The Mind within the Brain: How We Make Decisions and How those Decisions Go Wrong

by A. David Redish

Overview

In The Mind within the Brain, David Redish brings together cutting edge research in psychology, robotics, economics, neuroscience, and the new fields of neuroeconomics and computational psychiatry, to offer a unified theory of human decision-making. Most importantly, Redish shows how vulnerabilities, or "failure-modes," in the decision-making system can lead to serious dysfunctions, such as irrational behavior, addictions, problem gambling, and PTSD.

Told with verve and humor in an easily readable style, Redish makes these difficult concepts understandable. Ranging widely from the surprising roles of emotion, habit, and narrative in decision-making, to the larger philosophical questions of how mind and brain are related, what makes us human, the nature of morality, free will, and the conundrum of robotics and consciousness, The Mind within the Brain offers fresh insight into one of the most complex aspects of human behavior.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199891887
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	07/18/2013
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

A. David Redish is Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Decisions and the brain
1 What is a decision?
2 The tale of the thermostat
3 The definition of value
4 Value, euphoria, and the do-it-again signal
5 Risk and reward

The decision-making system
6 Multiple Decision-making systems
7 Reflexes
8 Emotion and the Pavlovian action-selection system
9 Deliberation
10 The habits of our lives
11 Integrating Information
12 The stories we tell
13 Motivation
14 The tradeoff between exploration and exploitation
15 Self-control

The brain with a mind of its own
16 The physical mind
17 Imagination
18 Addiction
19 Gambling and behavioral addictions
20 PTSD
21 Computational psychiatry

The human condition
22 What makes us human?
23 The science of morality
24 The conundrum of robotics
Epilogue

Appendix
A Information processing in neurons
B Gleaning information from the brain
C Content-addressable memory
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"I think it is accurate that there is not another book out there with the scope of this one, and I imagine it will attract a great deal of interest from lay audience and academics alike. Redish's writing is very engaging, sprinkling in examples of real-world phenomena that every reader can relate to. He does this with humor and with several entertaining footnotes.... He also describes his own contributions to this literature, making it clear that his lab has made substantive contributions to our understanding but again discussed in a way that should be appreciated — striking a nice balance between simple but not overly simplistic or distorted as is all too often the case in science writings for non-scientists."
— Michael J. Frank, PhD, Laboratory for Neural Computation and Cognition, Brown University

"Dr. David Redish is a known well-respected scientist. He's made his mark on the mathematical modeling of decision-making.
The three chapters provided to the reviewer evidence a nice, easy read. The concepts are in general well-explained... It seems that the idea of the book came from interacting with individuals who really seem to crave this kind of information. I am not sure of the existence of a similar manual. There is a book on neuroeconomics by Peter Politser from your group, but it is more complex, and does not have the broad perspective proposed by David Redish.... this book would have a place as a source of dissemination of knowledge recently gained on brain function and ways in which impairment in brain function can lead to disorders such as addiction. I believe that a large audience would be interested in this manual, including scientists." — Monique Ernst, MD, PhD, Head of Neurodevelopment of Reward Systems, Emotional Development and Affective Neuroscience Branch (EDAN), NIMH

"Well researched and delivered with a light touch." - Nature

From the Publisher

What makes me, me, and you, you? If humans are supposed to be rational creatures, then why do we make irrational decisions? These are some of the questions Redish (neuroscience, Univ. of Minnesota; Beyond the Cognitive Map) poses in his new book about the science behind human decision-making. Using relatable, humorous examples from across subjects within psychology, Redish explains that the mind exists within the brain. Similar to Robert Burton's A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind, Redish's work looks at how motivation, emotion, morals, and perception factor into the decision-making process and examines what ultimately determines our choices and, thus, our actions. Focusing on tough issues and controversial topics such as addiction and consciousness, Redish attempts to answer some of the most pertinent questions facing society today. VERDICT Recommended for enthusiasts of neuroscience and the mind's workings, Redish's book flows nicely and is easy to read but does require a basic knowledge of well-known psychological theories. The author excels at considering all aspects of the topic while keeping to his original point: to prove that the mind does in fact exist within the brain.—Jill Morningstar, Michigan State Univ. Libs., East Lansing

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