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Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain: How Each Brain Makes a Mind 1st Edition

by Stephen Grossberg (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 144 ratings
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How does your mind work? How does your brain give rise to your mind? These are questions that all of us have wondered about at some point in our lives, if only because everything that we know is experienced in our minds. They are also very hard questions to answer. After all, how can a mind understand itself? How can you understand something as complex as the tool that is being used to understand it?

This book provides an introductory and self-contained description of some of the exciting answers to these questions that modern theories of mind and brain have recently proposed. Stephen Grossberg is broadly acknowledged to be the most important pioneer and current research leader who has, for the past 50 years, modelled how brains give rise to minds, notably how neural circuits in multiple brain regions interact together to generate psychological functions. This research has led to a unified understanding of how, where, and why our brains can consciously see, hear, feel, and know about the world, and effectively plan and act within it.

The work embodies revolutionary Principia of Mind that clarify how autonomous adaptive intelligence is achieved. It provides mechanistic explanations of multiple mental disorders, including symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, autism, amnesia, and sleep disorders; biological bases of morality and religion, including why our brains are biased towards the good so that values are not purely relative; perplexing aspects of the human condition, including why many decisions are irrational and self-defeating despite evolution's selection of adaptive behaviors; and solutions to large-scale problems in machine learning, technology, and Artificial Intelligence that provide a blueprint for autonomously intelligent algorithms and robots.

Because brains embody a universal developmental code, unifying insights also emerge about shared laws that are found in all living cellular tissues, from the most primitive to the most advanced, notably how the laws governing networks of interacting cells support developmental and learning processes in all species.

The fundamental brain design principles of complementarity, uncertainty, and resonance that Grossberg has discovered also reflect laws of the physical world with which our brains ceaselessly interact, and which enable our brains to incrementally learn to understand those laws, thereby enabling humans to understand the world scientifically.

Accessibly written, and lavishly illustrated, Conscious Mind/Resonant Brain is the magnum opus of one of the most influential scientists of the past 50 years, and will appeal to a broad readership across the sciences and humanities.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0190070552
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0190070557
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2021
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    11.1 x 1.3 x 8.4 inches
  8. Print length
    768 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Can humans create technology that will mimic, or even surpass, biological intelligence? Questions such as these underlie the career of author Stephen Grossberg, a founder of the field of neural networks and creator of this magnum opus covering 60 years of research in neuroscience, psychology, and mathematics." -- C. L. Iwema, CHOICE

"The polymath Freeman Dyson once likened mathematicians to birds and frogs:

'Birds fly high in the air and survey broad vistas of mathematics out to the far horizon. They delight in concepts that unify our thinking and bring together diverse problems from different parts of the landscape. Frogs live in the mud below and see only the flowers that grow nearby. They delight in the details of particular objects, and they solve problems one at a time.'

Grossberg's genius lies in embodying both, and in recognizing that "obvious hypotheses, with which no one would disagree, together imply conclusions about deep properties of brain organization." Can a deep understanding of boundaries and surfaces of simple, toy objects lead to the most profound insights into the nature of learning and attention? Can an understanding of how silence flows across time and alters the perception of words uttered before it, help explain consciousness itself? Grossberg shows how." -- Sai Gaddam, Boston University

"Conscious MIND and Resonant BRAIN is a tour de force on How the Brain Works. It's a masterpiece on brain science and neuro-computing that could only be created by Grossberg." -- Leon Chua, University of California at Berkeley

"After reading many papers by the author, I always wished that he would present them in a coherent whole. And here it is. A magnificent volume of great science from mind to brain and back, a condensed ars poetica of a great scientist." -- György Buzsáki, New York University

"Stephen Grossberg is one of the most original and influential theorists in contemporary cognitive science and computational neuroscience. In Conscious MIND Resonant BRAIN, he takes the reader on an eye-opening tour in which he addresses fundamental problems of mind and brain from his unique theoretical perspective. This is an important book that should be of interest to anyone who wonders how a brain can give rise to a mind." -- Daniel L. Schacter, Harvard University

