Description
Book SynopsisIn 19641965, Hans Helmut Kornhuber and Lüder Deecke achieved a scientific breakthrough with the discovery of the Bereitschaftspotential (BP), or readiness potential. In The Will and its Brain, Kornhuber and Deecke present evidence that proves we can record activity from the human brain occurring prior to our volitional movements or actions. Such preparatory activity is generated by specific brain regions, particularly by the supplementary motor area (SMA) of the frontal lobe, which lies on the inner surface of the brain between the hemispheres. The primary (precentral) motor cortex (MI) later becomes activated in preparing for action. Consequently, the authors discriminate between two components of the preparatory activity of the Bereitschaftspotential: an early SMA-generated BP1 and a late MI-derived BP2. Between BP1 and BP2, the intentional activity runs over the so-called motor loop via the basal ganglia. Kornhuber and Deecke discuss these and other brain processing systems while fo
Trade Review. . . required reading for anybody interested in what neuroscience has to say about our capacity to make responsible decisions and be captains of our own destiny. -- Daniel C. Dennett, Tufts University
Table of ContentsList of Figures Foreword Preface Preface to the German Edition Introduction — What is the Will? Chapter One: The Will — History and Transcultural Aspects Chapter Two: The Will — Its Association with Freedom Chapter Three: The Will and Psychiatry/Psychology Chapter Four: The Will and Neurophysiology/Brain Research Chapter Five: The Will and New Psychology Schools Chapter Six: The Will and the Real Function of the Frontal Lobe — Commander, Delegator, Supervisor and Rater Chapter Seven: The Will and the Evolution of Man — Creativeness and Cooperation — Common Will Chapter Eight: The Will and Dream Sleep, Feelings, Drives, Meaning-Happiness, Beauty, Love, Empathy and Theory of Mind Chapter Nine: The Will and the Limbic System, the Hypothalamus, the Arousal System, Circadian Rhythm, the Endocrine System, Fatigue and Impetus Chapter Ten: The Will is Not Strictly Coupled with Consciousness — There are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both are Important Chapter Eleven: The Will — Is it Grounded upon Freedom or upon Total Determinism? Chapter Twelve: The Will — Its Freedom is Not a Priori Granted: We Have to do Something for It — Actively Increasing our Degrees of Freedom Summary Bibliography Index Name Index
