We are our brains: a neurobiography of the brain, from the womb to Alzheimer's

We are our brains

Metaphors for the brain

1. Development, birth, and parental care

Subtle interaction between mother and child at birth

Difficult birth as the first symptom of a developmental brain disorder

Maternal behavior

Paternal behavior

Importance of a stimulating environment for early brain development

Memories from the womb

2. Threats to the fetal brain in the "safety" of the womb

Developmental brain disorders caused by environmental factors

Developmental brain disorders caused by addictive substances and medication

The short-term outlook of the unborn child

Does a fetus feel pain?

Body integrity identity disorder, a bizarre developmental disorder

3. Sexual differentiation of the brain in the womb

A typical boy or girl?

Gender-based differences in behavior

Heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality

Homosexuality : no choice

Homosexuality in the animal kingdom

Transsexuality

Pedophilia

4. Puberty, love, and sexual behavior

The adolescent brain

Adolescent behavior

The brain in love

Disorders of the brain and sexuality

5. Hypothalamus: survival, hormones, and emotions

Hormone production by the hypothalamus and streams of urine

Surviving without a hypothalamus

Depression

Prader-Willi Syndrome

Obesity

Cluster headache

Narcolepsy

Fits of laughter without emotion

Anorexia Nervosa is a disease of the brain

6. Addictive substances

Cannabis and psychoses

Ecstasy : brain damage after pleasure

Substance abuse by politicians

7. The brain and consciousness

Neglect : half a life

Coma and related conditions

Brain structures crucial for consciousness

Importance of functional links between brain structures for consciousness

Illusions and loss of self-consciousness

"Filling in" missing information

Notions about the mechanisms of consciousness

8. Aggression

Born aggressive

Young and aggressive

Aggression, brain disorders, and prison

Guilt and punishment

Violent while asleep

9. Autism

Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant

Autism, a developmental disorder

Savants

Brains of savants

10. Schizophrenia and other reasons for hallucinations

Schizophrenia, a disease of all ages and cultures

Schizophrenia symptoms

Schizophrenia, a developmental brain disorder

Hallucinations due to a lack of stimuli

Other hallucinations

11. Repair and electric stimulation

Age-related blindness : macular degeneration

Serendipity

Deep brain stimulation

Brain stimulation and happiness

12. The brain and sports

Neuropornography : boxing

Sex and the Olympic Games

Death of the fittest

13. Moral behavior

Prefrontal cortex : initiative, planning, speech, personality, and moral behavior

Moral behavior : the human in the animal

Unconscious moral behavior

Moral networks

What nature teaches us about a better society

14. Memory

Kandel's research into memory and the collective amnesia of the Austrians

The anatomy of memory

The path to long-term memory

Separate memory storage

The implicit memory in the cerebellum

15. Neurotheology: the brain and religion

Why are so many people religious?

Evolutionary advantage of religion

The religious brain

A better world without religion?

Unclean mussels and women

Praying for another : a placebo for yourself

Religious mania

Temporal lobe epilepsy : messages from God

Public reactions to my views on religion

16. There isn't more between Heaven and Earth

Soul versus mind

Heart and soul

Pseudoscientific explanations of near-death experiences

Effective placebos

Traditional Chines medicine : sometimes more than a placebo

Herbal therapy

17. Free will, a pleasant illusion

Free will versus choice

The brain as a giant, unconscious computer

The unconscious will

What free will isn't

Free will and brain disorders

18. Alzheimer's disease

Aging of the brain, Alzheimer's Disease, and other forms of Dementia

Alzheimer's : the stages of deterioration

"Use it or lose it" : reactivating neurons in Alzheimer's Disease

Pain and Dementia

Alzheimer's and the right moment for choosing to end one's life

19. Death

The magic of life and death

Dr. Deijman and Black Jan

Civic disintegration course : dead obvious

Netherlands Brain Bank

Herbs for log life after death

20. Evolution

Negotiation and increase in brain size

The evolution of the brain

Molecular evolution

21. Conclusion.