"In this book Stephen Grossberg shares the wisdom and encyclopedic knowledge that he acquired over 50 years of research devoted to unravel the mysteries of the human brain. Stephen pioneered the field of theoretical neuroscience... It is the essence of overarching principles to be abstract and to sometimes defy intuition, but Stephen succeeds to convey the essential in a language that is readily accessible to the non- expert. He embeds the discussion of neuronal mechanisms in the rich framework of cognitive psychology and elegantly bridges the gap between scientific evidence and subjective experience. He takes the readers by the hand and lets them discover the often surprising philosophical, ethical and societal implications of neurobiological discoveries. For those who enjoy intellectual adventures and wish to explore the boundaries of the known this scholarly written book is a real treasure." -- Wolf Singer, Max Plank Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt

"How often do we have the chance to hold a true masterpiece? Grossberg's monumental accomplishments developed over multiple decades now written at an accessible level to a broader audience. What a true privilege!" -- Luis Pessoa, University of Maryland

"Steve Grossberg is one of the most insightful and prolific writers on biological intelligence. This book is a masterful presentation of fundamental methods of modeling minds, brains and their interactions with the world, many of which are due to the author and his collaborators. The models are presented as mathematical systems, including computing and neural networks. The variables, parameters and functions represent biological and environmental concepts; mathematical conclusions are interpreted as predictions of biological behavior. In many cases these have been verified experimentally. There are illuminating and surprising connections to other disciplines, including art, music and economics. Highly recommended to a general audience." -- Morris W. Hirsch, University of California at Berkeley

"This comprehensive overview of Grossberg's contributions to our understanding of the mind and brain shows exactly how prescient he, and his colleagues, have been. Whatever one's specific interest, from visual illusions to mental illness, this book provides a principled treatment of it. The principles flow from Grossberg's early framing of many of the questions that have come to define computational neuroscience – including his early understanding of the centrality of expectations. Kudos to him for pulling it all together here." -- Lynn Nadel, University of Arizona

"What an ambitious, lucid, eye-opening and engaging book! By using the computational theories he developed, Grossberg attempts nothing less than to integrate our knowledge of how our mind works with our knowledge of how the brain works. The topics he covers range from perception to action, from emotion to memory, and from decision making to love, with consciousness and the mind-body problem figuring prominently throughout. The story he weaves, with many incisive, delightful illustrations, is compelling and accessible. The reader is rewarded with a novel appreciation of the human psyche and artificial intelligence, and is left with admiration for Grossberg's achievement." -- Morris Moscovitch, University of Toronto

"This book is not for the faint of heart. Stephen Grossberg has been a giant in the field of computational neuroscience for 60 years. In this book he presents his carefully developed, integrative neurobiological theory on how the nervous system generates our conscious lives. It is bold yet self-reflective and therein challenging to all students trying to figure out how the brain does its tricks. A must read." -- Michael Gazzaniga, University of California at Santa Barbara

"This book is first and foremost an account of a personal odyssey of one of the great and most prolific scientific minds of our time trying to understand itself. What we have here at last is a genuine attempt by the author to make his ideas accessible to most readers as "a simple story, without mathematics" (or at least with minimal math). The foundation of this story is the concept of "resonance" in neural systems. When resonance fails, this triggers adaptation. This book is largely a treatise on how the resonance concept can help us understand almost all aspects of sensation, perception, and higher cognition. Even without all the math, this book of 600 plus pages will take considerable dedication to assimilate, but I believe that any student of neuroscience interested in the brain as the basis of mind will find it well worth the effort." -- Bruce McNaughton, University of California at Irvine

"How a brain makes its mind is one of the most perplexing questions in science. In this book, you will find the most comprehensive account to date by a towering pioneer of brain theory of our time." -- Deliang Wang, Ohio State University

