Forewords
Gianluca Baldassarre's forewords:
We present here a list of books on cognitive sciences, and the comments of some of us on them: some books might be interesting for the young researchers, for a gentle introduction to the field, and some might be interesting to the more expert reader to get a deeper knowledge on the theories and experiments of important researchers of the field.
Giovanni Granato's forewords:
The intrinsic motivation to acquire knowledge should be a fundamental feature of young students and older researcher, without which progress results slowed and impaired. In this respect, research and scientific study benefit of a return to state similar to that of infants and children who show a high level of such intrinsic motivation. Be hungry for knowledge and cognitive daydreams, imitating infants’ and children’s hunger for the discovery of new objects and possible interactions with them. The books suggested below belong to the category of “scientific essay” so, also considering their variability, their reading might require a relevant cognitive engagement and effort. Search the motivation to approach these readings for the future of your work and the progress of humanity.
List of commented books
Swaab, D. F. (2014), We are Our Brains: A Neurobiography of the Brain, from the Womb to Alzheimer's, Spiegel & Grau.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Simple and clear writing Modular structure, possibility of skipping chapters Extended range of arguments in cognitive neurosciences field I recommend this book for students that want to approach to cognitive neurosciences field, enjoying of a brilliant writing and interesting explanations of particulars on human behavior. Maybe experts could find in this book a naives level of deepening for the advantage of the range of arguments.
Nicolelis, M. (2011), Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines—and How It Will Change Our Lives, Macmillan.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
A scientific essay on brain-machine interfaces, in particular on the integration of neuroscience and technology. Presentation of several technical contents. Emotionally engaging writing: sharing of life experiences in scientific research. This book made me cry for the passion that the author uses to explain one of the most important experiment in this field: the “mental control” of one primate of a robotic arm (the author personally participated in this experiment). A beautiful mix of technical details regard machine-brain interfaces: an advantage for a student/researcher willing to deepen this field. Not suited for a light type of reading.
Bor, D. (2012), The ravenous brain: How the new science of consciousness explains our insatiable search for meaning, Basic Books.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Focus on information processing in the brain. Deep analysis of many cognitive constructs Presentation of a model of consciousness. Good essay, personal experience and many arguments with one common point: the processing of information. A good reading for students interested in high-level neurocognitive processes until the most integrated process of brain: consciousness. A good feature of this book is the analysis of personal states of consciousness (for example an experience of anesthesia), a potentiated version of introspection with a neuroscientific point of view.
Kurzweil, R. (2012), How to create a mind: The secret of human thought revealed, Penguin.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Hybridization of technology and neurosciences. Law of accelerating returns. Elements of AI and robotic. Suitable for those interested in computer science, robotic and neurosciences. An expert of those fields, the author proposes many approaches, such as the probabilistic/Bayesian principles for the AI-brain field and the reverse-engineering approach for robotic-brain field. A book that shows a possible future of advanced information technology, described by a exponential curve of development. Kurzweil could be considered a “futurologist”…... as Edison, Tesla, Einstein...
Seung, S. (2012), Connectome: How the brain's wiring makes us who we are, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Introduction to connectomics. Integration of neurophysiological and system-level approaches to brain. Transcendence: future scenarios, hypotheses, and limitations. A book that introduces the new science of connectomics, proposing many scales of analysis of the brain. Suitable for researchers, in particular for extending own views and linking many fields, and for students interested in both neurobiology and cognitive neuroscience. The book proposes questions on the future, for example in relation to transcendence – the theory that anticipate an upload of human mind into computers –, and treates them in a scientific and rigorous manner.
Changeux, J.-P. (2008), Du vrai, du beau, du bien: Une nouvelle approche neuronale, Odile Jacob.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
System neuroscience, with a particular focus on perceptual processing. The book coverse an extended range of neuroscientific topics. Proposal of an important model of consciousness. A great broad treatment of cognition and perception, supported by a neurophysiological and system-level perspective. The book faces the complexity of brain nicely framed from a computational-modeling perspective. Brief excursus on neuroaesthetic that gives a modern nuance to the book. A high level of integration of many details related to brain with respect to what university students might get from their studies, thus although very interesting it might result a challenging reading for them.
