The Book of Intelligence and Brain Disorder

The scientific study of the brain and nervous system is called neuroscience or neurobiology. Because the field of neuroscience is so vast, and the brain and nervous system are so complex, this book will describe the structure and function of the brain and nervous system. You will be able to understand a number of tasks such as motor control, visual processing, auditory processing, sensation, learning, memory, and intelligence. There are other introductions to human brain anatomy, but this is a book with a difference. It provides an easy and enjoyable means of learning and reviewing the fundamentals of the human brain through key concepts and progresses in small, logical, easy-to-learn increments. It is ideal for the nonexpert-students, professionals and amateur people alike. This book explores the latest findings that demonstrate, through the use of technology like brain scans, that the old-aged brain is more flexible and more capable than previously thought. For the first time, long-term studies show that our view of the young-aged brain has better function than an old-aged brain which has been misleading and incomplete. The book debunks three common myths about the brain and intelligence: a. For many years, scientists thought that the human brain stopped growing after infancy and simply decayed over time and its dying cells led to memory slips, fuzzy logic, negative thinking, and even depression. A decade ago, many biologists and psychologists would have scoffed at that idea that the brain of adults loses its ability to generate new cells and rewire itself as we aged. Science and research prove that each time a new skill is learned, such as speaking a foreign language, interpersonal skills, dancing, or playing an instrument, the brain may grow to adapt and acquire new routes, even well into the senior years. This development in the brain is called “Plasticity”. b. Another thought is that if the memory starts to decline, there will be no improvement and there is not much one can do. Studies show that memory can be restored through consistent mental challenge by novel stimuli which increases production and interconnectivity of neurons and nerve growth factor, as well as prevents loss of connections and cell death. Researchers found that improvements in cognitive ability roughly counteract the degree of long-term cognitive decline typical among older people without dementia. c. Most of CEO’s, legislators, judges, economists, doctors, lawyers, ministers and presidents are not in their 30s or 40s, but seasoned are veterans who bestow several decades of experience and expertise. Along with grey hair comes both knowledge and wisdom and you have to look far to find inspiring stories of accomplishment, creativity, and reinvention in the second half of life. Dr. Elsersawi, one of the authors of this book, is an electrical engineer by training and a biochemist by inclination. He represents the brain as a closed box; of which the input can be one electrical pulse, and the output is of multi-order feed back loops. For example, you can measure the voltage, current, frequency of the electrical signals input to the brain, but you can not measure simultaneous individual signals distributed among the parts of the brain. Each individual signal passes though complicated pathways to execute certain functions such as perception, analysis, and task. The voltage is determined primarily by the potassium and sodium ionic concentrations internal and external to the neuron, about 70mv at rest. Current flow would be ionic not electronic and is not measurable. Jeff Hawkins is an electrical engineer by training, and a neuroscientist by inclination. In his book (How a New Understanding of the Brain will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines) he used electrical engineering concepts as well as the studies of neuroscience to formulate his framework. In particular, Hawkins treats the propagation of nerve impulses in our nervous system as an encoding problem, specifically, a future predicting state machine, similar in principle to feed-forward error-correcting state machines. Dr. Elsersawi believes that the efficiency of the internal workings of all individual signals inside the brain is called the intelligence. This is the overall picture of intelligence, yet we have no productive theories and facts about what intelligence is or how the brain works as a whole. The United States alone has thousands of neuroscientists. Most of them don't think much about overall theories of the brain because they're engrossed in doing experiments to collect more data about the brains many parts. And although legions of computer programmers have tried to make computers intelligent, they have failed. Many neuroscientists tend to reject or ignore the idea of considering the brain in computational terms, and computer scientists often don't believe they have anything to learn from biology. Chapter 2 of this book describes what intelligence is and how your brain deals with it. This chapter is overflowing with information, and is a great starting point for venturing through the neuropsychology world of intelligence. It discusses sensitive topics such as interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and related concepts, such as social skills, psychological maturity and emotional awareness. It also provides a handful of sample questions on IQ and EQ. Such questions offer readers the side benefits of finding out if they themselves possess a high level of intelligence. Other interested topics including cognitive processes, intelligent theories, environmental and genetic contribution to giftedness, autism, cultural intelligence, brain plasticity and brain trust programs are also discussed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 includes lists of brain diseases and disorders. Topics discussed include: neurotransmitter disorders, inborn errors, brain fluids, demyelination, brain cancer, brain trauma, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and even schizophrenia. The definitions of terms given within the text are supplemented by a comprehensive glossary, and there are many informative images. At the end of the book, the reader is guided through a case study that illustrates the philosophy of cognitive abilities in children. Readers will find this book an inspiration-provoking read and an impetus for new theories of embodied cognitive science. It will be particularly helpful for people interested in getting involved in the understanding of intelligent agents.