Consciousness and the Brain

Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts

By: Stanislas Dehaene

Narrated by: David Drummond

How does the brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries.A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone who is interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness.

©2014 Stanislas Dehaene (P)2014 Tantor

Great book for advanced readers

Would you listen to Consciousness and the Brain again? Why?

Parts of it I did indeed listen to.

What about David Drummond’s performance did you like?

Competent, clear, with some odd pronunciations that could have been looked up in dictionaries.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The stories about people in weird states of consciousness being brought back to the aware world.

Any additional comments?

The author has definitely identified where in the brain the experience of consciousness takes place, and explains well why most of what our brain does is unconscious. His global workspace theory is well explained, too. His only big mistake is that he dislikes qualia. (These are the raw "feelings" of an experience, like trying to explain what "green" is, or a bat trying to explain his perceptions when his sonar lets him zero in on insects and avoid hazards.) But qualia are real, and his denigration of them near the end of the book is disappointing.

Long winded, but full of technical jargon

If you’re interested in studying neuroscience, this book can be a good starter reference for understanding consciousness and how we perceive it.
From my perspective, there were many other options of writing style if the author wanted the general public to become engrossed in the book. I was dragged along with the promise of more stories like “Whodunnit” and “the Invisible Gorilla.”

One of a kind!

Your description of what potential our brains have relating to the past and recent research discoveries gave me some great breakthroughs in my quest for understanding the use of such an elegant creation! A human brain 😊

Rigorous, Relatable, Revealing

Would you consider the audio edition of Consciousness and the Brain to be better than the print version?

print version is probably easier to comprehend, but I'd never had the time to sit and read it. Audio allowed me to do it on walks, trains, in the kitchen.

What about David Drummond’s performance did you like?

is adequate, at least it doesn't make comprehension harder.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me fascinated with this area of neuroscience.

Any additional comments?

Universities now offer combined majors in Cognitive and Computer Science.

love it!! only for nerds

This book takes you on an educated tour of the complexities of our brains and consciousness, excellent!

Good Stuff...

First, I guess I, unlike the other reviewer, did not find the narrator "cocky," nor could I imagine how that could influence the listening to a book on neurology... That aside, the book itself contains a lot of important, if basic, ideas about neurology and the current knowledge concerning human consciousness. It tends, perhaps, to be a bit on the computational side of things, but the theories presented here are pretty sound. (There is debate as to what extend the mind really works like a computer, and I am one who is more in the Jonathan Haidt camp, believing that the mind is more complex, and much more emotionally driven, than the computational model allows for--listen to a couple of books by Haidt after finishing with this one.) I would recommend this as a beginning or even as an intermediate book on consciousness and neurology. Michael Gazziniga or Rhawn Joseph (the latter not yet in audiobook) might be better advanced studies in this subject.

Great

One of the best books on consciousness I have ever read. Highly recommend to everyone.

very interesting research

took me a few months to go through the content i could only take 30 minute iterations without being overloaded with information

straight up science, be ready

if you want to really educate yourself on the brains functions and the science of identifying consciousness, this is the book for you.

Brilliant Pedagogy Illuminating Neuroscience

This is one of those rare audio books that is so edifying that I will listen to it three or four times and probably purchase the print and eBook editions for my continuing education in contemporary neuroscience.
I'm particularly interested in the refreshing challenges it brings to today's popular dualism (aka "dual-aspect monism") championed by Chalmers' (with his so-called"hard problem") and furthered by proponents of quantum woO such as Penrose and others.
Refreshingly sobering in face of all the wishful thinking and romantic idealism meant to preserve mystical pseudoprofundity.