Frith, C. (2013), Making up the mind: How the brain creates our mental world, John Wiley & Sons.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Introductory essay on classical phenomena of cognitive sciences. Analysis of motor processes and motor disorders. Motor awareness and motor monitoring. Many life lessons given by autobiographical details of author. Classical concepts on cognition presented with a simple and clear writing, probably this book is more exciting than a lot of academic books for university students. The author explains many cognitive disorders by linking them to neural systems supporting them. In conclusion, classical topics presented with a stimulant writing.
O'Regan, J. K. (2011), Why red doesn't sound like a bell: Understanding the feel of consciousness, Oxford University Press.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Sensory-motor approach to perception. Deep analysis of visual perception and its integration with other systems. Presentation of a relevant model of consciousness. Mixed feeling. This books transmits an initial pleasure for the deep analysis of visual perception, by eye to sensorial areas from a neurophysiologic and neurocognitive perspective, so it is recommended for those wanting to deepen knowledge on visual systems. The second part regards the integration of sensory and motor processes, from a strong embodied point of view. In particular the author proposes a sensory-motor theory of conscious perception mixing a scientific approach with examples from common sense. Despite the presence of some unclear points I recommend this book for a different approach to neural processes.
Churchland, P. S. (2011), Braintrust: What neuroscience tells us about morality, Princeton University Press.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Evolution and fitness. Evolutionary theory on affiliative behavior. Neurophilosophy: neural basis of moral and ethical behavior. When talking about neurosciences and products of complex human cognition such as love, friendship, and ethics, some people tend to think that they cannot be explained through a neuroscientific approach. This book aims to demonstrate that this idea is false. Through a cognitive, evolutionary and neuroscientific approach the author exposes many arguments of neurophilosophy, involving topics such as moral and ethical behaviors, proposing the brain processes that might support them and affiliative behavior in general. If you think that friendship and the love are processed independently of neural mechanisms, this book will offer you enlightening arguments challenging such idea.
Damasio, A. (2012), Self comes to mind: Constructing the conscious brain, Vintage.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Very informative essay with many detailed contents. Integration of emotion and cognition. Presents an important model of consciousness and self-consciousness. This book resumes previous author’s works, arriving to face one of the hardest problem of modern neuroscience: consciousness. In particular, the book integrating many themes by coupling technical details and beautiful examples such as the description of the emergence of conscious processing related to a bird in the sky. Despite self-consciousness is not my research field, I found this book fascinating. For university students: do not expect a book to read on the beach.
Churchland, P. S. (2013), Touching a nerve: Our brains, our selves, WW Norton & Company.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
A brief essay on social behavior. Interesting details on behavioral genetics. Analysis of theories of empathy. Interesting for social phenomena explained from a neuroscientific point of view, the book contains many references to themes already treated in the other book by the same author (“Braintrust: what neuroscience tells us about morality”). As other essays of this series, it can be read in relaxing situations (I read on the beach).
Koch, C. (2012), Consciousness: Confessions of a romantic reductionist, MIT press.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
A brief essay on brain from a biophysical and theoretical approach based on the underlying idea that the brain is a physical object and it is subject to physical principles. Presentation of an important model of consciousness. Analysis of complex concepts such as determinism, chance, and chaos, also linked to consciousness phenomena. The book puts a strain on the negative meaning attached to the term "reductionism", showing how the enormous complexity of brain dynamics might relie on physical priniciples.
