A Brain for Innovation : : The Neuroscience of Imagination and Abstract Thinking / / Min W. Jung.

• VerfasserIn: Jung, Min W.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2023]; 2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource :; 50 figures

What sets humans apart from other animals? Perhaps more than anything else, it is the capacity for innovation. The accumulation of discoveries throughout history, big and small, has enabled us to build global civilizations and gain power to shape our environment. But what makes humans as a species so innovative?Min W. Jung offers a new understanding of the neural basis of innovation in terms of humans' exceptional capacity for imagination and high-level abstraction. He provides an engaging account of recent advances in neuroscience that have shed light on the neural underpinnings of these profoundly important abilities. Jung examines key discoveries concerning the hippocampus and neural circuits that have demystified the processes underlying imagination and abstract thinking. He also considers how these capacities might have evolved as well as possible futures for intelligence.Bringing together disparate findings in neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and artificial intelligence, A Brain for Innovation develops a unified perspective on the mechanisms of imagination, abstract thought, and creativity. Presenting cutting-edge neuroscientific research in a way that is accessible to readers without a background in the subject, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the biological basis of one of the most fundamental aspects of human nature.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I: Hippocampus and Imagination -- 1. Hippocampus: From Memory to Imagination -- 2. False Memory -- 3. Place Cells and Hippocampal Replay -- Part II: The Neural Symphony of Imagination -- 4. Neural Circuits of the Hippocampus -- 5. Value-Based Decision-Making -- 6. Remembering Rewarding Futures -- 7. The Evolution of Imagination -- Part III: The Neural Foundation of Abstraction -- 8. Abstract Thinking and Neocortex -- 9. Prefrontal Cortex -- 10. The Human Revolution and Associated Brain Changes -- 11. Deep Neural Network -- Part IV: Beyond Imagination and Abstraction -- 12. Sharing Ideas and Knowledge Through Language -- 13. On Creativity -- 14. The Future of Innovation -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1: Dentate Gyrus -- Appendix 2: Value-coding Neurons -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index