WAYS OF COMPREHENDING

To comprehend the world around us, we first have to decipher how our brains work. This book outlines a new approach to knowledge and comprehension based on the elucidation of several basic neuronal mechanisms. It explores the crucial fact that unconscious processes and conscious experiences form a continuum and, importantly, introduces the concept of metarepresentations. This fundamental notion captures the essence of being human, namely, what separates us from our evolutionary predecessors. Important examples of metarepresentations are language, mathematics, technology and the arts. The interdisciplinary, integrative approach of this book demonstrates how different disciplines and notions which appear disconnected are actually closely related. Furthermore, this approach elucidates how we think about topics such as mathematics, physics, painting, music and philosophy. Most significantly, it helps us understand the origin of our thoughts, feelings and actions, bringing deep insight and fulfilment or, more precisely, eudemonia.

Contents:

• About the Author
• Acknowledgements
• Prologue
• Preliminaries
• Basic Notions:
  • Introduction to Neurophysiology
  • Introduction to Neuroanatomy
  • Perception as the Solution of an Inverse Problem
  • From Homeostasis and Consciousness to Metarepresentations: A Uniquely Human Characteristic
• The Transformative Role of Rerepresentations and Cultural versus Biological Evolution:
  • The Origin of Metarepresentations and Language
  • The Metarepresentations of Arts, Mathematics, Computations, and Technology
  • Biological versus Cultural Evolutions
• The Interplay Between Unconscious and Conscious Processes:
  • Innate Knowledge and Learning
  • Memory and Learning
  • The Neuronal Substrates of Unconscious Processes and Conscious Experiences
  • Details of Visual Perception
  • Light, Vision, and Art
• Functional Imaging, Brain Stimulation, and Medicine:
  • The Functional Imaging Techniques of PET and SPECT and the Diagnosis of Dementia
  • The Functional Imaging Technique of FMRI and an Astonishing Medical Application
  • Different Types of Brain Stimulations, Parkinson's Disease, Major Depression, and Bipolar Disorder
  • The Interdisciplinary Nature of Medicine
• The Quest for the Hidden Reality:
  • Abstraction and Generalizing are the Essential Features of Mathematics
  • How Can the Problem of Consciousness be Solved?
• Epilogue
• Index

Readership: This book is suitable for any university student and university graduate independent of area of matriculation. The book will be equally useful to individuals in arts and the humanities, and ideal for a course within the context of Great Ideas.

'In order to understand the universe that we are part of, we need to understand how we can observe, and interpret what we observe. And for that to happen, we need to have some sense of how we build representations of the world, make them conscious, and manipulate them in our thinking and creativity. In brief, we need to comprehend how we comprehend. This is the monumental enterprise that Athanassios Fokas has set for himself and his new book shows that he is succeeding.' - Antonio DamasioDirector of the Brain and Creativity Institute; David Dornsife Chair of Neuroscience, and Professor of Psychology and Philosophy, University of Southern California, USA

'A marvelous book. It is remarkable that questions which distinguished neuroscientists, including Nobel Laureates, could not address are answered by Fokas. If this book is studied, it will have a significant impact on our culture.' - Nikos LogothetisCo-Director of the International Centre for Primate Brain Research, Shanghai, China

'In this monumental work, Fokas takes the reader through a mesmerizing journey that starts with neurophysiology, extends to the analysis of human cognitive abilities, and beautifully leads to an explanation of consciousness. Embodying interdisciplinarity, Fokas approaches knowledge and understanding under a unified, all-embracing framework that reveals the beauty of the human condition and the world around us, redefining for modern times the concept of eudemonia of the ancient Greeks. This masterpiece is a most engaging read for engineers, scientists, medical doctors, artists, and humanists alike.' - Lydia E KavrakiDirector of the Ken Kennedy Institute and Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science and Bioengineering, Rice University, USA

'In this exceptional book, Fokas takes a deep dive into the underlying principles determining the function of the brain and uses them to explain complex human capabilities such as ideas and art. Then, remarkably, he goes further, providing an understanding of consciousness. His work covers a vast wealth of knowledge, including advanced concepts such as retinal implants. As we enter an era of more and more brain machine interfaces, whether through wearable or implantable devices, this book will undoubtedly be a must-read resource as it provides deep insight into the fields of medicine, engineering, and mathematics.' - Mark HumayunRecipient of the National Medal of Technology and InnovationProfessor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USA

'Fokas' truly unique, educational and thought-provoking book provides a unified treatment to sciences, medicine and the arts. This unprecedented approach is indispensable in the modern era of research convergence, where it has become clear that we cannot solve major medical, societal and human problems without combining and integrating knowledge from various fields. This book demonstrates clearly that Fokas, as has been correctly noted, is a scholar in the style of Renaissance.' - Nicholas A PeppasProfessor and Director of the Institute for Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

'I am fully convinced that a work of this unprecedented depth and breadth, which manages to speak in a way that is accessible and exciting, is entirely necessary for students of all subjects, and particularly for students of the Arts and Humanities.' - Charles BurdettProfessor and Director of the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK

'An impressively beautiful book that exposes the reader to the fundamentals of brain functions as the key to understanding the interactions between neuroscience, physics, mathematics, engineering, biology, medicine and arts. For the first time, it is established that a unified knowledge of these disciplines gives rise to a deep appreciation of beauty and leads to eudaimonia. A highly recommended, uniquely brilliant book.' - Marinos C Dalakas Professor of Neurology and Director of the Neuromuscular Division Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, USA

'This is a remarkable book and a true tour de force of creative thinking. It examines, with a sense of wonder, how basic physiological and anatomical principles underlying the human brain can be used to build a world of ideas, including art and consciousness. It may be impossible for us to understand and explain the connection between these two but Fokas has shown us, through his background in mathematics, engineering and medicine, the questions we need to ask ourselves if we are to get close to that elusive goal. In the process, he helps us gain a new appreciation for the beauty inside and around us.' - Gislin DagnelieProfessor of Ophthalmology and Associate Director of the Lions Vision Research and Rehabilitation Centre at the Wilmer Eye Institute Johns Hopkins University, USA

Key Features:

• Ways of Comprehending suggests a way for resolving the paradox between the current abundance of information and the tendency for specialization, along with the restrictions on a global understanding associated with it. It demonstrates that a unified, integrative approach to knowledge and culture is indeed possible, introducing an all-encompassing approach to sciences and humanities
• It allows the readers to become familiar with many facts, that because of their significance, should be widely known. For example, it is shown that in visual perception, our brain perceives a face or an object approximately a third of second before we become aware of this percept
• It provides readers a new methodology that can facilitate their analysis of a variety of phenomena, and presents elements of mathematics, physics, engineering, neuroscience, biology, and medicine, in a clear, understandable way. This achieves a double goal: first, these elements provide concrete illustrations of the basic methodological approaches to knowledge advocated in this volume. At the same time, they offer a global vista of these extremely important disciplines
• The scope of the book, which presents a creative synthesis of key elements of more than 200 books, is truly unprecedented. In this connection, it must be emphasized that breadth has been achieved without sacrificing depth