"Don't read Grossberg in the original―unless you are an adept. Start with this exceptional overview of the lifework of a brilliant cognitive neuroscientist; then, organized and inspired, turn to the journals. Grossberg identifies key phenomena that open windows into the functioning of the brain; identifies the key problems that the brain needs to solve relevant to them; constructs elegant modules that might both solve those problems and give rise to the phenomena noted, and finally assembles them into systems and makes new predictions. This is textbook scientific inquiry, executed by a virtuoso. The book would be a fine component of a seminar, with students selecting the problems and modules for a deeper dive, then explicating them to the class." -- Peter Killeen, Arizona State University

"An excellent and wide-ranging view of how the brain perceives the world for us by a pioneering brain theoretician." -- Wolfram Schultz, University of Cambridge

"Whenever you claim to be "the first to do" this or that in artificial intelligence, it is customary - and correct - to add "with the exception of Stephen Grossberg". Quite simply, Stephen is a living giant and foundational architect of the field." -- Karl J. Friston, University College London

"This is a breath-taking book authored by a giant pioneer of the brain and mind." -- Shun-Ichi Amari, RIKEN Brain Science Institute

"Professor Grossberg is a rara avis. In an age of increasing specialization, he has a remarkable, unparalleled, gift of seeing connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. And he writes about these with passion, but without compromising accuracy." -- V. S. Ramachandran, University of California San Diego

"Stephen Grossberg is a true genius, who has discovered and developed many of the most important concepts and theories about how our brains make our minds. His fundamental contributions to science for over 50 years are richly worthy of a Nobel Prize." -- Leonid Perlovsky, Harvard University

"Stephen Grossberg is a "big picture" thinker who has had a remarkably deep influence on many aspects of several fields. It's difficult to overstate the range of his vision and the depth of his thinking, and I expect this book to be required reading in many courses for years to come." -- Stephen Kosslyn, Foundry College

"Although a behavioral modeler and not a neuroscientist, I have followed Stephen Grossberg's research closely for many years, because I regard him as one of the very most creative and insightful neuroscience theorists that the field has seen. His book should be a must read for those wanting to understand how the brain produces mind." -- Richard Shiffrin, Indiana University

"The current volume charts the remarkable developments that have led Dr. Grossberg to a principled, unified theory of the link between brain and mind. Dr. Grossberg's insights are unparalleled in their breadth and detail, leading us to a scientific understanding of the most remarkable aspect of the mind, consciousness." -- Michael Mozer, Google Brain, Mountain View, CA

"Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain is the magnum opus of one of the giants of neural networks. The soaring ambition of this book reflects the career achievements of Grossberg's insatiable appetite for understanding how brains work. It is a must-read for those interested in all aspects of how the mind and brain function in health and disease." -- Donald C. Wunsch II, University of Science and Technology

"Grossberg has single-handedly elevated the psychophysics and psychology pioneered by Herman von Helmholtz and William James into a comprehensive mathematical theory of brain and behavior with profound implications and strong empirical support." -- David Hestenes, Arizona State University

Book Description

How does your mind work? How does your brain give rise to your mind? These are questions that all of us have wondered about at some point in our lives. This book explores the exciting answers to these questions that modern theories of mind and brain have proposed, from one of the most influential scientists of the past 50 years.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 768 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0190070552
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0190070557
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11.1 x 1.3 x 8.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 144 ratings

