Cognitive Neuroscience

No listener curious about our "little gray cells" will want to pass up Harvard neuroscientist John E. Dowling's brief introduction to the brain. In this up-to-date revision of his 1998 book Creating Mind, Dowling conveys the essence and vitality of the field of neuroscience - examining the progress we've made in understanding how brains work, and shedding light on discoveries having to do with aging, mental illness, and brain health. 

If you've ever wondered why you seem to get trapped in an endless cycle of obsessive, compulsive thoughts, you don't have to wonder anymore. Grounded in cutting-edge neuroscience and evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Rewire Your OCD Brain will show you how and why your brain gets stuck in a loop of obsessive thinking, uncertainty, and worry; and offers the tools you need to short-circuit this response and get your symptoms under control-for good.

Dr. Lisa Mosconi, whose research spans an extraordinary range of specialties including brain science, the microbiome, and nutritional genomics, notes that the dietary needs of the brain are substantially different from those of the other organs, yet few of us have any idea what they might be. Her innovative approach to cognitive health incorporates concepts that most doctors have yet to learn. Busting through advice based on pseudoscience, Dr. Mosconi provides recommendations for a complete food plan, while calling out noteworthy surprises.

The Memory Thief is the remarkable true story of a team of doctors who - through years of scientific sleuthing and observant care - discover a surprising connection between opioids and memory, one that holds promise and peril for any one of us.

How does the brain work? How different is a human brain from other creatures' brains? Is the human brain still evolving? In this fascinating book, Michael O'Shea provides a non-technical introduction to the main issues and findings in current brain research, and gives a sense of how neuroscience addresses questions about the relationship between the brain and the mind. 

We talk about memory as a record of the past, but here's a surprising twist: we aren't supposed to remember everything. In fact, we're designed to forget. Over the course of 25 years, Charan Ranganath has studied the seemingly selective and unreliable nature of human memory to find that our brains haven't evolved to keep a comprehensive record of events, but to extract the information needed to guide our future. Why We Remember unveils the principles behind what and why we forget and shines new light on the silent, pervasive influence of memory on how we learn, heal and make decisions.

We avoid boredom at all costs. It makes us feel restless and agitated. Desperate for something to do, we play games on our phones, retie our shoes, or even count ceiling tiles. And if we escape it this time, eventually it will strike again. But what if we listened to boredom instead of banishing it? Psychologists James Danckert and John Eastwood contend that boredom isn't bad for us. It's just that we do a bad job of heeding its guidance. 

If you're in a job interview, how should you think about the mindset of the interviewer? If you've just been promoted, how do you handle the tensions of managing former peers? And what are the telltale mental signs that it's time to start planning your next career move? Professor, author, and popular radio host Art Markman focuses on three essential elements of a successful career - getting a job, excelling at work, and finding your next position - and expertly illustrates how cognitive science, especially psychology, sheds fascinating and useful light on each of these elements.

Ever since publication of The Polyvagal Theory in 2011, demand for information about this innovative perspective has been constant. Here Stephen W. Porges brings together his most important writings since the publication of that seminal work. At its heart, polyvagal theory is about safety. It provides an understanding that feeling safe is dependent on autonomic states, and that our cognitive evaluations of risk in the environment, including identifying potentially dangerous relationships, play a secondary role to our visceral reactions to people and places.

How often you find yourself wanting to hide from the world? You feel like you are invisible and, to be frank, that would be better because you would get overwhelmed otherwise. Every time you try to be confident, you mess up. You speak fast and you want to leave the situation as soon as possible. Work or family gatherings give you chills, and going to a bar or a social event is just an immediate panic attack waiting to happen, and you get anxiety and butterflies in your stomach.

From studies of bonobos in the wild to visits with the iconic painter Jasper Johns and the renowned decision-making expert Daniel Kahneman, Small looks across disciplines to put new scientific findings into illuminating context while also revealing groundbreaking developments about Alzheimer’s disease. The next time you forget where you left your keys, remember that a little forgetting does a lot of good. 

We have all experienced a 'gut reaction' or acted 'on a hunch' – we've used our intuition. Until recently, science didn't have a good explanation for how intuition works. In fact, some scientists dismissed it altogether as unproveable and 'woo woo'. Here, in the first book to explain the science behind intuition, Professor Joel Pearson, an expert in cognitive neuroscience and leader in human consciousness research, turns what we think we know about intuition on its head.

How does a neural network become a brain? While neurobiologists investigate how nature accomplishes this feat, computer scientists interested in AI strive to achieve this through technology. The Self-Assembling Brain tells the stories of both fields, exploring the historical and modern approaches taken by the scientists pursuing answers to the quandary: What information is necessary to make an intelligent neural network? As Peter Robin Hiesinger argues, "the information problem" underlies both fields. 

Welcome to the ultimate guidebook for improving your brain health and avoiding cognitive impairment and cognitive decline! This guidebook is your key to discovering everything you need to know about your brain. You'll learn about its anatomy, functions, and structures responsible for higher faculties of the mind. You'll also uncover why memory is called the mother of all wisdom and the four changes the brain undergoes as we age.

Many of us assume that who we really are is something deep inside us, an inner sanctuary that contains our true selves. In Who You Are, Michael Spivey argues that the opposite is true: that you are more than a brain, more than a brain and body, and more than all your assumptions about who you are. 

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Mind Wide Open comes a groundbreaking assessment of popular culture as it's never been considered before: through the lens of intelligence. Forget everything you’ve ever read about the age of dumbed-down, instant-gratification culture.

Do you ever feel like your stress levels are off the charts? You aren't alone. Every day it feels like there's something new to juggle or a fresh crisis to avert. And just keeping everything in the air requires an exhausting amount of attention and a dizzying amount of responsibilities. The more chaotic life becomes, the more we tend to forget what we truly value - from family and friends to mental and physical health. Fortunately, there are things you can do to stay grounded that won't eat away at your increasingly precious time.

The brain is our most vital and complex organ. It controls and coordinates our actions, thoughts and interactions with the world around us. It is the source of personality, of our sense of self, and it shapes every aspect of our human experience. Yet most of us know precious little about how our brains actually work, or what we can do to optimise their performance. Combining the latest scientific research with storytelling and advice, Supercharge Your Brain reveals everything you need to know about how your brain functions, and what you can do to keep it in peak condition.

Bullying and abuse are at the source of much misery in our lives. Because we are not taught about our brains, let alone how much they are impacted by bullying and abuse, we do not have a way to avoid this misery, heal our scars, or restore our health. In The Bullied Brain, listeners learn about the evidence doctors, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists and neuroscientists have gathered, that shows the harm done by bullying and abuse to your brain, and how you can be empowered to protect yourself and all others. 

Professors and husband-and-wife team Uta and Chris Frith have pioneered major studies of brain disorders throughout their nearly 50-year career. In Two Heads, their distinguished careers serve as a prism through which they share the compelling story of the birth of neuroscience and their paradigm-shifting discoveries across areas as wide-ranging as autism and schizophrenia research, and new frontiers of social cognition including diversity, prejudice, confidence, collaboration and empathy.