Synopses & Reviews
The Executive Brain is the first book to explore in popular scientific terms one of the most important and rapidly evolving topics in contemporary neuropsychology, the most human and recently evolved region of the brain--the frontal lobes. Crucial for all high-order functioning, it is only< br=""> in humans that the frontal lobes are so highly developed. They hold the key to our judgment, our social and ethical behavior, our imagination, indeed, to our soul. The author shows how the frontal lobes enable us to engage in complex mental processes, how vulnerable they are to injury, and how< br=""> devastating the effects of damage often are, leading to chaotic, disorganized, asocial, and even criminal behavior.< br=""> < br=""> Made up of fascinating case histories and anecdotes, Goldberg's book offers a panorama of state-of-the-art ideas and advances in cognitive neuroscience. It is also an intellectual memoir, filled with vignettes about the author's early training with the great Russian neuropsychologist A.R. Luria, < br=""> Goldberg's escape from the Soviet Union, and his later interactions with patients and professionals around the world.
Review
"An intriguing exploration of the most challenging topic in cognitive neuroscience, the executive function of the prefrontal cortex."--American Scientist
"It is only now...that we are beginning to get the full measure of complexity [of the living body], to see how nature and culture interact, and how brain and mind produce each other. There are a handful, a small handful, of remarkable books which address these central problems with great force--those of Gerald Edelman and Antonio Damasio at once come to mind--and to this select number, Elkhonon Goldberg's book The Executive Brain should surely be added."--Oliver Sacks, The New York Review of Books
"A masterful review of Elkhonon Goldberg's decades-long investigation of the frontal lobes, weaving his personal and professional experiences into the account."--Allan F. Mirsky, Ph.D., Section Chief, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
Review
"[Goldberg's] book is especially relevant for educators, who should both understand the executive brain functions that are maturing in their students and think creatively about how best to nurture such functions." --
Contemporary PsychologyFrom the foreword by Oliver Sacks: "...a brilliant exposition of the complex functions of the frontal lobes, this most recently evolved and especially human part of the brain...a highly engaging and intimate memoir, a sort of intellectual autobiography, no less than a grand piece of scientific reporting and 'popular' science...It is only now, at the dawn of the 21st century, that we are beginning to get the full measure of [the living body's] complexity, to see how nature and culture interact, and how brain and mind produce each other. There are a handful, a small handful, of remarkable books which address these central problems with great force--those of Gerald Edelman and Antonio Damasio at once come to mind--and to this select number, Elkhonon Goldberg's book The Executive Brain should surely be added."
"Finally, here is a world-renowned neuropsychologist who valiantly defies the fashionable new phrenologies of the frontal lobe. His book is a highly welcome product of erudition, love of history and phenomenological insight. Alexandr Luria, that great humanist and master scientist of the human brain, would undoubtedly have been proud of his pupil and this timely scholarly work."--Joaquin M. Fuster, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute
"...a masterful review of Elkhonon (Nick) Goldberg's decades-long investigation of the frontal lobes, weaving this personal and professional experiences into the account...I recommend this book to all students of brain and behavior, from neophyte to expert. Professor Goldberg is clearly the modern successor to his mentor, Professor Alexandr Luria, who would have been proud to have seen this work."--Allan F. Mirsky, Ph.D., Chief, Section on Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH
"Students of the brain are usually brainy, but they are not always human. Elkhonon Goldberg has lived probingly and researched passionately. He looks at our frontal lobes with thought and feeling, opening important new vistas. So precise and rigorous is his mind, he can even dare to be romantic!"--Peter Brook, Theatre and Film Director
"A deeply humane book on a subject that is usually treated as if it were only technical--what processes make it possible for us to rise above present exigencies, to hope and to plan, to live in a symbolic world of culture. Goldberg's subtle and powerful approach to understanding how the frontal lobes equip us to achieve our humanity is not only fresh and original, but is a bracing antidote to the kind of 'mini-phrenology' that has become so fashionable these days. A superb blend of clinical insight and scientific acumen."--Jerome Bruner, University Professor, New York University
Synopsis
The Executive Brain is the first book to explore in popular scientific terms one of the most important and rapidly evolving topics in contemporary neuropsychology, the most "human" and recently evolved region of the brain--the frontal lobes. Crucial for all high-order functioning, it is only in humans that the frontal lobes are so highly developed. They hold the key to our judgment, our social and ethical behavior, our imagination, indeed, to our "soul." The author shows how the frontal lobes enable us to engage in complex mental processes, how vulnerable they are to injury, and how devastating the effects of damage often are, leading to chaotic, disorganized, asocial, and even criminal behavior.
Made up of fascinating case histories and anecdotes, Goldberg's book offers a panorama of state-of-the-art ideas and advances in cognitive neuroscience. It is also an intellectual memoir, filled with vignettes about the author's early training with the great Russian neuropsychologist A.R. Luria, Goldberg's escape from the Soviet Union, and his later interactions with patients and professionals around the world.
About the Author
Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D. divides his time between the clinical practice of neuropsychology, research in cognitive neuroscience, and teaching worldwide. He is a Clinical Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine and Director of the Institute of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Performance. He lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
Foreword, Oliver Sacks
1. Introduction
2. An End and a Beginning: A Dedication
3. Brain's Chief Executive: The Frontal Lobes at a Glance
4. Architecture of the Brain: A Primer
5. The Orchestra's Front Row: The Cortex
6. The Conductor: A Closer Look at the Frontal Lobes
7. Different Lobes for Different Folks: Decision-Making Styles and the Frontal Lobes
8. When the Leader is Wounded
9. Social Maturity, Morality, Law, and the Frontal Lobes
10. Fateful Disconnections
11. "What Can You Do For Me?"
12. Frontal Lobes and the Leadership Paradox
13. Epilogue
References and Notes