Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain [Paperback]

'The marvel of reading Damasio's book is to be convinced one can follow the brain at work as it makes the private reality that is the deepest self.' --V. S. Naipaul, Nobel Laureate and author of A BEND IN THE RIVER and THE ENIGMA OF ARRIVAL

'Damasio makes a grand transition from higher-brain views of emotions to deeply evolutionary, lower-brain contributions to emotional, sensory and homeostatic experiences. He affirms that the roots of consciousness are affective and shared by our fellow animals. Damasio's creative vision leads relentlessly toward a natural understanding of the very font of being.' --Jaak Panksepp, author of AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE and Baily Endowed Professor of Animal Well-Being Science, Washington State University

'I was totally captivated by SELF COMES TO MIND. In this work Antonio Damasio presents his seminal discoveries in the field of neuroscience in the broader contexts of evolutionary biology and cultural development. This trailblazing book gives us a new way of thinking about ourselves, our history, and the importance of culture in shaping our common future.' --Yo-Yo Ma, musician

'The epicenter of SELF COMES TO MIND concerns the neurological basis for cognition and the issue of the superposition of a "self' onto the construct which we address as reality. Damasio is both eloquent and scholarly. His command of the themes he approaches is impressive, as is the vigor with which he tackles such recondite issues as the elusive "self," inside the head. A wonderful read, and a recommended one!'
--Rodolfo R. Llinás, Chair and Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience, New York University

'In this astonishing work, Antonio Damasio puts his years of investigation into the processes of the brain to open the impenetrable mysteries of self and mind, where all the contradictions of human experience unite in the ultimate unknown, consciousness.'
--Peter Brook, theater and film director and author of THE EMPTY SPACE and THREADS OF TIME

'Breathtakingly original ... Damasio pushes the idea of homoeostasis further and harder than any previous author has dared, arguing that improved homoeostatic control has driven the evolution of the brain and then the emergence of consciousness.' --Financial Times

'SELF COMES TO MIND is [Damasio's] most ambitious work yet. It is a lucid and important work, and scrambles all the conventional categories of the brain. It turns out that the "higher" parts of the cortex are inseparable from the "lower" parts, and that "you" - the "you" reading these words - emerge in large part from the brain stem, the nub of tissue just above the spinal cord. We arise, in other words, from the place were brain and body meet, where flesh and feeling are emulsified together.' --Wired

'Damasio's continental European training sensitizes him to the reductionist traps that ensnare so many of his colleagues. His is the only one of the many consciousness books weighing down my shelves that feels it necessary to mention Freud's, as opposed to an anaesthetist's, use of the term unconscious.' --The Guardian (Book of the Week)

'Damasio gives a plausible account of the way our sense of self might emerge from neural processes. The book ranges readably from brain anatomy to evolutionary biology.' --Financial Times, Best Books of the Year

'Damasio makes a grand transition from higher-brain views of emotions to deeply evolutionary, lower-brain contributions to emotional, sensory and homeostatic experiences. He affirms that the roots of consciousness are affective and shared by our fellow animals. Damasio's creative vision leads relentlessly toward a natural understanding of the very font of being.' --Jaak Panksepp, Washington State University

'In SELF COMES TO MIND, Antonio Damasio, one of the world's great neuroscientists, addresses the questions fundamental to every one of us. Who are we? What does it mean to have a sense of self? ... This is an exciting book by a wonderful thinker.' --Siri Hustvedt, author of What I loved and The Shaking Woman

'Damasio's DESCARTES' ERROR was widely considered to revolutionize the understanding of the critical role emotion plays in human rationality and decision-making. His latest, SELF COMES TO MIND, explores the way humans ̶ and some animals ̶ develop a sense of self, and examines what this tells us about the nature of consciousness.' --Time Magazine

'A captivating read that demonstrates that we remain a mystery for ourselves.'
--Psychologies (Book of the Month Selection) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

A profound and groundbreaking new book telling the story of consciousness and the human mind, from one of the world's leading neuroscientists.