Trees of the Brain, Roots of the Mind

by Giorgio A. Ascoli

An examination of the stunning beauty of the brain's cellular form, with many color illustrations, and a provocative claim about the mind-brain relationship.The human brain is often described as the most complex object in the universe. Tens of billions of nerve cells-tiny tree-like structures—make up a massive network with enormous computational power. In this book, Giorgio Ascoli reveals another aspect of the human the stunning beauty of its cellular form. Doing so, he makes a provocative claim about the mind-brain relationship.

If each nerve cell enlarged a thousandfold looks like a tree, then a small region of the nervous system at the same magnified scale resembles a gigantic, fantastic forest. This structural majesty—illustrated throughout the book with extraordinary color images—hides the secrets behind the genesis of our mental states. Ascoli proposes that some of the most intriguing mysteries of the mind can be solved using the basic architectural principles of the brain. After an overview of the scientific and philosophical foundations of his argument, Ascoli links mental states with patterns of electrical activity in nerve cells, presents an emerging minority opinion of how the brain learns from experience, and unveils a radically new hypothesis of the mechanism determining what is learned, what isn't, and why. Finally, considering these notions in the context of the cosmic diversity within and among brains, Ascoli offers a new perspective on the roots of individuality and humanity.

Genres: Neuroscience, Science

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2015

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Ascoli's book trees of the brain, roots of the mind is both a basic tutorial on current scientific understanding of neurons and a thought example in implications moving forward. As a student of neuroscience, I appreciated the various analogies and examples provided for the technical nature of neuronal function and more importantly the constant reminder of the similarity between trees and neurons. The three principles described in the book:

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All build on each other and helped me to understand the direction and potential benefit from further studying the brain. Also, I appreciated that Dr. Ascoli mentioned the current techniques used by neuroscientist for brain data collection last rather than getting bogged down with the details earlier in the book. Overall, an excellent read for anyone interested in learning more about the fascinating tree-like structures of our brains(i.e. Neurons)

[renae · Rating 4 out of 5]

i finished this book a while ago for my neuro systems class. it was good, entertaining and had a good narrator voice. i say this as the author was my professor hehehe.