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"Senses and sensation Popular works."
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Where we meet the world : the story of the senses
\"Our senses are what make life worth living. They allow us to appreciate a sip of an ice-cold drink, the sound of laughter, the touch of a lover. But only recently have incredible advances in sensory biology given us the ability to understand how and why our senses evolved as they have. In Where We Meet the World, biologist Ashley Ward takes readers on a breathtaking tour of how our senses function. Ward looks at not only the five major senses--vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch--but also a host of other senses, such as balance and interoception, the sense of the body's internal state. Drawing on new research, he explores how our senses interact with and regulate each other, and he uncovers what we can learn from how other animals--and even bacteria--encounter the world. Full of warmth and humor, Where We Meet the World shows how new insights in biology transform our understanding of the relationship between ourselves and our environment, revealing the vibrancy--and strangeness--of both\"-- Amazon.
Book
Brain and the Gaze
A radically integrative account of visual perception, grounded in neuroscience but drawing on insights from philosophy and psychology.
How do we gain access to things as they are? Although we routinely take our self-made pictures to be veridical representations of reality, in actuality we choose (albeit unwittingly) or construct what we see. By movements of the eyes, the direction of our gaze, we create meaning. In Brain and the Gaze, Jan Lauwereyns offers a novel reformulation of perception and its neural underpinnings, focusing on the active nature of perception.
In his investigation of active perception and its brain mechanisms, Lauwereyns offers the gaze as the principal paradigm for perception. In a radically integrative account, grounded in neuroscience but drawing on insights from philosophy and psychology, he discusses the dynamic and constrained nature of perception; the complex information processing at the level of the retina; the active nature of vision; the intensive nature of representations; the gaze of others as visual stimulus; and the intentionality of vision and consciousness. An engaging point of entry to the cognitive neuroscience of perception, written for neuroscientists but illuminated by insights from thinkers ranging from William James to Slavoj Žižek, Brain and the Gaze will give new impetus to research and theory in the field.
eBook
Sensational : a new story of our senses
Our senses are at the heart of how we navigate the world. Whittling this high-powered and deliciously varied palette down to just five does a great disservice to the sensory experience, Sensational argues. In fact, we could have as many as fifty-three - and they could explain such mysteries as why we kiss, in what way music is a form of emotional currency, and how a dairy-rich diet strained initial Euro-Japanese relations. Ashley Ward embarks on a sensory expedition to answer all these questions and more. Why do women have a better sense of smell than men? Has the iPhone changed how we touch? Does the Danube really look blue when you're in love? From the power of cuddling to what canine bowel movements can tell us about geomagnetic fields, Sensational is a surprising look at how our brains shape the way we interpret the world.
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Vision
Over the past fifty years, enormous progress has been made in understanding visual mechanisms and treating eye disorders. And yet the scientist is not always aware of the latest clinical advances and the clinician is often not up to date on the basic scientific discoveries. Writing in nontechnical language, John and Joseph Dowling, a neuroscientist and an ophthalmologist, examine vision from both perspectives, providing concise descriptions of basic visual mechanisms and related clinical abnormalities. Thus, an account of the photoreceptors is followed by a consideration of retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration; an explanation of the retina's function is followed by details of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. The authors begin with the cornea and lens, which project an image on the light-sensitive elements inside the eye, the photoreceptors, and how that process can be compromised by such disorders as cataracts and corneal disease. They go on to describe, among other things, how the photoreceptors capture light; retinal and visual cortical anatomy and physiology; and higher level visual processing that leads to perception. Cortical disorders such as amblyopia are discussed as well as specific deficits such as the inability to recognize faces, colors, or moving objects. Finally, they survey the evolution of our knowledge of vision, and speculate about future advances.
