Why do memories fade? Why do we lose our tempers? Why do fools fall in love? This work explores the nature and history of the human mind. It looks at the computations and evolutions, and then considers how the mind lets us see, think, feel, interact, and pursue higher callings like art, religion and philosophy.

Examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians and everyday people to show that music can calm and organize, torment and heal. This work tells stories that alter our conception of who we are and how we function, and show us an essential part of what it is to be human.

Explains how humans experience music and unravels the mystery of our perennial love affair with it. Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, this work reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born, and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience.

Intuition is not some magical property that arises unbidden from the depths of our mind. This book shows us how we can hone our instinctive ability to know in an instant, helping us to bring out the best in our thinking and become better decision-makers in our homes, offices and in everyday life.

'Phantoms in The Brain' takes a revolutionary new approach to theories of the brain, from one of the world's leading experimental neurologists.

Looks at what happens when things go wrong with parts of the brain most of us don't know exist. This work shows the awesome powers of our mind and just how delicately balanced they have to be. It is suitable for those who have felt from time to time that certain twinge of self-identity and sensed how easily, at any moment, one might lose it.

Modern brain scans reveal our thoughts, memories, and moods, as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. A person's brain will light up on a scan as it registers a joke. This book examines how these findings can be used as a basis to explain aspects of human culture and behaviour.

Introduces us to the stories of the brain science and the discipline of 'neuroplasticity'. This title allows you to meet the stroke victim who unable to feed or dress himself learned to move and talk again, and the maverick scientists over turning centuries of assumptions about the brain and it's capacity for renewal.

Takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behaviour.

As with his previous bestseller, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat , the author uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us.

Describes various facets of human language - its biological origin, its uniqueness to humanity, it acquisition by children, its grammatical structure, the production and perception of speech, the pathology of language disorders and the unstoppable evolution of languages and dialects.

A journey into the mind, showing the reader exactly how our minds work and how we can use this information to comprehend our behaviour. The author undertakes a variety of weird experiments to discover the reasons behind his own habits - such as making inappropriate jokes at the wrong time.

With free dvd

This text shows how the structure and chemistry of the brain determine our perceptions, emotions and behaviour, and what we can do to shape its functions to our advantage. Ratey also analyses the ways in which things can go wrong, detailing causes and treatments for diseases including autism.

A leading expert of the neurophysiology of emotions, Damasio shows how our consciousness arose out of the development of emotion. At its core human consciousness is consciousness of the feeling and experiencing self.

This exploration into the moment-by-moment works of the brain uses cognitive neuroscience to present experiments, tricks, and tips related to vision, motor skills, attention, cognition, subliminal perception. Each hack examines specific operations of the brain. If you want to find out what's going on in your head, then 'Mind Hacks' is the key.

Revises the traditional view of consciousness by claiming that tautology and Descartes' dualism of mind and body should be replaced with theories from the realms of neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence.

Explores how our brains learnt to read. This work presents a discussion ranging from the history of the earliest known examples of written language, to whether reading online really is making us 'stupider', and why dyslexia can be a gift.

Analyses what words actually mean and how we use them, and reveals what this can tell us about ourselves. This book shows how we use space and motion as metaphors for more abstract ideas, and uncovers the deeper structures of human thought that have been shaped by evolutionary history. It also explores the emotional impact of language.