Wow! eBook
Why Humans Like to Cry: Tragedy, Evolution, and the Brain
Author(s): Michael Trimble (Author)
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publication Date: December 12, 2012
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 232 pages
- ISBN-10: 0199693188
- ISBN-13: 9780199693184
Book Description
His exploration examines the connections with other distinctively human features: the development of language, self-consciousness, religious practices, and empathy. Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the brain have uncovered unique human characteristics; mirror neurones, for example, explain why we unconsciously imitate actions and behaviour. Whereas Nietzsche argued that artistic tragedy was born with the ancient Greeks, Trimble places its origins far earlier. His neurophysiological and evolutionary insights shed fascinating light onto this enigmatic part of our humanity.
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
About the Author
Michael Trimble is emeritus professor of Behavioural Neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London. His research for many years has been on the behavioural consequences of neurological disorders, especially epilepsy and movement disorders. He has a lifelong research interest in neuroanatomy, hence his ability to explore the neuroanatomical basis of crying. However, he is also a psychiatrist with much clinical experience of mood disorders, and had investigated the latter in patients using neurological techniques, such as brain imaging. He is the author of
The Soul in the Brain (Johns Hopkins, 2007).
