Memory: From Mind to Molecules (Scientific American Library) - Hardcover

Squire, Larry R.; Kandel, Eric R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0716750716 ISBN 13: 9780716750710

Publisher: W H Freeman & Co, 1999

Synopsis

What is memory and where in the brain is it stored? How is memory storage accomplished? These key questions are addressed in Memory, the first book for a general readership to offer an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of memory from molecules and cells to brain systems and cognition.

The recent convergence of psychology and biology has resulted in an exciting new synthesis of knowledge about learning and remembering. Some of the central issues include:

What happens in the brain to determine whether we remember something for a long time?
Is memory stored at a particular place in the brain?
How reliable are our memories? What makes memories deteriorate?
Why is it harder to remember as we get older?
How do emotions influence memory?
Are there unconscious memories? Written by two scientists responsible for some of the fundamental research in the field, Memory is ideal for general audiences who are interested in discovering what is currently known about one of the basic aspects of human existence.

About this title

About the Author

LARRY R. SQUIRE, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry, Neurosciences, and Psychology at the University of California School of Medicine, San Diego, and Research Career Scientist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego. He is the author of Memory and Brain and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He has received many awards, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association and the Karl Lashley Prize from the American Philosophical Society.

ERIC R. KANDEL, M.D. founded the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University in New York, where he is currently University Professor and Senior Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Laboratories. A member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, as well as the National Science Academies of France and Germany, Kandel has won many prestigious awards, including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the National Medal of Science, and the Wolf Prize in Biology and Medicine.

From the Back Cover

"A masterly and enthralling synthesis."
Torsten Wiesel, Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology, Rockefeller University

"No one with a pretension to culture-from pupils at school to emeritus professors-should be without this brilliantly written account of one of the major and most engrossing and elusive characteristics of the brain-memory."
Semir Zeki, Professor of Neurobiology, University of London

"From Ebbinghaus to a knockout mouse, Squire and Kandel frame the major questions we have about memory and explain how they are being answered. A lucid and engaging book by two grandmasters of the field."
Samuel H. Barondes, Director of the Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, author of Mood Genes and Molecules and Mental Illness

"In a book that is as fascinating as it is authoritative, Larry Squire and Eric Kandel explain the insights and breakthroughs that have illuminated the mysteries of memory . . . essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered about how we remember or why we forget."
Daniel L. Schacter, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of Searching for Memory

"Few areas of neuroscience are ready to boast of an understanding that spans from molecules to minds. Memory is ready, and Squire and Kandel, two of the leading researchers who got us there, take us on a delightful journey, explaining not just current facts but also the often fascinating history behind the big discoveries. I loved it and recommend this very readable and beautifully illustrated book to all who want to know how memory works."
Joseph LeDoux, Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science, New York University, author of The Emotional Brain

"A thoroughly up-to-date, comprehensive and engaging introduction to the neuroscience of memory."
James L. McGaugh, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine

Reviews

Descartes was wrong, the authors say. It is not, "I think, therefore I am" but "I am, therefore I think." Moreover, "We are not who we are simply because we think. We are who we are because we can remember what we have thought about". So saying, Squire and Kandel (respectively, professor of psychiatry, neurosciences and psychology at the University of California School of Medicine at San Diego, and university professor and founder of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University) present what they call "the molecular biology of cognition." Their account, amply and imaginatively illustrated, describes how memory functions and the molecular events that take place in the brain as a memory is formed. They also treat such malfunctions of memory as amnesia, Alzheimer's disease and age-related memory loss. Their target is "the general reader who enjoys science and is interested in becoming acquainted with the remarkable new discoveries about how the nervous system learns and remembers".

Edition details

• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0716750716
• ISBN 13: 9780716750710
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 235