The Library

The lives of the brain : human evolution and the organ of mind by John S. Allen is an exploration of the evolution of brain based on recent work in anthropology, brain anatomy and neuroimaging, molecular genetics, life history theory, and related fields. Allen's book shows us the brain as a product of the contexts in which it evolved: phylogenetic, somatic, genetic, ecological, demographic, and ultimately, cultural-linguistic. 

 

 

Allen pieces together the puzzle of brain evolution. No stone is left unturned as Allen mines such fields as paleontology, anthropology, comparative anatomy and physiology, and the cognitive sciences. Allen's contribution is his interdisciplinary melding of theories, disclosing their strengths and weaknesses while squeezing them for evidence on brain evolution...His material on brain evolution is fascinating.
--Scott Vieira (Library Journal )

 

Let me be short and sweet: this is a terrific book. There wasn't a chapter I didn't enjoy reading, or from which I did not learn something new. John Allen provides a fine, wide, and comprehensive sweep of all of the areas that concern a more thorough understanding of human brain evolution.
--Ralph L. Holloway, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University  

 

 

Bio of the author

Lives of the Brain is John S. Allen's blog exploring the many facets of how and why the human brain evolved. It is sponsored by Psychology Today.

If you like this book then you might also like...

 

iBrain : surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan

The accidental mindby David J. Linden

Proust and the squid : the story and science of the reading brain by Maryanne Wolf ; illustrations by Catherine Stoodley

 

 

Your Amazing Brain Explore your brain, take part in real-life experiments and test yourself with our games, illusions and brain-benders. 

 

Society for Neuroscience is a nonprofit membership organization of scientists and physicians who study the brain and nervous system. Since its inception in 1969, the Society has grown from 500 members to over 40,000. Today, SfN is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to advancing understanding of the brain and nervous system.