Un neurobiólogo francés cuyo trabajo abarca una amplia gama de temas, desde la estructura y función de las proteínas hasta el desarrollo del sistema nervioso y las funciones cognitivas. Es reconocido por sus contribuciones a la comprensión de las proteínas alostéricas y por el desarrollo de la teoría de la epigénesis a través de la estabilización selectiva de las sinapsis. Para el público en general, es conocido por sus ideas sobre la relación entre la mente y el cerebro. Su trabajo enfatiza la naturaleza activa del sistema nervioso y la selección de representaciones internas, en lugar de meras respuestas a estímulos externos.
Will understanding our brains help us to know our minds? Or is there an unbridgeable distance between the work of neuroscience and the workings of human consciousness? This book explores the vexed territory between these divergent approaches - and comes to a deeper, more complex perspective on human nature.
Do numbers and mathematical objects exist independently of human minds, or are they inventions of our cognition? Are they discovered, as Plato suggested, or constructed by us? Is mathematics a universal language capable of facilitating communication with extraterrestrial civilizations, or is it merely a product of human evolution? Do physical laws genuinely adhere to mathematical principles, or do they merely appear to do so because physicists have learned to interpret them mathematically? These fundamental questions create a divide between Jean-Pierre Changeux, a renowned neurobiologist, and Alain Connes, a prominent mathematician. Their discussions explore the implications of mathematical objects on brain organization and function, examining how brain development influences mathematical reasoning and intelligence. They also delve into ethical considerations, questioning the neural foundations of morality and its social expressions. This engaging dialogue reflects a profound disagreement while seeking mutual understanding, echoing the inquiries of Poincaré, Hadamard, and von Neumann about human experience and intellectual limits. Central to their exploration is the inquiry into why order exists in the world and why it is comprehensible to humanity.
Hainer Kober, geboren 1942, lebt in Soltau. Er hat u. a. Werke von Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Littell, Georges Simenon und Oliver Sacks übersetzt.
L'auteur est professeur au Collège de France et à l'Institut Pasteur. Dans cet ouvrage de réflexion, destiné à un public non spécialisé, il fait ressortir les traits marquants de la recherche contemporaine dans les sciences du système nerveux. Il tente aussi de "jeter une passerelle sur le fossé qui sépare les sciences de l'homme des sciences du système nerveux".