Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.820113
EAN: 9780262031882
ISBN: 0262031884
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 560
Publication Date: June 12, 1992
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
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Product Description:
How do groups of neurons interact to enable the organism to see, decide, and move appropriately? What are the principles whereby networks of neurons represent and compute? These are the central questions probed by The Computational Brain. Churchland and Sejnowski address the foundational ideas of the emerging field of computational neuroscience, examine a diverse range of neural network models, and consider future directions of the field. The Computational Brain is the first unified and broadly accessible book to bring together computational concepts and behavioral data within a neurobiological framework. Computer models constrained by neurobiological data can help reveal how -networks of neurons subserve perception and behavior - bow their physical interactions can yield global results in perception and behavior, and how their physical properties are used to code information and compute solutions. The Computational Brain focuses mainly on three domains: visual perception, learning and memory, and sensorimotor integration. Examples of recent computer models in these domains are discussed in detail, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and extracting principles applicable to other domains. Churchland and Sejnowski show how both abstract models and neurobiologically realistic models can have useful roles in computational neuroscience, and they predict the coevolution of models and experiments at many levels of organization, from the neuron to the system. The Computational Brain addresses a broad audience: neuroscientists, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers. It is written for both the expert and novice. A basic overview of neuroscience and computational theory is provided, followed by a study of some of the most recent and sophisticated modeling work in the context of relevant neurobiological research. Technical terms are clearly explained in the text, and definitions are provided in an extensive glossary. The appendix contains a précis of neurobiological techniques. Patricia S. Churchland is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute, and a MacArthur Fellow. Terrence J. Sejnowski is Professor of Biology at the University of California, San Diego, Professor at the Salk Institute, where he is Director of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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There is an argument that this is a book of its time. It is nearly fifteen years since it was put together and a great deal of neural water has flowed under the bridge. The thematic enthusiasm for computationalism that dominates the book has not been convincingly proved in the meantime. If anything, the computational properties of models have been shown to entertain many unpleasant complexity results. Moreover, the localisation of brain functions grounded in naive interpretations of lesion effects has come under greater scrutiny due to detailed MRI results. Given twhat was known at the time, it is unsurprising that the book focuses on the visual system - a focus also found in Christof Koch's recent book. Acknowleding all that and more, it would be hard to find a better condensation of science, computationalism, and philosophical speculation than in this book.
Leaving aside downsides arising from recent discoveries that the authors could not have anticipated, the book can be ... Read More
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This book can be viewed as one of the first attempts to use results from psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and philosophy with the intent of gaining an understanding of how the mind/brain works, but all of this is done within the "computational mind" paradigm. The approach taken by the authors is one of the most honest of those in the literature, for throughout the book they are careful to note just how much evidence there is to support their position(s), and to what extent further work is to done. Philosophically speaking, the authors are clearly in the materialist camp, believing that Cartesian dualism does not cohere with current scientific knowledge. But they state that materialism is not an established fact, allowing the possibility, but not the probability, that dualism may in fact be true. They reject early on though any "arguments from ignorance" in their assertion that just because neuroscience does not have an explanation of consciousness, that such an explanation is ... Read More
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This extremely interesting book integrates our vast knowledge of neuroscience with computational models of perception, sensori-motor integration, memory etc.
For students of neuroscience, computer science and psychology this book is extremely important, because it gives you the necessary fundamentals of this field(namely computational neuroscience) so you can get to more advanced levels easily.
Understanding the book will need some background in higher mathematics (differential calculus).
Rating:  -
This book is an excellent follow-up to "Engine of Reason,
Seat of the Soul". It gets into the details of what's
known about computational neuroscience and the working
of the human brain (and other animals ' brains and nervous
systems. Great summaries of specific "tricks" of brain
processing, e.g., how vison works, etc.
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