time domain, the fractured components of external and internal reality into a single construct is what we call the 'self.'"

But wait, doesn't that mean that all animals have a sense of "self"- even the lowly sea squirt (at least before it eats its brain)? It would seem so. But that's not the end of Llinas's more controversial claims. Llinas also suggests that neural networks explain "very little concerning the actual functioning of the nervous system itself," advocating instead the idea that most of our cognitive abilities are genetically prewired at birth. Along these lines, Llinas endorses Chomsky's idea that genes may to a large extent determine language, and furthermore that language exists in many species besides homo sapiens.

It is here that "I of the Vortex" starts to seem more like a manifesto than a careful scientific analysis. For example, after introducing the basics of neurophysiology and comparative neurology in the first half of the book, Llinas skips the cognitive level of analysis almost altogether and starts extrapolating directly to issues of consciousness, awareness, and selfhood. This bias against direct investigations of cognition (something arguably very important for understanding consciousness) is nowhere more apparent than when he refers to cognitive neuroscience as "neophrenology." But without this important middle-level of analysis, Llinas is mostly shooting from the hip in the second half of the book - and aiming for concepts that are simply too far removed from Llinas's expertise in cellular neurophysiology.

On the whole, Llinas has done an admirable job of outlining one particular view of how neuronal dynamics may give rise to consciousness in an embodied cognition framework. In this sense, "I of the Vortex" makes an excellent companion to other high-level introductions to cognitive neuroscience.

Amazing Neuroscience synthesis!.......2005-08-14

The book presents an amazing Neuroscience synthesis that covers all the aspects: from ions to synergistic systems. It gives a thought-provoking explanation of the origin of the brain through evolution. It also explains the concepts of 'qualias' and 'fixed action patterns' in such an integrative manner and concludes that everything was perfectly made to synergistically create our predictive brains.

read it........2004-09-07

If you are going to read one book about neuroscience, consciousness, or the meaning of life, this should be it. Dr. Llinas has made some unusually innovative and profound assertions about how the self ("soul") might be generated from the mechanical workings of the brain. While the answer to the hard problem of consciousness remains elusive, I can honestly say after having read many books on the subject, that this is as close as it gets.

Very worthwhile.......2002-05-20

The author presents quite a plausible theory of mind, based on his work as a neuroscientist. I suspect Llinas is very much on the right track to illuminating the physical basis of consciousness.

Building chapter-by-chapter simultaneously on the apparent evolutionary development from the simplest neuronal system to the centralized brain, and on the results of brain scans and other experiments, Llinas brings us calmly and reasonably to the resultant human mind of today.

For Llinas, consciousness is the synchronized 40Hz firing of regions of the cortex over time. That is, consciousness is not just a given pattern of firing in 3-space, but is a 4-space relation. That additional dimension of time multiplies enormously the potential number of brain patterns that could occur in an individual. But it also makes the topic that much harder to study.

The writing feels like it has been written by someone who knows alot: there are many points where conceptual connections are not made entirely explicit (because it probably seemed so self-evident to Llinas) and the reader must fill in those gaps. Also, some of his non-neurologic language is quite technical: the description of the "self" as a calculated eigenvector, or the "vortex" which is essentially an attractor (as known in mathematics), that can make Llinas sound like a cold, hard-nosed scientist.

However, Llinas is refreshingly 'human'. For him, it is quite reasonable to assume (as a common consequence of evolution and similarity of brain structure) that many other species have forms of consciousness. Indeed, he devotes an entire chapter to qualia, and contends that qualia exist as essential brain feature, not only for humans but for cats and dogs and most other animals with brains of the same evolutionary genre (and that even in the case of invertebrate (octopus) brains he argues that the burden of proof is on those who would deny qualia).

Book Description

Remarkable new findings in the neurosciences are leading to profound changes in our self-understanding. Neuroscientists now address some of the deepest problems of the human condition--from illnesses and disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia to the search for the nature of consciousness itself--in the belief that their science can say something useful about these processes and how to intervene in them. At the same time, by investigating the biological mechanisms involved in phenomena as varied as street violence, drug addiction, and sexual orientation, the new science raises complex ethical, legal, social, and medical questions.

