Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World

Inside your head there is an amazing labor–saving device; more effective than the latest high–tech computer. Your brain frees you from the everyday tasks of moving about in the world around you, allowing you to concentrate on the things that are important to you: making friends and influencing people. However, the ‘you’ that is released into this social world is also a construction of your brain. It is your brain that enables you to share your mental life with the people around you. Making up the Mind is the first accessible account of experimental studies showing how the brain creates our mental world. Using evidence from brain imaging, psychological experiments, and studies with patients, Chris Frith, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, explores the relationship between the mind and the brain.

Prologue: Real scientists don’t study the mind. Part I: Seeing through the brain’s illusions:. 1. Clues from a damaged brain. 2. What a normal brain tells us about the world. 3. What the brain tells us about our bodies. Part II: How the brain does it:. 4. Getting ahead by prediction. 5. Our perception of the world is a fantasy that coincides with reality. 6. How brains model minds. Part III: Culture and the brain:. 7. Sharing minds – How the brain creates culture. Epilogue: Me and my Brain. References/Further Reading

Chris Frith is Professor in Neuropsychology at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. His publications include Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction (2003, with Eve C. Johnstone) and The Neuroscience of Social Interaction (2004, edited with Daniel Wolpert).

" Making up the Mind is an excellent ′big picture′ book. Exactly as its subtitle indicates, this book describes how our brains construct an internal model of the world that enables us to successfully interact with others and generally navigate a complex world." ( Psychology Learning and Training , Autumn 2008) "Neuroscience and psychology often struggle to answer the really interesting questions about the mind, but in this fascinating book, Chris Frith shows that science can finally start explaining how and why we experience the world as we do. Anyone interested in human nature – not just the nuts and bolts of neural circuits – will find his storytelling compelling. Frith delves into topics such as delusions, illusions, imagination and imitation, bringing clarity and insight to the simplest abservations and most complex experiments alike."  (New Scientist) "Making up the Mind is an interesting book to everybody who wants to learn more about how the brain gives rise to our mental experiences...As Frith himself depicts in a sort of framing story, you will easily find yourself talking about these ideas at your next dinner party, as well as use it for serious considerations on the brain or as a toolbox for next term′s essay. A stimulating new book by a distinguished scientist who knows what he is talking about." ( Metapsychology Online Reviews) "Frith has produced an enthralling discussion on the subtle links between mind and brain, sometimes with humorous liaisons between himself, as narrator, and others who might be labelled as sceptics, unbelievers." (Psychologist) “Stands apart from many that have been written lately … For those who have time to read only one book … this should be it. Essential.” (Choice Reviews)