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Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are [Hardcover]

Sebastian Seung (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 Feb 2012

Connectome, by Sebastian Seung is 'One of the most eagerly awaited scientific books of the year ... intellectually exhilarating, beautifully written, exquisitely precise yet still managing to be inspirational' Irish Times

What really makes us who we are? In this groundbreaking book, pioneering neuroscientist Sebastian Seung shows that our identity does not lie in our genes, but in the connections between our brain cells - our own particular wiring, or 'connectomes'.

Everything about us - emotions, thoughts, memories - is encoded in these tangled patterns of neural connections, and now Seung and a dedicated team are mapping them in order to uncover the basis of personality, explain disorders such as autism and depression, and even enable us to 'upload' our brains. This book reveals the secrets of the brain, showing how our connectome makes each of us uniquely ourselves.

'With the first-person flavour of James Watson's Double Helix, Connectome gives a sense of the excitement on the cutting edge of neuroscience' New Scientist

'Witty and exceptionally clear ... beautifully explained ... the best lay book on brain science I've ever read' Wall Street Journal

'Seung is about to revolutionise brain science' The Times

'The reader is swept along with his enthusiasm' The New York Times

Sebastian Seung is Professor of Computational Neuroscience at MIT and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has made important advances in robotics, neuroscience, neuroeconomics, and statistical physics. His research has been published in leading scientific journals, and also featured in The New York Times, Technology Review, and The Economist.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) (7 Feb 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0547508182
  • ISBN-13: 978-0547508184
  • Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 480,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

With the first-person flavour of James Watson's Double Helix, Connectome gives a sense of the excitement on the cutting edge of neuroscience (New Scientist )

Witty and exceptionally clear ... beautifully explained ... the best lay book on brain science I've ever read (Wall Street Journal )

Seung is about to revolutionise brain science (The Times ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Sebastian Seung is Professor of Computational Neuroscience at MIT and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has made important advances in robotics, neuroscience, neuroeconomics, and statistical physics. His research has been published in leading scientific journals, and also featured in The New York Times, Technology Review, and The Economist. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
34 reviews
3.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Inner Worlds 3 May 2012
By Simon Laub
Format:Hardcover
We are all unique. And we all have unique brains.
According to Sebastian Seung: In our brains, uniqueness resides in the pattern of connections between the brain's neurons. Where the connectome is the entire collection of our brain's neuronal connections, the totality of how we are wired together.

In the first chapters I found Sebastian Seungs often simple, chatty, informal style
a bit simplistic and too much in the direction of popular science.
But, the book grew on me as I read on.
Actually, throughout the book Sebastian Seung gives us many brilliant insights.
Complex issues are made understandable by good examples and Seungs broad knowledge of the field.

If we are our neural connectome, it then follows that we can change ourselves by changing the connectome.
But, first we must know more about the connectome.
And, to find connectomes, we will have to create whole new machines that produce
clear images of neurons and synapses over a large field of view.

Seung is always careful to note that ''we don't know yet whether a connectome actually contains a person's memories, personality or intellect.
Testing these ideas will occupy neuroscientists for a very long time.''
Still, reading the book leaves you with the impression, that more new knowledge
about the connectome will eventually completely change how we think
about ourselves and how we should deal with the world.

In the final chapters Seung manages to sneak in some comments
about running complete brains as computer simulations.
I.e. would it be possible to extract the connectome from a real brain
and then run a simulation of it on a computer?

Here, Seung is not overly optimistic. Even if we had a full connectome described.
Running a good simulation is still difficult, problems like;
a) Insufficient neural modelling b) Extrasynaptic Interactions
c) Insufficient knowledge of the laws of nature.
Etc. might make it difficult to come up with realistic simulations.

Eventually, Seung believes that we will be able to
find connectomes quickly and cheaply. And, a lot of good concrete
treatment and knowledge will follow from this.

But, fully understanding the brain is a much broader goal though.
Which might take more than just knowing connectomes.
Still, reading Seungs book leaves one with the feeling
that knowing more about connectomes will be a good start.

-Simon
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Highly readable and fascinating insight into the brain. 5 Feb 2013
By bomble TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Whatever else might be said about Connectome, Sebastian Seung can certainly produce readable and interesting lay-science. I am not the best judge of whether he was successful in, as he suggests in the acknowledgments, assuming no prior knowledge of the subject as I did complete a year of university Physiology many moons ago. That got me about 120 pages into the 280 page book without encountering much material that I would describe as 'new' but these chapters did a great job of dusting off the cobwebs of older learning (maybe reinforcing neural pathways might be more apt).

Then Seung presented the state of the art of connectome research and brain imaging methods before wrapping up with some flights of scientific fancy. The former section was fascinating; the latter somewhat less convincing given the somewhat flimsy grasp shown of associated problems in complexity and determinism (quantum uncertainty etc.).

And when you've finished there is an extensive notes section expanding on the details and background of the preceding chapters. I only wish these had been properly cross-referenced in the text so that I could have dipped into them more readily as I went along.

Ultimately this is a rewarding and not-overly difficult read that will give you a new-found wonder and respect for the wet-ware processor behind your eyes with its magnificently complex wiring and biochemical mechanism. It will also both refresh you with tales of experimental creativity and, perhaps, reveal just how little is really understood about the brain - even by such wonderful minds as described in these pages.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating! 22 Nov 2012
By CJ Savernake TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
This is a fascinating subject and wonderfully written book. The author jumps around effortlessly, linking evidence from case studies, anecdotes from history and current research - probably much in the way that the brain is linked in intricate and unexpected ways!

The best thing from my point of view is that the author doesn't offer a purely reductionist approach. This is excellent science, presented in an accessible way, but you also get the impression that he has kept an open mind, and is not looking to mould the evidence to fit pet theories.

Fantastic book and highly recommended reading - would also make a great a science documentary for TV!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars mediocre
Seung has written a book which is loaded with conjectures but light on scientific details and empirical evidence. The last three chapters in particular read like science fiction. Read more
Published 1 month ago by HCL
3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but...
I was a bit disappointed by this book. In my view it could have done with some more assertive editing. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pardo
4.0 out of 5 stars The latest developments in Brain research
An interesting book looking at the latest developments in brain research.

It is kind of a review of previous brain science that has gone before, and looking at the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Half Man, Half Book
4.0 out of 5 stars A book of two halves.
Rather fittingly, given the books subject of the brain, this is a book of two halves - and just like the left and right side of the brain it each half is very different: The first... Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Truth
3.0 out of 5 stars Different levels of reality
When the architecture and workings of the brain are described by a true story teller the subject can be captivating. Read more
Published 4 months ago by S. Thomas
4.0 out of 5 stars A grand tour of brain research
The author tells us that this book is written for the public, and I think he has done that, but without a background in biology beyond GCE `O' level I did need to read a few bits... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Leon Crawley
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written, but...
Well written, and the first half is informative and takes the reader through the latest discoveries in the field of neuroscience - but the latter part is less well-grounded, and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by George Rodger
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read
I've always found neurology to be a difficult subject. This book starts with the history of understanding the brain, then how technical developments moved that forward, before... Read more
Published 5 months ago by A John
3.0 out of 5 stars How one becomes what one is?
One's self is effectively defined by the "connectome", the total map of connections between neurons in the brain, opines Professor of Computational Neuroscience Sebastian Seung. Read more
Published 6 months ago by E. L. Wisty
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating look at what's inside your head
This book is a look at your 'connectome' - the sum of the connections of neurons and axons in your brain. Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. Morris
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