Matter Matters?: On the Material Basis of the Cognitive Activity of Mind [Paperback]

This book, written for a wide readership with some background in the natural sciences, addresses the very old problem of the mind-brain-relationship. The authors, all well-known scientists, approach the subject in different stages. The first part addresses some general principles based on physics, computer science, and theoretical biology. The two following parts deal with the problem at different organizational levels, from the microscopic to the macroscopic. The fourth part addresses the subjective level founded on the findings of psychologists and neurophysiologists.This book, written for a wide readership with some background in the natural sciences, addresses the very old problem of the mind-brain-relationship. The authors, all well-known scientists, approach the subject in different stages. The first part addresses some general principles based on physics, computer science, and theoretical biology. The two following parts deal with the problem at different organizational levels, from the microscopic to the macroscopic. The fourth part addresses the subjective level founded on the findings of psychologists and neurophysiologists.1. Introduction.- I Some New Perspectives.- 2. The Need for a Non-computational Extension of Quantum Action in the Brain.- 3. The Berry Paradox.- 4. Mind as Phenotype.- II Subcellular Levels.- 5. Quantum Automata in Cytoskeletal Microtubules: A Nanoscale Substrate for Cognition.- 6. Of Maps and Territories: A Three Point Landing on the Mind-Body Problem.- III Network and Systems Level.- 7. Synergetics of the Brain.- 8. Cognition and the Efficiency of Neural Processes.- IV The Subjective Level.- 9. Consciousness and the Matter of Perception.- 10. On Consciousness and Spontaneous Brain Activity.- 11. Concluding Remarks.Distinguished authors from different disciplines analyze the classical mind--matter problem within the frames of recent theoretical and experimental developments in fields such as mathematics, physics, computers and neuroscló"