The Mind within the Brain: How We Make Decisions and How those Decisions Go Wrong

by A. David Redish

Overview

In The Mind within the Brain, David Redish brings together cutting edge research in psychology, robotics, economics, neuroscience, and the new fields of neuroeconomics and computational psychiatry, to offer a unified theory of human decision-making. Most importantly, Redish shows how vulnerabilities, or "failure-modes," in the decision-making system can lead to serious dysfunctions, such as irrational behavior, addictions, problem gambling, and PTSD.

Told with verve and humor in an easily readable style, Redish makes these difficult concepts understandable. Ranging widely from the surprising roles of emotion, habit, and narrative in decision-making, to the larger philosophical questions of how mind and brain are related, what makes us human, the nature of morality, free will, and the conundrum of robotics and consciousness, The Mind within the Brain offers fresh insight into one of the most complex aspects of human behavior.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199891887
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/18/2013
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Department of NeuroscienceUniversity of Minnesota

Table of Contents

Decisions and the brain
1 What is a decision?
2 The tale of the thermostat
3 The definition of value
4 Value, euphoria, and the do-it-again signal
5 Risk and reward

The decision-making system
6 Multiple Decision-making systems
7 Reflexes
8 Emotion and the Pavlovian action-selection system
9 Deliberation
10 The habits of our lives
11 Integrating Information
12 The stories we tell
13 Motivation
14 The tradeoff between exploration and exploitation
15 Self-control

The brain with a mind of its own
16 The physical mind
17 Imagination
18 Addiction
19 Gambling and behavioral addictions
20 PTSD
21 Computational psychiatry

The human condition
22 What makes us human?
23 The science of morality
24 The conundrum of robotics
Epilogue

Appendix
A Information processing in neurons
B Gleaning information from the brain
C Content-addressable memory
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

What makes me, me, and you, you? If humans are supposed to be rational creatures, then why do we make irrational decisions? These are some of the questions Redish (neuroscience, Univ. of Minnesota; Beyond the Cognitive Map) poses in his new book about the science behind human decision-making. Using relatable, humorous examples from across subjects within psychology, Redish explains that the mind exists within the brain. Similar to Robert Burton's A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind, Redish's work looks at how motivation, emotion, morals, and perception factor into the decision-making process and examines what ultimately determines our choices and, thus, our actions. Focusing on tough issues and controversial topics such as addiction and consciousness, Redish attempts to answer some of the most pertinent questions facing society today. VERDICT Recommended for enthusiasts of neuroscience and the mind's workings, Redish's book flows nicely and is easy to read but does require a basic knowledge of well-known psychological theories. The author excels at considering all aspects of the topic while keeping to his original point: to prove that the mind does in fact exist within the brain.—Jill Morningstar, Michigan State Univ. Libs., East Lansing

Library Journal

"The Mind Within the Brain is a very valuable introduction to the neuroscientific paradigm and to understanding how we make choices. It is an enjoyable read, easy to relate to and very educational... is ambitious in its scope and style; not only does he want to explain how action-selection systems work in the brain, but also how they malfunction whilst delving into the philosophical and ethical consequences of analysing the mind in such a manner." —Jodie Russell (University of Edinburgh), British Society for Literature and Science

From the Publisher