Wilson, E. (2012), The Social Conquest of Earth, Liveright.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Description of evolutionary processes. Social behavior selection mechanisms (sociobiology): presentation of an important theory on social evolution. The brain is viewed as an open system with a close coupling with the environment, so it is argued that to understand its processes and mechanisms we need to also know environmental dynamics. Evolutionary dynamics influence both brain-brain and brain-environment interactions so sociobiology represents an essential piece of knowledge in the neuroscientific field. Despite this book does not strictly belong to the neuroscientific field, it is interesting for many details on evolutionary processes and explanations of social behavior in many species.
Goldberg, E. (2009), The new executive brain: Frontal lobes in a complex world, Oxford University Press.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Focus on hemispheric specialization and in particular on frontal lobes. Presentation of several neuropsychological cases. The Italian title of the book refers to a “brain symphony” and indeed this is an adequate title for it. Goldberg was a student of Luria, the famous neuropsychologist, and focuses on frontal lobes considering them as a orchestra conductor. Despite I partially in disagree with the author on some points, it is undeniable that he proposes an exhaustive analysis of normal and pathological functioning of frontal lobes based on the presentation of several interesting neuropsychological cases.
(In Italian) Balconi, M. (2012), Far capitare le cose. Pensiero e azione nelle neuroscienze cognitive, Il mulino.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Introduction to the concept of agency. Neurobiological bases of schizophrenia. Implementation of agency in the brain: normal and altered states. My first real contact with the concept of agency. This concept is a fundamental element for anyone wanting to approach concepts of cognition such as motor awareness, consciousness, and self-consciousness. Using also a clinical point of view, this book offers a nice excursus on the neural basis of schizophrenia.
Dehaene, S. (2014), Consciousness and the brain: Deciphering how the brain codes our thoughts, Penguin.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Focus on the perceptual processing of brain and on the integration of many neural systems. Presents an important model of consciousness: consciousness is seen as relying on highly integrated processes in the brain. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to dive into consciousness states, computational models, and clinical studies. The interesting approach of the author offers a perspective that is often neglected by many students and researchers, i.e an interdisciplinary approach that integrates theoretical analysis and clinical applications. A beautiful but not easy reading for students and researchers who are not satisfied with specific single perspectives on brain and want to deepen its integrated nature to think about consciousness, the major complex phenomenon of brain.
Hoffmann, P. M. (2012), Life's ratchet: how molecular machines extract order from chaos, Basic Books.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
A biophysical approach to organic systems. Analysis of molecular processes in living being. Concept of molecular chaos. Complex essay with much biophysical terms and mechanisms and a high level of technical detail. Despite my difficulties to read the book caused by my low expertise in bio-molecular mechanisms, I found many useful concepts in it linked to molecular chaos and entropy, and was introduced to complex mechanisms that support life at the molecular and atomic scales.
(In Italian) Soresi, E. (2013), Il cervello anarchico, Utet Libri.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Integration of brain with other systems of body. Introduction to Psychoneuroendocrinology (PNE). Useful essay offering an integrative view of the immunitary and brain systems. PNE represents an integrated and embodied approach that can reconcile many clinical states. I find some inaccuracies, but it resulted a good and interesting reading.
(In Italian) Massimini, M. & Tononi, G. (2013), Nulla di più grande: dalla veglia al sonno, dal coma al sogno : il segreto della coscienza e la sua misura, Baldini & Castoldi.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Integration of methods as electroencephalogram (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Local/global approach to brain states. Presents an important model of consciousness. Engaging book for those interested in consciousness and integrated brain processes. The authors compare consciousness to a star, illuminating a possible route to its understanding. Interesting scientific approach to dreams and neurodynamics of consciousness states. The passion of the authors make this essay an engaging reading supported by a rigorous scientific method.
Berthoz, A. The Vicarious Brain, Creator of Worlds, Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2017. Print.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Covers an extended range of fields, with a focus on neural plasticity. Introduction to the concept of vicariance. This essay approaches the concept of vicariance under many points of view, in particular analysing the neural plasticity in neuropsychological cases and extending this concept to other cognitive fields such as problem solving. I recommend this book to university students who, having acquired a solid knowledge on basic cognitive processes, want an introduction to a broad set of other concepts. For example, you might know that V1 processes visual stimuli: here you will discover that sometimes it could process haptic stimuli. For this reason this reading represents an optimal resource for neuropsychologist aspirants and a good broad source of information for others interested in cognitive sciences.