From Brains to Consciousness? brings together fourteen of the world's leading neuroscientists, psychologists, computer modellers, and philosophers to offer up-to-the-minute insights into the intense debates that are taking place in this exciting area of research. Is memory a molecular process? Is schizophrenia a genetic disorder? What does the future hold for psychopharmacology? Can consciousness be computed? Is artificial intelligence a real prospect? Contributors investigate these and other questions in a clear and compelling way that will appeal both to specialists and to general readers interested in cutting-edge thought about the fundamentals of consciousness and human nature.

Contributors to the volume are Igor Aleksander, Richard Bentall, Tim Bliss, Tim J. Crow, Susan Greenfield, Richard Gregory, Mary Midgley, John Parnavelas, Roger Penrose, Trevor Robbins, Steven Rose, Wolf Singer, A. David Smith, and Larry R. Squire.

Customer Reviews:

Good........2002-01-06

This is a grat book because it is multidiciplinary, but maybe content wise, it is not very original-nor focused in consciousness. There are papers dealing with squitzofrenia and ageing. Greenfield contribution presents her neuronal assemblie theory. Rose writes a great introduction to consciousness studies, and it alone pays for the entrance ticket. It is always interesting to read about Aleksanders work on artificial consciousness, and Penrose on Quantum Consciousness. The collection as a whole covers many topics, and it is a valuable contribution to consciousness studies. It is also not at all technical, so it can serve as an introductory work of the field. Again, originality and content do will not live to many expectations, but I certialy recomend the book.

A very important work.......2001-10-19

While every section of science studies brain, mind, culture and psychopathology on its own grounds, this collection of essays shows how all disciplines together can shed light on each other's field of interest and solve some tough question. When I purchased this book I was looking for a reflection of mr. Rose's ideology of science, which it turned out not to be. Nonetheless, it is very relevant and quite interesting!
(I later found more of mr. Rose's thoughts in a book he edited with a Hillary Rose - his wife? - called "Alas Poor Darwin". It shows the untenability of Evolutionary Psychology. His own article in that collection is by far the best of all. Also, his "Not in Our Genes" with Richard Lewontin is supposed to be a reflection of his philosophy of science.)

Consciousness: How the Mind Arises from the Brain

Average customer rating:

Consciousness: How the Mind Arises from the Brain
Stephen Goldberg
Manufacturer: Not Avail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Good & Evil | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Allied Health Professions | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0940780747
Release Date: 2006-01-01

Book Description

How do mental experiences of the taste and smell of coffee, touch of a feather, sound of a trumpet, the color green, emotions, etc. arise from the brain? A new theory of how the mind arises. New insights into the relationships of consciousness to quantum physics, evolution, religion, and immortality of the mind.

The Posthuman Condition: Consciousness Beyond the Brain

Average customer rating:

The Posthuman Condition: Consciousness Beyond the Brain
Robert Pepperell
Manufacturer: Intellect Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Culture | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Metaphysics | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1841500488

Consciousness and the Brain (Selections from the MIT Press)

Average customer rating:

Consciousness and the Brain (Selections from the MIT Press)
Michael Gazzaniga , Patricia S. Churchland , Owen Flanagan , Ilya B. Farber , and William Hirst
Manufacturer: Audio Scholar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1879557401

Emotional Cognition: From Brain to Behavior (Advances in Consciousness Research)

Average customer rating:

Emotional Cognition: From Brain to Behavior (Advances in Consciousness Research)

Manufacturer: John Benjamins Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Emotions | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Cognitive Psychology | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

jp-unknown3 | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 1588112446

Average customer rating:

FROM BRAINS TO CONSCIOUSNESS
ROSE
Manufacturer: PENGUIN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S4RFKG

From Brains to Consciousness? (Allen Lane Science)

Average customer rating:

An Uneven Collection of Papers
Good taste for inquire

From Brains to Consciousness? (Allen Lane Science)

Manufacturer: Penguin UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

An Uneven Collection of Papers.......2001-06-07

Steven Rose compiled an uneven collection of papers. Some of his allusions to Soma seem misplaced when contrasted with Crow's biological psychiatry (article on Schizophrenia). Another article claims that schizophrenia is not an identifiable medical condition. Schizophrenia is a useful label for a complex constellation of symptoms. They share at least one characteristic: disordered thinking. I am reminded of Oliver Sacks' book, Migraine. When originally written, Sacks dispaired that a single, unified cause would be discovered. In a revision ten years later, Sacks discussed the discovery of a single cause, the nucleus trigeminalis, in the brain stem. Some of the articles are out of place; for example, discussion of computers and artificial intelligence. Several of the articles are excellent but do not offset the more peculiar articles.

