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How does the brain work? How do billions of neurons bring about
ideas, sensations, emotions, and actions? Why do children learn faster than elderly
people? What can go wrong in perception, thinking, learning, and acting? Scientists
now use computer models to help us understand the most private and human experiences.
In The Mind Within The Net, Manfred Spitzer shows how these models can
fundamentally change how we think about learning, creativity, thinking and acting,
as well as about such matters as schools, retirement homes, politics, and mental
disorders. Neurophysiology has told us a lot about how
neurons work; neural network theory is about how neurons work together to process
information. In this highly readable book, Spitzer provides a basic, nonmathematical
introduction to neural networks and their clinical applications. Part I explains
the fundamental theory of neural networks and how neural network models work.
Part II covers the principles of network functioning and how computer simulations
of neural networks have profound consequences for our understanding of how the
brain works. Part III covers applications of network models (e.g., to knowledge
representation, language, and mental disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's
disease) that shed new light on normal and abnormal states of mind. Finally, Spitzer
concludes with his thoughts on the ramifications of neural networks for the understanding
of neuropsychology and human nature. Manfred Spitzer
is Professor and Chairman of the Psychiatric Hospital at the University of Ulm,
Germany. |
