Overview
"To understand what is happening in the brain in the moment you decide, at will, to summon to consciousness a passage of Mozart's music, or decide to take a deep breath, is like trying to ""catch a phantom by the tail"". Consciousness remains that most elusive of all human phenomena - one so mysterious, one that even our highly developed knowledge of brain function can only partly explain. This book is unique in tracing the origins of consciousness. It takes the investigation back many years in an attempt to uncover just how consciousness might have first emerged.Consciousness did not develop suddenly in humans - it evolved gradually. In 'The Primordial Emotions', Derek Denton, a world renowned expert on animal instinct and a leader in integrative physiology, investigates the evolution of consciousness. Central to the book is the idea that the primal emotions - elements of instinctive behaviour - were the first dawning of consciousness. Throughout he examines instinctive behaviours, such as hunger for air, hunger for minerals, thirst, and pain, arguing that the emotions elicited from these behaviours and desire for gratification culminated in the first conscious states. To develop the theory he looks at behaviour at different levels of the evolutionary tree, for example of octopuses, fish, snakes, birds, and elephants. Coupled with findings from neuroimaging studies, and the viewpoints on consciousness from some of the key figures in philosophy and neuroscience, the book presents an accessible and groundbreaking new look at the problem of consciousness."
Full Product Details
Author: Derek Denton (Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne, Australia)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.20cm
, Height: 2.20cm
, Length: 24.30cm
Weight: 0.612kg
ISBN: 9780199203147
ISBN 10: 0199203148
Pages: 292
Publication Date: 08 June 2006
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
`Derek Denton proposes a totally new basis for higher cognitive function in man and animals, and combines this originality with fascinating stories of animal behaviour encountered during his work. The breadth of his scholarship and research is one of the great strengths of this book.' Denis Noble, Professor of Physiology, University of Oxford `Where one of the leading biologists of our day (see his 'The Hunger for Salt', Springer Verlag, Berlin/London, 1982) deals with what, so far, has been the purview of philosophers and offers rather compelling proposals as to the origin of consciousness and even better, self-consciousness. A superb reading experience.' Roger Guillemin, Nobel Laureate `A book of exceptional wealth, both deeply meaningful and constantly renewed, a book to read and reflect upon.' Jean-Pierre Changeux, Pasteur Institute, Paris `The Primordial Emotions takes the reader on a wide-ranging tour of the animal kingdom to argue that consciousness for the primordial sensations - pain, hunger for air, thirst, and so on - evolved before consciousness for the long-distance sensing modalities - vision, audition, olfaction. This journey culminates in the author's own experiments to identify the regions of the brain underlying these subjective states by neuroimaging thirsty volunteers. Written in a very accessible and lucid style, the book offers a refreshingly distinct voice in the ongoing scientific exploration of the ancient mind-body problem.' Christof Koch, Caltech, USA
...this book deseves to influence the discourse on consciousness, making it more physiological (not just neurophysiological) and more focused on the major question - the emergence of feelings. Its explicitly evolutionary approach is important, since without such an approach little progress can be made...[it] is also valuable in providing a good review of present-day biological and psychological approaches to consciousness, together with illuminating examples of primordial feelings in animals. Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol 13, No 9
Author Information
Derek Denton is the world authority on instinctive behaviour regulating apt intake of water and minerals - particularly salt. He was Founding Director of the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine at Melbourne University. His discoveries have been recognized by election to the National Academies of Science of France, Sweden, the United States and Australia and also the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society (London). He was First Vice President of the International Union of Physiological Sciences and was a member of the Lasker Jury for 12 years. His previous books include 'The Hunger for Salt', described by Emeritus Professor John Pappenheimer of Harvard as 'the best example of integrative physiology to come out of the second half of the 20th century' and 'The Pinnacle of Life', written for a general audience, and published by Flammarion (Paris), Harper Collins (USA), and Allen & Unwin (Australia).
