Exploring Frontiers of the Mind-Brain Relationship
The conscious mind defines human existence. Many consider the brain as a computer, and they attempt to explain consciousness as emerging at a critical, but unspecified, threshold level of complex computation among neurons. The brain-as-computer model, how
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Alexander Moreira-Almeida Franklin Santana Santos Editors
Exploring Frontiers of the Mind-Brain Relationship
Editors Alexander Moreira-Almeida School of Medicine Federal University of Juiz de Fora - UFJF 36036-330 - Juiz de Fora - MG Brazil [email protected]
Franklin Santana Santos Institute of Psychiatry School of Medicine São Paulo University 05403-010 - São Paulo - SP Brazil [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4614-0646-4 e-ISBN 978-1-4614-0647-1 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-0647-1 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011940687 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To Angélica, Caio, and Laura, gifts of life who give meaning to my life and reasons to try to be a better human being every single day. To my parents, Hélio and Elizabeth, who gave me not only the gift of life, but have also been models of life, and unlimited sources of support and love. A.M.A. To my beloved parents, Dalva and Fernando, who have taught me about Life and Love. F.S.S.
Foreword
Human beings are naturally curious and seek a coherent understanding of life and its mysteries. The possibility of life after death is the most ancient of all mysteries, as shown by the burial rituals of the earliest Homo sapiens (Sussman and Cloninger 2011). In fact, wonder about spirituality emerged along with the development of narrative language, art, and science. Human art, science, and spirituality are all basic expressions of the self-aware consciousness that is unique to modern human beings (Cloninger 2004, 2007; Sussman and Cloninger 2011). Hence, a fundamental characteristic of human beings is our need to explore and understand the frontiers of the relationships among body, thought, and spirituality. Human beings have been aptly described as “evolution conscious of itself” in the insightful words of the anthropologist Sir Julian Huxley (1959). Accordingly, it is natural for human beings to try to understand the nature of the cosmos and their place within it in order to know how to satisfy their needs and live well in health and happiness. In order to live our whole life well, it is necessary to recognize that the conscious
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