Professor & Author Publishes Book on The Brain

The Neural Foundation of Experience: The Role of Vibrating Neurons, a new book by David LaBerge, has been released by Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc.

The Neural Foundation of Experience is about neurons in the brain, and how some neurons make it possible for us to think about taking a walk in the park, and other neurons enable us to enjoy a walk in the park. Most of us are familiar with the "thinking" neurons, because they are like the "information-in and information-out" devices on the circuit board of a computer. But, unlike the computer, our brains also contain many other neurons which enable us to enjoy (savor) food, the sounds of music, and gazing at the face of a special person. These savoring neurons vibrate electrically instead of processing information. A drawing of the vibrating neuron is shown on the front cover of this book. Although this book discusses issues at the leading edge of neuroscience, the book is aimed at readers who have not taken introductory courses in biology, neuroscience, or psychology. Technical language is avoided wherever possible and I have included many illustrations to aid the understanding of ideas that may be unfamiliar to the reader.

"In The Neural Foundation of Experience the highly-respected neuroscientist David LaBerge presents a thought-provoking reexamination of how the brain works. The standard model is that the brain is like a computer. Information arrives at the receiving end of a neuron (the dendrite), is processed in the cell body, and then, if warranted, a signal is sent along the axon to the next neuron. LaBerge argues that this model is fine for explaining cognition, that is conscious thought. It completely fails to explain lived experience- for example a feeling of empathy, a sense of joy, conscious awareness itself. He proposes that signals to the dendrite that are not strong enough to produce a signal cause lingering resonance. Bundles of cells with dendrites resonating on the same frequency, he argues, can account for what we attend to and how we experience it. Not thought but conscious, lived experience. This is a book for multiple audiences. LaBerge avoids the complex terminology of contemporary neuroscience, so a reader with even a layperson's understanding of the nerve cell can follow at a broad level. For the more expert reader, he lays out in detail how the operation of a particular dendrite, the apical dendrite, produces the phenomena he describes. This book is appropriate for many readers-for the scientifically curious layperson, as an auxiliary basis for discussion in AP Neuroscience classes or undergraduate seminars in psychology, biology, or neuroscience, and for the expert already well-versed in neural circuitry. LaBerge's theorizing is bold and challenging to conventional wisdom and will likely provoke controversy. But every reader will come away with a richer appreciation of the complex interplay of brain, mind, and consciousness. " - Alan Hartley, M. M. Jones Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Scripps College

About the Author
For many years David LaBerge, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Sciences, taught introductory classes in psychology at the University of Minnesota that ranged in size from 15 to 2200 students. The moments he enjoyed the most were when the faces of students suddenly lit up with the understanding of a new idea about how their minds work. The moment of understanding comes to each person in their own special way, and to be an effective teacher LaBerge learned how to present a new idea in many different ways in order to reach students. He found that the best way to do this was to use a variety of visual illustrations, as demonstrated in this book. Check out the author on YouTube talking about the book at https://youtu.be/PHb-hNREWmM

The Neural Foundation of Experience: The Role of Vibrating Neurons is a 194-page paperback with a retail price of $36.00. The ISBN is 978-1-6470-2559-5. It was published by Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, or to request a review copy, please go to our virtual pressroom at www.dorrancepressroom.com or our online bookstore http://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com.