In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind

by Eric R. Kandel

This new science is based on five principles. First, mind and brain are inseparable.

The brain is a complex biological organ of great computational capability that constructs our sensory experiences, regulates our thoughts and emotions, and controls our actions.

Second, each mental function in the brain—from the simplest reflex to the most creative acts in

language, music, and art—is carried out by specialized neural circuits in different regions of the brain.

Third, all of these circuits are made up of the same elementary signaling units, the nerve cells. Fourth, the neural circuits use specific molecules to generate signals within and between nerve cells. Finally, these specific signaling molecules have been conserved—retained as it were—through millions of years of evolution.

tone. Remembering the past is a form of mental time travel; it frees us from the constraints of time and space and allows us to move freely along completely different dimensions.