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Stephen Grossberg

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
144 global ratings
Remarkable book that will heighten the way you think
5 Stars
Remarkable book that will heighten the way you think
The author is a foundational architect to the field of computational neuroscience. Grossberg wrote nearly 800 pages and included more than 600 color figures -- this book is a complete bargain for the amount of value it brings. Since not everyone will have time to read 800 pages, the author wrote in a way that the chapters are independent of each other. Thus, you can conveniently skip to any chapter that interests you; no need to read this in order.I am a neuroscience student in college and find this book extremely applicable. How does the brain predict what's going to happen? How does motivation regulate learning and memory consolidation? What is consciousness and how do we make decisions? Why does the brain use nonlinear multiple scale feedback networks? And how is the brain a universal self-organizing measurement system? I appreciate the marriage of mathematical, computational and biological models used to target philosophical questions. The content is complex and dense, but it is one of the most fascinating and useful books I own. I recommend this to anyone that enjoys chewing on thought-provoking content.Sneak peek: Mona Lisa?!
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Top reviews from the United States

Jace A Wolfe
5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is a Masterpiece that I Highly Recommend!
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023
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I strongly recommend the book, Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain, by Dr. Stephen Grossberg, to anyone who is interested in learning more about how the human brain learns, perceives and recognizes sensory stimuli, and supports a state of consciousness. Dr. Grossberg has studied brain function for almost 70 years. This book describes his Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART), which doubles as a model to describe how the brain attends to, processes, and recognizes objects and events in its environment and also as a model that may be used for the design of circuits and computers underlying artificial intelligence and neural networks. Of note, the brain-based hypotheses associated with ART have been supported by a wealth of psychophysical and neurobiological research studies as well as mathematical modeling, and ART-based computer systems have largely outperformed competitor approaches such as deep learning networks.

The further I have read Dr. Grossberg’s book, the more astonished I am with the expansiveness of his knowledge. He has acquired an exceptional depth of knowledge in so many areas (e.g., mathematics, psychology, anatomy, physiology, neuroscience, logic, engineering, computer science, etc.), and he has tied it all together in an unprecedented way to explain perception, cognition, consciousness, learning, and many other neuroscience concepts that have largely evaded the scientific community for many years. He does an excellent job in explaining these complex topics in a way that is easy to understand for those without a strong background in mathematics, science, or engineering. His passion for his body of work is obvious from cover to cover. I am beyond impressed with his work and this book, and I highly recommend it without reservation.
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Mark Dranias
5.0 out of 5 stars A systemic and integrative description of brain function
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021
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Dr. Stephen Grossberg is a pioneer in the computational neurosciences and in this book presents a breathtaking survey of research. This survey will be of great utility to any student seeking a reference containing neural network algorithms or a compendium of psychophysical and neurobiological constraints on brain function. For the more curious this work presents a theory that would aim at developing technologies that could expand our consciousness rather than simply replace it with instructions that are read through digital circuits and electrodes. Dr. Grossberg posits that conscious states are the result of resonant interactions between neural networks that represent memories and networks that act as receptive fields for sensory inputs. He captures these interactions in a computational model called Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART). ART posits a feedback resonance selectively amplifies the memory most resembling a sensory input.
In the first few chapters of this book Dr. Grossberg uses plain language, without equations, to summarize ART and describe the computational tools of his 60+ year research project. The incremental and systematic approach of this research project has enabled Dr. Grossberg to publish on a wide range of topics exploring the mind and brain. The computational tools of this research project began with the development of a mass action description for neurons using equations similar to the mean field descriptions of neural activity currently popular. A number of Hebbian and non-Hebbian memory rules were added to these neural equations. A library of elementary neural network microcircuits was assembled from these equations, each microcircuit designed to explain some complex function of the brain. Finally ART is presented. In subsequent chapters (3-15) these tools are applied to explain the pathways of the human brain that process vision, audition, motor, cognition, and emotion. In Chapter 16 this research is integrated by the development of autonomous agents. The final chapter explores how these results can be applied to other mass action systems found in nature. It is well worthwhile to ask how these results can be tested using new technologies and in other physical systems.
This book is a recommended purchase for every neuroscience library.
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Katherine Peil Kauffman
5.0 out of 5 stars This book will make you smart. Maybe even rich.
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2021
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With Conscious Mind Resonant Brain, Stephen Grossberg has created a masterpiece. Each of its 700+ pages sizzle with vital scholarship, resonant of a passionate pioneering genius on a 60-year mission. While his wide-ranging insights are applicable to the curious everyman, this tome can double as a text for interdisciplary coursework across neurobiology, artificial intelligence, the complexity sciences, nearly every domain of psychology, and surely many more. I find this book to be a veritable treasure trove, one that will enjoy a revered spot in my reference shelf for many years to come.
As an emotion researcher, I discovered his Adaptive Resonance Theory a decade or so ago. It remains perhaps the very best explication of the neural substrates and bi-directional processing paths undergirding subjective emotional experience, if not consciousness itself. And, indeed, if there exist any ontologically real features of consciousness that inhabit the fundamental “furniture of the universe” (as prophets of Panpsychism suggest), they challenge his assertions not one whit. A brain is a brain is a brain, forged over eons by evolution, clearly the dynamically self-organizing, hierarchically resonant, biological orchestrator of the wide range of perceptual and cognitive capacities in living systems. All of which dynamically balance the Tao-like dance between stability and plasticity, between chaos and order, between creation and destruction, between autopoietic/genetic self-preservation and adaptive/epigenetic self-development, between survival and adaptation - the very evaluative criteria for natural selection. All of which are made known to us through the embodied resonance of pleasure and pain.
This book will help you better understand yourself; your feelings, motives and actions, your hardwired responses and their flexibly soft-wired intervention points, as well as those of your brethren. If you are unschooled and ignorant, this book will make you smart. If you are clever, creative and technologically savvy, this book might even make you rich. Do not miss it!
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Top reviews from other countries