(In Italian) Cingolani, R. & Metta, G. (2015), Umani e umanoidi. Vivere con i robot, Il Mulino.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Neurosciences of sensory-motor systems. Elements of robotics state of the art. Cybernetic and technological applications. A bridge between neurosciences and robotics. Sometime the book seems a a sci-fi film but actually it is based on sound scientific literature. I am an enthusiast of both technology and cognitive neuroscience and this book allowed me to link these field in a coherent perspective.
Orban, D. (2015), Something New. Als and us: the coming age when “there is nothing new under the sun” is not true anymore, Futuroid Press
Giovanni Granato's comment:
General view on technological development. Computational approach to brain and artificial intelligence (AI). Analysis of transcendence (download of human intelligence into computers). Brief essay that proposes many thoughts on concepts such as inteligence, artificial inteligence, technological development, and finally transcendence. I recommend to couple this book to onother essays, “Kurzweil, R. (2012), How to create a mind: The secret of human thought revealed” or following essay in this list.
Bostrom, N. (2014), Superintelligence: Paths, dangers, strategies, OUP Oxford.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Gives several elements of advanced artificial inteligence (AI). Presence of technical language. Some computational views on brain, but main focus is AI. Discussion of implications of neurosciences, bioethics, artificial intelligence, social phenomenon. This essay is a concentration of many fields to achieve a goal: to anticipate and discuss how to control the future AI. A rigorous analysis of themes that until some time ago were bound to films. The book allows a serious comprehension of the state of art in this field that overcomes scientific compartmentalizations. The book could results a hard reading for university students with a low motivation and passion for this field.
Nourbakhsh, I. (2013), Robot Futures, MIT Press.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Elements of neuroscience and robotics. Future applications and impact of robotics in human life Addresses the question: how could robots change our life? The book has similarity with the telefilm black mirrors, i.e. it shows a possible positive and negative effects of technology on our society. University students interested in robotics, and in particular in social robotic, will be fascinated by this reading.
Domingos, P. (2015), The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World, Penguin Books Limited.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Introduction to machine learning. General view on temporary application of machine learning. Some links to brain processes (as an introduction to the connectionist approach in machine learning). Lovers of machine learning must read this essay for discovering the state of art of this science. This book summaries principal approaches to machine learning with a linear track, in particular the author trys to overcome limits of each approach to view solutions to the hard problems of artificial intelligence. Much appreciated the final metaphoric story that integrates all approaches of machine learning in an unexpected journey for the hard intelligence (AI as powerful as human intelligence).
(In Italian) Borghi, A. & Caruana, F. (2016), Il cervello in azione, Il Mulino.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Throuout analysis of embodied cognition. Presentations of models of emotions. Eclectic approach to perception: from philosophy to neurosciences. A university student is used to study psychology, cognitive neurosciences, neurology, neurobiology: these disciplines are merged here to face perceptive and motor processes: this book bridge such disciplines proposing a high integrated vision of sensorimotor processes. While the first part exposes sensorimotor theory and phenomena in a very clear manner, the second part is focused on emotions and embodied theory of emotion. A brief and clear book to enter the embodied view of mind.
Konnikova, M. (2013), Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, Viking.
Giovanni Granato's comment:
Parallelism between Conan Doyle novels and human thinking. Analysis of high order processes as problem-solving and planning. Advices for improving analytical skills. The research and clinic work on problem solving and planning coupled with a deep analysis of these phenomena. The book analyzes fundamental points for a correct problem solving proposing cognitive models and exploring examples given by the literature work of Conan Doyle. For these reasons the book results a useful instrument for all university students that want to acquire more analytic and logical “forma mentis”.