Biological Psychology

Con el ser humano termina el proceso de evolución natural, automático. El ser humano es el último producto de la evolución inconsciente. Con él se inicia la evolución consciente. Primero, la evolución inconsciente es mecánica y natural. Ocurre por sí sola. A través de este tipo de evolución, la consciencia se desarrolla. Pero en el momento en que la consciencia comienza a manifestarse, la evolución inconsciente se detiene porque ha alcanzado su objetivo. La evolución inconsciente es necesaria solo hasta el momento en que lo consciente nace.

El rasgo más distintivo del cerebro de los mamíferos, especialmente relevante en los humanos, es la corteza cerebral. Este libro del profesor Pedro Maldonado, autor del exitoso Por qué tenemos el cerebro en la cabeza explora cómo su expansión durante la evolución permitió un aumento significativo en la cantidad de neuronas y el desarrollo de habilidades cognitivas complejas. A pesar de que este crecimiento cerebral no estuvo acompañado de cambios corporales significativos, dotó a los humanos de capacidades avanzadas como el lenguaje y la fabricación de herramientas.

G-Spot Chronicles brings to convergence celebrated scholars and experts in female sexuality to examine explosive female orgasms evoked by the elusive g-spot; vivifying potential implications for Female sexuality. This documentary project challenges recent claims by the British research scientists of King’s College, London. The Consortium of Ejaculating Women featured in this program controverts the British scientists’ conclusion (in 2009) of “the G-Spot as myth”.

In this book, evolutionary psychologist Dennis Krebs explains how virtuous behaviors such as altruism, justice, honesty, loyalty, self-control, purity, and respect for authority, have evolved in humans and other species. He argues that the key to solving puzzles of morality—such as what it is, how we acquire moral traits, why we sometimes behave badly, and how we make moral decisions—lies in figuring out what adaptive functions moral traits served in early human environments and how they are influenced by social learning, culture, and strategic social interactions in the modern world.

Propositions about artificial intelligence are being debated seriously in the 21st Century, but machines, unlike plants, are not even living organisms. So, are plants sentient beings, like humans? Do they feel? Can they communicate? Plant sentience is a subject that has intrigued mankind over the ages—from the ancient Greeks, Plato and Aristotle, through to modern day philosophers and psychologists. In this extraordinary book, Australia's Dr Terence McMullen presents an engaging, systematic and thorough study of plant psychology.

Everybody is talking about the healing properties of nature. Hospitals are being retrofitted with gardens and forests reimagined as wellbeing centres. Where has this come from, and what does 'going to nature' mean? Where is it - at the end of a garden, beyond the tarmac fringes of a city, at the summit of a mountain? Drawing on history, science, literature and art, Samantha Walton shows that the nature cure has deep roots - but, as we face an unprecedented crisis of mental health, social injustice and environmental devastation, the search for it is more urgent now than ever.

Con sencillez y contundencia, la especialista en neuropsicología explica cómo es que este centro de mando controla las funciones que nos mantienen vivos, procesa la información que llega del medio externo generando pensamientos, aprendizajes, recuerdos y emociones, e interviene en las reacciones que tenemos frente a nuestro entorno.

The Social Paradox has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.Why do people who have so much—leading comfortable lives filled with unprecedented freedom, choice, and abundance—often feel so unhappy and unfulfilled? This phenomenon is a defining paradox of our time and one we endlessly seek to solve. In The Social Paradox, psychologist William von Hippel argues that we need to think about this problem in a new way. By changing our perspective, we might finally see the solution, bringing us greater happiness and more satisfying relationships.

In her extraordinary work with dolphins, Patricia St. John has broken new ground in opening little-known worlds, all in pursuit of what she fiercely believes in: learning the languages of those who have been unreachable. Using what she has discovered from her years of work with dolphins, St. John is able to break through to autistic children. Her story is a remarkable one.