Paul E Cisek
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant book by a brilliant thinker
Reviewed in Canada on November 11, 2021
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This book describes what is undoubtedly the most complete and unified body of work on how the brain produces behavior, perception, and consciousness. It brings together, for the first time, over 50 years of work led by one of the greatest thinkers in brain science, Stephen Grossberg. What makes this work stand out is Grossberg’s vision, first formulated at a time when cognitive theories were expressed through analogies to computer programs, that the brain is best understood as a dynamical system of mutually interacting elements. This led to a strategy for expressing hypotheses using the language of non-linear differential equations, describing neurons and their interactions, constrained by anatomical data on connectivity, physiological data on their responses in different experiments, and behavioral data on how the entire system produces complex functions. This strategy led him and his colleagues to develop models of learning, visual processing, object recognition, decision-making, motor control, navigation, etc. predicting countless neuroscientific results that have since been confirmed. So much of what we think we’ve discovered in recent years was anticipated by Grossberg’s models, and expressed with a scholarship and depth of thinking of which few others would be capable. And now, finally, all of this work is described in one place, in this book. And the timing is perfect. It is finally becoming generally accepted that the brain is best understood as a dynamical system, and this book shows just how powerful are the insights that can be made from that perspective.

In this book, the casual reader will find an engaging story of how to think about one of the greatest mysteries in science and how to understand one’s own thoughts and perceptions. For the expert, it offers a clear overview of key take-home messages as well as launching points into the vast literature describing specific models and the experiments that inspire and test them. It reminds us all of just how amazing and complex are our brains, but emphasizes that despite that complexity, they can ultimately be understood.
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Vahid Bokharaie
5.0 out of 5 stars A phenomenal book and a delight to read.
Reviewed in Germany on August 19, 2022
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This book is phenomenal. I highly recommend it to anybody with an interest in neuroscience. I have worked in the area of neuroscience for a few years, so I read this book with some knowledge of neuroscience. Nevertheless, I find each chapter packed with new insights and useful information. Chapters are self-sufficient, so you can read them more or less independently. I feel a sense of loss that I have not been familiar with the work of Prof Grossberg any sooner. But as they say, better late than never. And for those with no knowledge of neuroscience, I highly recommend it, since it will give you not only the knowledge but also the insight that many other books would not. It can be used as a textbook, but it is much more than just a textbook. It summarises decades of research and original thoughts from a brilliant scientist.
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The amazing Randi
5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal book highly recommended!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2022
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A well thought out book that's should be recognized throughout the scientific community.. will have lasting implications for neuroscience and how mind comes from body/brain dynamics..
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Sai Gaddam
5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest neuroscientist you have never heard of
Reviewed in India on August 2, 2021
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Every engineering student has come across Maxwell's equations (if not understood them). James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory changed our understanding of the world, unifying electricity and magnetism. It has, more than any other idea before or after, also unified the world, unshackling communication from earth-bound wires and suffusing the skies with thoughts, hopes, desires, and TikTok videos ricocheting at the speed of light.