Good taste for inquire.......2000-03-09

This book is more related with question than answer. The authors focus on the success and the pit falls of the growing science of consciousness in a very elegant and explicit way. As neuroscientists, aware of the technological advance, they establish what the technology can do to uncover consciousness and what it can't do at the present time. In addition, they also comments on what is still needed in order to obtain more information about consciousness in live human beings. But most of all, they argue about the necessity of clarifying the definition of consciousness in order to lead to new discoveries.

The book could be divided in three parts. The first few chapters deal with basic concepts of the central nervous system from what a neuron is? to neurotransmitters, to the hypothesis of long-term potentiation as evidence of the physical existence of memory. In the middle, there are two excellent chapters on the problem with the diagnosis of dementia (Alzheimer's disease and squizophrenia) and how careful we have to be to establish generalization such as that when you get old you will be nuts, or is you find any of these symptoms your dealing with a squizophrenic. Then, the rest of the book is focus on consciousness, presented in a multidisciplinary approach. From artificial intelligent to philosophy.

Written for a general audience, From Brains to Consciousness is and excellent source to complement a text book on basic neuroscience in a way to arouse the curiosity and to debate fundamental things about being human with the students, in addition to break with the standard of learning facts.

Book Description

Reactive Intermediate Chemistry presents a detailed and timely examination of key intermediates central to the mechanisms of numerous organic chemical transformations. Spectroscopy, kinetics, and computational studies are integrated in chapters dealing with the chemistry of carbocations, carbanions, radicals, radical ions, carbenes, nitrenes, arynes, nitrenium ions, diradicals, etc. Nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond kinetic realms are explored, and applications of current dynamics and electronic structure calculations are examined.

Reactive Intermediate Chemistry provides a deeper understanding of contemporary physical organic chemistry, and will assist chemists in the design of new reactions for the efficient synthesis of pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products. Among its features, this authoritative volume is:

Edited and authored by world-renowned leaders in physical organic chemistry.
Ideal for use as a primary or supplemental graduate textbook for courses in mechanistic organic chemistry or physical chemistry.
Enhanced by supplemental reading lists and summary overviews in each chapter.

Reactive Intermediates (Oxford Chemistry Primers, No 8)

Average customer rating:

Reactive Intermediates (Oxford Chemistry Primers, No 8)
Christopher J. Moody , and Gordon H. Whitham
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0198556721

Book Description

Neutral reactive intermediates - radicals, carbenes, nitrenes, and arynes - have an interesting place within the history of organic chemistry. Once regarded as curiosities, then intensively studied from the mechanistic point of view by physical organic chemists, they now play a key role in synthetic chemistry. This concise text concentrates on the last aspect of reactive intermediate chemistry; the important reactions of these electron-deficient species are laid out clearly and simply, with carefully chosen examples illustrating their use in organic synthesis. Each chapter includes a few problems as well as suggestions for further reading and provides undergraduates with an invaluable summary of this important topic in organic chemistry.

Free Radicals Volume 2. (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry)

Average customer rating:

Free Radicals Volume 2. (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry)
Jay K. Kochi
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Carbenes (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry)

Average customer rating:

Carbenes (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry)

Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Carbonium Ions (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry S.)

Average customer rating:

Carbonium Ions (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry S.)

Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Carbonium Ions (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry S.)

Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0471653373

Cyclopropane Derived Reactive Intermediates (Updates from the Chemistry of the Functional Groups)

Average customer rating:

Cyclopropane Derived Reactive Intermediates (Updates from the Chemistry of the Functional Groups)
Gernot Boche , and H. M. Walborsky
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0471927481

Halonium Ions (Reactive intermediates in organic chemistry)

Average customer rating:

Halonium Ions (Reactive intermediates in organic chemistry)
George A. Olah
Manufacturer: Krieger Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Nitrenes (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry)

Average customer rating:

Nitrenes (Reactive Intermediates in Organic Chemistry)
W. Lwowski
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

Organic Reactive Intermediates (Organic chemistry; a series of monographs)

Average customer rating:

Organic Reactive Intermediates (Organic chemistry; a series of monographs)

Manufacturer: Academic Press Inc.,U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books