It happens everywhere: offices, schools, even your own backyard. And, seemingly, anything can trigger it: cell phones, sirens, bad music, constant distractions, your boss, or even your spouse. We all know certain things get under our skin. Can science explain why? NPR's Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman take you on a scientific quest through psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and other disciplines to uncover the truth about being annoyed.

Insekten führen ihn zum Täter. Aus vielen Krimis und Serien ist das bekannt: Wenn jemand stirbt, feiert die Natur ein Festbankett. Aber können die natürlichen Gegebenheiten tatsächlich wichtige Fakten liefern, die zur Aufklärung beitragen? Wie bestimmt man den Todeszeitpunkt mithilfe von Insekten? Und wie lange lag die Leiche wirklich am See? ZDFInfo urteilt über den deutschlandweit bekannten Entomologen und Forensiker Marcus Schwarz: "Von ihm kam der entscheidende Hinweis."

In The Brain in Context, the bioethicist Jonathan D. Moreno and the neuroscientist Jay Schulkin provide an accessible and thought-provoking account of the evolution of neuroscience and the neuroscience of evolution. They emphasize that the brain is not an isolated organ - it extends into every part of the body and every aspect of human life. Understanding the brain requires studying the environmental, biological, chemical, genetic, and social factors that continue to shape it.

Darwin developed the theory of sexual selection to explain why the animal world abounds in stunning beauty, from the brilliant colors of butterflies and fishes to the songs of birds and frogs. He argued that animals have "a taste for the beautiful" that drives their potential mates to evolve features that make them more sexually attractive and reproductively successful. But if Darwin explained why sexual beauty evolved in animals, he struggled to understand how.

We all know the autistic genius stereotypes. The absentminded professor with untied shoelaces. The geeky Silicon Valley programmer who writes bulletproof code but can't get a date. But there is another set of (tiny) geniuses whom you would never add to those ranks - child prodigies. We mostly know them as the chatty and charming tykes who liven up day­time TV with violin solos and engaging banter. These kids aren't autistic, and there has never been any kind of scientific connection between autism and prodigy. Until now.

In Best of the Brain, top neuroscientist Floyd E. Bloom has selected the most fascinating brain-related articles from Scientific American and Scientific American Mind since 1999. Bloom garnishes the impressive lineup with his own introduction. The articles are grouped in three sections: "Mind", "Matter", and "Tomorrow's Brain".

It has been remarked that if the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn’t. Commencing with a brief history of neuroscience, from the ancient practice of drilling holes in the head to relieve headaches to the latest results from MRI and CT scans, this accessible guide sets out to explore exactly what we do know about the brain. Including the most up-to-date research on the cerebral processes, this entertaining introduction assumes no previous scientific knowledge.

If we are, in part, a product of our genes, can free will exist? Incisive and engaging, this indispensable tour of evolutionary biology runs the gamut of contemporary debates, from science and religion to our place in the universe.

A fascinating survey of the forces that shape who we are and how we act - from the author of The Calculus Diaries. Following her previous tours through the worlds of physics ( Black Bodies and Quantum Cats) and calculus ( The Calculus Diaries), acclaimed science writer Jennifer Ouellette now turns her attention to the mysteries of human identity and behavior with Me, Myself, and Why.

We remember the admonition of our mothers: "Treat others as you want them to treat you." But what if being nice was something we were inclined by nature to do anyway? Renowned neuroscientist Donald Pfaff upends our entire understanding of ethics and social contracts with an intriguing proposition: the Golden Rule is hardwired into the human brain. Pfaff, the researcher who first discovered the connections between specific brain circuits and certain behaviors, contends that the basic ethics governing our everyday lives can be traced directly to brain circuitry.

We humans tend to think that we are unique in our intelligence, social skill, and depth of emotion, but we think too much of ourselves. The animal kingdom teems with hidden stories of the weird and fascinating, and in Amazing Animals, we gather recent research on animal behavior, including surprising discoveries of how animals think and feel, from man’s best friend to some of the earth’s oddest creatures.