But for nearly twenty years after initial publication, Maxwell's work went virtually unnoticed. The math was considered complex and difficult, the equations an impenetrable thicket of all known notation. For an era steeped in the Newtonian mathematics and metaphors of “one-fluid” and “two-fluid” theories, and of storing currents in Leyden jars, it was simply too far ahead of its time.

We are likely in a similar epochal interregnum now. Just as electric motors and electromagnetic generators were discovered and in use before a real understanding of the underlying principles, we are now at the dawn of an AI age with astonishingly powerful artificially intelligent machines being put to use — without any real understanding of how and why they work.

The unification of mind and brain holds the promise of unshackling intelligence and consciousness from their earth-bound biological vessels and paving the path to a new world of soaring superintelligences that currently only inhabit the realms of science-fiction. And just as in Clerk Maxwell’s time, the unifying framework may already be here with us, unappreciated and far ahead of its time.

Over 60 years (starting in his freshman year in 1957!), Grossberg has pioneered and developed foundational intuitions and mathematics that have become invisible tramlines in the field. The equations and architectures he formulated offer a rare and breathtaking unifying framework that can model and explain a vast number of brain processes. Many of these predictions have been subsequently proven by experimental results “5–30 years after they were first published.” How, one might ask, does such seminal work go unrecognized for so long? In Grossberg’s own words, it might have been because the path he chose was “lonely and independent” and whenever he had an idea, he “usually had it too far ahead of its time” or “would develop it too mathematically for most readers.”
Fortunately for us, Stephen Grossberg has finally published his Magnum Opus, which brings together decades of his work in its most accessible form. (Having read Grossberg’s papers first as a Ph.D. student nearly two decades ago, and revisiting his body of work over the past two years for a book I am co-authoring, I can vouch for the “most accessible” descriptor.)

The British-American polymath Freeman Dyson once likened mathematicians to birds and frogs:

Birds fly high in the air and survey broad vistas of mathematics out to the far horizon. They delight in concepts that unify our thinking and bring together diverse problems from different parts of the landscape. Frogs live in the mud below and see only the flowers that grow nearby. They delight in the details of particular objects, and they solve problems one at a time.

Grossberg’s genius lies in embodying both, and in recognizing that “obvious hypotheses, with which no one would disagree, together imply conclusions about deep properties of brain organization.” Can a deep understanding of boundaries and surfaces of simple, toy objects lead to the most profound insights into the nature of learning and attention? Can an understanding of how silence flows across time and alters the perception of words uttered before it, help explain consciousness itself? Grossberg shows how.

(You can read a longer review at saigaddam.medium.com)
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shreya B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book to understand the essence of AI devoid of the mathematics..
Reviewed in India on June 23, 2022
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I'm a researcher in the field of Neuroscience, Autism and Human consciousness. Dr. Stephen Grossberg is one of the brilliant minds of the 21st century who can be called the father of AI.
I was so excited after reading this book that I emailed him about it and he has been an absolute gem replying back.
This is one of the most profound and influencial work on which modern AI has been built. Please do buy it if you want to understand not only your brain, AI but also it's mathematics if you're interested.

All in all, Top Guy, Brilliant scientist and a life changing book.
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