A breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain

How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before.

In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries.

A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness.

斯坦尼斯拉斯·迪昂

●全世界极具影响力的认知神经科学家之一，欧洲脑科学研究领域的领头人，世界脑科学领域大师级的人物。

●虽然本科主修数学专业，但对神经科学抱有极大兴趣，继而跟随认知神经科学创始人乔治·米勒、转换生成语法理论创始人乔姆斯基、认知发展理论创始人皮亚杰三位大师的学生杰柯·梅勒学习。

●2014年，与其他两位科学家共同获得有“神经科学界诺贝尔奖”之称的大脑奖（The Brain Prize）。该奖项在脑科学领域，地位极高、分量极重，显示了迪昂在神经科学领域过人的天赋和巨大影响力。

●已在《自然》《科学》等权威杂志上发表300多篇文章；是数学认知领域公认的专家，作品《数感》被哈佛大学等用作专业教材。在《脑与阅读》一书中提出关于人类阅读能力的新理论，有力地驳斥了大脑具有无限学习能力的传统观点，在阅读方面取得的研究成果，对教育领域同样有重要的参考价值。在另一本佳作《脑与意识》中，迪昂总结了近20年来意识与思维领域的前沿研究成果，翻开了脑科学领域研究的新篇章。