Antonio Damasio, author of Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious BrainEver wonder what makes you, well, you? Great minds have long pondered the question of how we actually perceive, recognize, and feel our “self.” Understanding human consciousness has been the Holy Grail for various kinds of seekers, from poets and priests, to experts in brain physiology. In his new book, Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, Dr. Antonio Damasio helps clear the air with scientific evidence that consciousness is a biological process. Damasio goes back to the root of things with an evolutionary perspective on the persistent question of how our minds develop the perception of self. Does this put your mind at rest?
The Brain and Creativity Institute was founded by Antonio Damasio and Hanna Damasio in 2006. Since ancient times, thinkers and scientists have sought to explain how we perceive, interpret, and shape our existence. However, until very recently, researchers interested in these questions have had to rely entirely on conjecture or indirect evidence. Now, recent technological advances in brain imaging and fresh insights into the functioning of the human brain at the level of systems, cells and molecules, provide extraordinary new opportunities for uncovering the neurological underpinnings for a large array of mental functions – from emotion and decision-making to innovation and creativity.
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/bci/
