Nonlinear Brain Dynamics

Book excerpt: At the beginning of the 21st century, understanding the brain has become one of the final frontiers of science. Hailed as the 'most complex object in the universe' the brain still defies a complete understanding of its workings, in particular in relation to consciousness and higher brain functions. Despite enormous scientific efforts, the question how the 'mere matter' of 1011 interacting nerve cells can give rise to the inner world of our subjective feelings still remains an enigma. However, in contrast to a few decades ago, when respectable neuroscience was not expected to deal with such questions, the search for brain/mind relationships has now become the focus of intense research. The central idea of this book: to understand the brain, we need to understand its dynamics.