The Genius Engine: Where Memory, Reason, Passion, Violence, and Creativity Intersect in the Human Brain - Hardcover

by Kathleen Stein (Author)

Embarking on a spellbinding journey to the frontiers of neuroscience, acclaimed science editor and writer Kathleen Stein takes an enthralling in-depth look at the prefrontal cortex, the site of our working memory, impulse control, reason, perception, decision making, and emotional processing--all the things that comprise our human genius.

Front Jacket

Although other primates and many other animals have working memory, the human brain gives our species a unique ability to reason, remember, and build models of the future. Our brain--specifically, the prefrontal cortex--defines our prevailing spirit, distinctive character, talent, aptitude, and inclination. Our genius.

In The Genius Engine, Kathleen Stein investigates the wonders of our prefrontal cortex, or PFC. Drawing on her decades of experience as a science and technology editor and writer, she deftly explains how the PFC gives us the special flexibility to update information from moment to moment and to make long-range plans; how it controls our artistic and athletic intelligence; and how it determines our moral compass. She delves into the mundane and often taken-for-granted capacities of the PFC--such as multitasking, humor, and empathy--and probes the social problems caused by a dysfunctional PFC.

Examining how the PFC orchestrates our entire mental universe, The Genius Engine shows why some individuals are hardwired to be dark and brooding and why little laughs are evolution's way of encouraging us to do some light cognitive calisthenics. It also explores how we can expand the PFC's capacities, demonstrating how the preschool television show Blue's Clues helps children develop their memory and how bilingualism enhances a child's working memory and control processes.

Stein reveals the extensive reconfiguration of the PFC during puberty, and why this turmoil within the PFC informs how teens judge others. This adolescent brain remodeling explains why teenagers tend to find life so unfair: they're unable to read social situations efficiently during a period when peer acceptance is the epicenter of their lives. Stein also provides examples of the long-term consequences of PFC injuries. Babies with certain PFC injuries tend to grow up friendless and emotionless. In adults, injury can cause a variety of deficits, including difficulties distinguishing whether a voice is cheerful or morose. Once the damage is done to the prefrontal tissue, no other part of the brain can assume its functions.

Taking us to the forefront of neuroscience, The Genius Engine provides a mesmerizing look into the area of our brain that defines what it means to be human--the part that gives us not only our agile intelligence but also our emotions, morality, and rules of social conduct.

Back Jacket

A spellbinding journey to the frontiers of neuroscience

In "The Genius Engine," acclaimed science editor and writer Kathleen Stein takes an enthralling in-depth look at the PFC, the site of our working memory, impulse control, reason, perception, decision making, and emotional processing--all the things that comprise our human genius.

The PFC differs widely among individuals, as much as fingerprints. At its best, the PFC determines how you'll respond to an off-color joke and what makes you grouchy. It's what guides you to comfort a friend in need and discern between sarcasm and irony. It enables you to act today in light of actions that occurred in the past, and predict how to act tomorrow. But an improperly functioning PFC can trigger personality changes, murderous rage, lapses in judgment, and inability to plan or perceive the consequences of one's acts--in sum, the myriad problems facing our society today.

"The Genius Engine" delves deep into the human mind to unravel the mysteries that lie within the prefrontal cortex, the neural territory that defines what it is to be human.

Author Biography

KATHLEEN STEIN has written about science and technology for more than twenty years and was Omni's neuroscience editor for more than a decade. She has also written for the "New York Times," "Biotechnology Newswatch," and "UPI," and has taught literature and writing at the college level at Rutgers.