eBook
Sentient : what animals reveal about our senses
\"Sentient assembles a menagerie of zoological creatures - from land, air, sea and all four corners of the globe - to understand what it means to be human. Through their eyes, ears, skins, tongues and noses, the furred, finned and feathered reveal how we sense and make sense of the world, as well as the untold scientific revolution stirring in the field of human perception. The harlequin mantis shrimp can throw a punch that can fracture aquarium walls but, more importantly, it has the ability to see a vast range of colours. The ears of the great grey owl have such unparalleled range and sensitivity that they can hear twenty decibels lower than the human ear. The star-nosed mole barely fills a human hand, seldom ventures above ground and poses little threat unless you are an earthworm, but its miraculous nose allows it to catch those worms at astonishing speed - as little as one hundred and twenty milliseconds. Here, too, we meet the four-eyed spookfish and its dark vision; the vampire bat and its remarkable powers of touch; the bloodhound and its hundreds of millions of scent receptors, as well as the bar-tailed godwit, the common octopus, giant peacocks, cheetahs and golden orb-weaving spiders. Each of these extraordinary creatures illustrates the sensory powers that lie dormant within us. In this captivating book, Jackie Higgins explores this evolutionary heritage and, in doing so, enables us to subconsciously engage with the world in ways we never knew possible\"--Publisher's description.
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Slow living
Speed is the essence of the modern era, but our faster, more frenetic lives often trouble us and leave us wondering how we are meant to live in today's world. Slow Living explores the philosophy and politics of 'slowness' as it investigates the growth of Slow Food into a worldwide, 'eco-gastronomic' movement. Originating in Italy, Slow Food is not only committed to the preservation of traditional cuisines and sustainable agriculture but also the pleasures of the table and a slower approach to life in general. Craig and Parkins argue that slow living is a complex response to processes of globalization. It connects ethics and pleasure, the global and the local, as part of a new emphasis on everyday life in contemporary culture and politics. The 'global everyday' is not a simple tale of speed and geographical dislocation. Instead, we all negotiate different times and spaces that make our quality of life and an 'ethics of living' more pressing concerns. This innovative book shows how slow living is about the challenges of living a more mindful and pleasurable life.
eBook
Managing Your Child's Chronic Pain
Pain is a frequent experience for children of all ages. Unfortunately, one in four children and adolescents suffers from some form of pain that doesn’t resolve quickly and becomes a chronic or persistent problem. There are very few specialized services available to provide evaluation and treatment to children with chronic pain. This means that many families are not able to get the help they need. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment that has been used for over 30 years for children with chronic pain. Managing Your Child’s Chronic Pain provides instruction in psychological treatment strategies for parents to use at home to help their child and family to better cope with chronic pain. The book provides instruction in several cognitive and behavioral skills, including relaxation strategies, reward systems, supporting physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits, strategies to improve sleep, supporting school and social relationships, and problem-solving and positive thinking skills. Parents are provided with suggestions for homework assignments and practice opportunities to encourage rapid learning of each skill. A unique feature of the book is that each chapter uses stories, quotes, and vignettes of children with chronic pain and their families based on real-life examples. The goal of this book is to provide parents with strategies that will help their children manage pain and participate more fully in their daily lives.
eBook
Brilliant green : the surprising history and science of plant intelligence
Are plants intelligent? Can they solve problems, communicate, and navigate their surroundings? Or are they passive, incapable of independent action or social behavior? Philosophers and scientists have pondered these questions since ancient Greece, most often concluding that plants are unthinking and inert: they are too silent, too sedentary -- just too different from us. Yet discoveries over the past fifty years have challenged these ideas, shedding new light on the extraordinary capabilities and complex interior lives of plants.
In Brilliant Green, Stefano Mancuso, a leading scientist and founder of the field of plant neurobiology, presents a new paradigm in our understanding of the vegetal world. Combining a historical perspective with the latest in plant science, Mancuso argues that, due to cultural prejudices and human arrogance, we continue to underestimate plants. In fact, they process information, sleep, remember, and signal to one another -- showing that, far from passive machines, plants are intelligent and aware. Through a survey of plant capabilities from sight and touch to communication, Mancuso challenges our notion of intelligence, presenting a vision of plant life that is more sophisticated than most imagine.
Plants have much to teach us, from network building to innovations in robotics and man-made materials -- but only if we understand more about how they live. Part botany lesson, part manifesto, Brilliant Green is an engaging and passionate examination of the inner workings of the plant kingdom.
Financial support for the translation of this book has been provided by SEPS: Segretariato Europeo Per Le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche.
eBook
Understanding pain
The authors provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject, walking readers through the various types of pain, the causes and symptoms, as well as the methods of treatment currently available, from prescription medication to acupuncture and massage therapy.
eBook
Understanding pain
An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and an additional 25 million experience acute pain as a result of surgery or injury.Many people assume they must live with pain, but this is simply untrue.
eBook