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This book is a philosophical study of the nature and value of happiness. Part I is devoted to critical discussion of the most important theories about the nature of happiness, understood as some sort of psychological state. Views discussed include sensory hedonism, local preferentism, Kahneman's theory, and Whole Life Satisfactionism. Part II of the book contains the exposition and defense of a novel theory about the nature and value of happiness. It is a form of attitudinal hedonism. The idea that a person's welfare, or well‐being, depends essentially on happiness is explained and (with reservations) defended, provided that happiness is understood according to the theory presented here. Part III of the book extends the discussion into some areas that bear on interactions between empirical research concerning happiness and philosophical inquiry into the same phenomenon. Current methods of measuring happiness are criticized and a new method is proposed. Philosophical implications of empirical research concerning happiness are evaluated.

Our ability to map and intervene in the structure of the human brain is proceeding at a very quick rate. Advances in psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery have given us fresh insights into the neurobiological basis of human thought and behavior. Technologies like MRI and PET scans can detect early signs of psychiatric disorders before they manifest symptoms. Electrical and magnetic stimulation of the brain can non-invasively relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and other conditions resistant to treatment, while implanting neuro-electrodes can help patients with Parkinson's and other motor control-related diseases. New drugs can help regenerate neuronal connections otherwise disrupted by schizophrenia and similar diseases. All these procedures and drugs alter the neural correlates of our mind, and raise fascinating and important ethical questions about their benefits and harms. They are, in a sense, among the most profound bioethical questions we face, since these techniques can touch on the deepest aspects of the human mind: free will, personal identity, the self, and the soul. This book starts by describing the state of the art in neuroscientific research and treatment, and gives an up-to-date picture of the brain. It then looks at the ethical implications of various kinds of treatments, such as whether or not brain imaging will end up changing our views on free will and moral responsibility; whether patients should always be told that they are at future risk for neurological diseases; if erasing unconscious emotional memories implicated in depression can go too far; if forcing behavior-modifying drugs or surgery on violent offenders can ever be justified; the implications of drugs that enhance cognitive abilities; and how to define brain death and the criteria for the withdrawal of life–support.

The study of brain aging has been revolutionized through advances in molecular neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and brain imaging. The application of new concepts and techniques has permitted investigators to explore the changes in structure, function, and biochemistry in living humans in order to unravel mechanisms that underlie both age-related cognitive decline and preservation of cognition into old age. This book reviews both the basic science and clinical applications of brain imaging in the study of brain aging. Topics reviewed include technical issues associated with imaging studies in older brains, pathology of brain aging, structural changes in the aging brain, changes in dopamine function, and mechanisms of brain reserve and plasticity. The use of genetics in combination with brain imaging and the use of animal models are also explored. Clinical applications include the diagnosis and prediction of cognitive decline using a variety of different imaging approaches as well as a detailed description of amyloid imaging using PET scanning. Other topics include functional MRI studies in aging, the use of imaging in therapeutic monitoring and drug development, and the role of large-scale databases. The volume contains information both for those involved in brain imaging research and for those new to the field who are in need of a systematic overview.

First published in 1995, this book presents a model for understanding the visual processing underlying perception and action, proposing a broad distinction within the brain between two kinds of vision: conscious perception and unconscious ‘online’ vision. It argues that each kind of vision can occur quasi-independently of the other, and is separately handled by a quite different processing system. For this new edition, the text from the original edition has been left untouched, standing as a coherent statement of the authors' position. However, a very substantial epilogue has been added to the book, which reviews some of the key developments that support or challenge the views that were put forward in the first edition. The new chapter summarizes developments in various relevant areas of psychology, neuroscience, and behaviour. It supplements the main text by updating the reader on the contributions that have emerged from the use of functional neuroimaging, which was in its infancy when the first edition was written. Neuroimaging, and functional MRI in particular, has revolutionized the field by allowing investigators to plot in detail the patterns of activity within the visual brains of behaving and perceiving humans. The authors show how its use now allows scientists to test and confirm their proposals, based largely on evidence accrued from primate neuroscience in conjunction with studies of neurological patients.

Until very recently, our knowledge about the neural basis of cognitive aging was based on two disciplines that had very little contact with each other. Whereas the neuroscience of aging investigated the effects of aging on the brain independently of age-related changes in cognition, the cognitive psychology of aging investigated the effects of aging on cognition independently of age-related changes in the brain. The lack of communication between these two disciplines is currently being addressed by an increasing number of studies that focus on the relationships between cognitive aging and cerebral aging. This rapidly growing body of research has come to constitute a new discipline, which may be called cognitive neuroscience of aging. The goal of this book is to introduce this new discipline. This book is divided into four main sections. The first section describes non-invasive measures of cerebral aging, including structural (e.g., volumetric MRI), chemical (e.g., dopamine PET), electrophysiological (e.g., ERPs), and hemodynamic (e.g., fMRI), and discusses how they can be linked to behavioral measures of cognitive aging. The second section reviews evidence for the effects of aging on neural activity during different cognitive functions, including perception and attention, imagery, working memory, long-term memory, and prospective memory. The third section focuses on clinical and applied topics, such as the distinction between healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease and the use of cognitive training to ameliorate age-related cognitive decline. The last section describes theories that relate cognitive and cerebral aging, including models accounting for functional neuroimaging evidence and models supported by computer simulations.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is unique in being a completely non-invasive method for imaging perfusion in the brain. Relying upon a blood-borne tracer that is created by the MRI scanner itself, ASL is becoming a popular tool to study cerebral perfusion, as well as how this perfusion changes in response to neuronal activity or in disease. This primer provides an introduction to perfusion quantification using ASL MRI, focusing both on the methods needed to extract perfusion-weighted images and on how to quantify perfusion and other hemodynamic parameters. Starting with the simplest implementation of ASL, the primer details all the common acquisition methods, as well as the subsequent analysis steps required to quantify perfusion in an individual, detect changes in perfusion in response to neural activity or pharmacological intervention, and examine perfusion variations across groups of individuals. This is supported with examples from real data illustrating all the major steps in the analysis process, linked to online material where the reader can undertake the same analysis for themselves.

In 1950, Erwin Hahn pointed out that spin echoes in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) could be used to measure molecular translational motion, an effect made possible because nuclear spins carry a phase determined by the history of their residence in magnetic fields. If, through our own volition or by consequence of sample structure, magnetic fields can be given some spatial variation, and if the spin-bearing molecules translate, then the spin phases can be made to tell the story of that migration. Unlike modern bio-molecular NMR, the multitude of tricks used to measure molecular translational motion take place without the need for high spectral resolution. They work, with equal power, at low field and in the absence of spectral discrimination, and so lend themselves to that new branch of NMR technology that concerns itself with ‘outside the laboratory’ applications, in geophysics and petroleum physics, in horticulture, in food technology, in security screening and in environmental monitoring. The translational dynamics of molecules provide a signature for molecular size and shape size, the visco-elasticity of the surrounding fluid medium, their organization into supramolecular assemblies, their exchange between different sites, their intermittent binding, their confinement by a surrounding matrix or phase boundary, and the topology of that confinement. This book takes us through the various underlying principles of molecular translational dynamics, outlining the ways in which magnetic resonance, through the use of magnetic field gradients, can reveal those dynamics. It covers the full range of time and Frequency Domain methodologies, showing how they can be used, as well as advances in ‘scattering and diffraction’ methods, multidimensional exchange and correlation experiments, and orientational correlation methods ideal for studying dynamics in anisotropic environments.

Since the 1980s, MRI scanners have told us much about brain function and played an important role in the clinical diagnosis of a number of conditions — both in the brain and the rest of the body. Their routine use has made the diagnosis of brain tumours and brain damage both quicker and more accurate. However, some neuroscientific advances, in particular those that relate specifically to the mind have provoked excitement and discussion in a number of disciplines. One of the most thought provoking developments in recent neuroscience has been the progress made with ‘mind-reading’. There seems nothing more private than one's thoughts, some of which we might choose to share with others, and some not. Yet, until now, little has been published on the particular issue of privacy in relation to ‘brain’ or ‘mind’ reading. This book presents an interdisciplinary account of the neuroscientific evidence on ‘mind reading’, as well as a thorough analysis of both legal and moral accounts of privacy. The book considers such issues as the use of imaging to detect awareness in those considered to be in a vegetative state. It looks at issues of mental imaging and national security, the neurobiology of violence, and issues regarding diminished responsibility in criminals, and thus reduced punishment. It also considers how the use of neuroimaging can and should be regulated.