Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
See all 2 customer images
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book
Start reading Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

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)
RRP: £20.00
Price: £12.80 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £7.20 (36%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 4 left in stock (more on the way).
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Friday, 24 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £11.99   -- --
Hardcover £12.80   -- --
Paperback £7.99   -- --
Audio, CD, Audiobook --   -- --
Books Trade-In
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more.

Book Description

Publication Date: 7 Jun 2012

In this bold and groundbreaking book, renowned neuroscientist Sebastian Seung reveals the secrets of the human brain.

Sebastian Seung is at the forefront of a revolution in neuroscience. He believes that our identity lies not in our genes, but in the connections between our brain cells - our own particular wiring, or 'connectomes'. Connectome tells the incredible story of how Seung and a dedicated group of researchers are mapping these connections, neuron by neuron, synapse by synapse. They hope to uncover the basis of personality, identity, intelligence and memory, and explain mental disorders such as autism, depression and schizophrenia. Seung also reveals how this new map of a human connectome might even enable us to 'upload' our brains into a computer, making us effectively immortal.

Connectome is a mind-bending adventure story, told with great passion and authority. It presents a daring scientific and technological vision for at last understanding what makes us who we are, both as individuals and as a species.

Frequently Bought Together

Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are + The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body
Price For Both: £25.60

Buy the selected items together

Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane (7 Jun 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1846144140
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846144141
  • Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 3.4 x 24 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 251,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Sebastian Seung Page
Sebastian Seung
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

An amiable guide, witty and exceptionally clear in describing complex matters for the general reader...fascinating...beautifully explained and analyzed-as I might have expected from a writer who has produced the best lay book on brain science I've ever read (Daniel J Levitin Wall Street Journal )

This is complicated stuff, and it is a testament to Dr. Seung's remarkable clarity of exposition that the reader is swept along with his enthusiasm, as he moves from the basics of neuroscience out to the farthest regions of the hypothetical, sketching out a spectacularly illustrated giant map of the universe of man (Abigail Zuger New York Times )

An elegant primer on what's known about how the brain is organized and how it grows, wires its neurons, perceives its environment, modifies or repairs itself, and stores information. Seung is a clear, lively writer who chooses vivid examples (Susan Okie Washington Post )

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.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

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
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
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.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
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!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
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 6 months ago by J. Morris
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

There's a problem loading this menu at the moment.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

    Your Shopping Basket is empty.

    Give it purpose -- fill it with books, DVDs, clothes, electronics and more.

    If you already have an account, sign in.

    There's a problem previewing your shopping basket at the moment.

    Check your Internet connection and go to your cart, or try again.

    View Shopping Basket (0 items)

      Customer Discussions

      This product's forum
      Discussion Replies Latest Post
      No discussions yet

      Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
      Start a new discussion
      Topic:
      First post:
      Prompts for sign-in
       


      Active discussions in related forums
      Search Customer Discussions
      Search all Amazon discussions
         
      Related forums

      Listmania!

      Create a Listmania! list

      Look for similar items by category

      Feedback


      Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges