Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, 2nd Edition

By: Robert Sapolsky, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Robert Sapolsky

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

When are we responsible for our own actions, and when are we in the grip of biological forces beyond our control? What determines who we fall in love with? The intensity of our spiritual lives? The degree of our aggressive impulses?

These questions fall into the scientific province of behavioral biology, the field that explores interactions between the brain, mind, body, and environment that have a surprising influence on how we behave. In short, how our brains make us the individuals we are.

In this series of 24 fascinating lectures by a prominent neurobiologist, zoologist, and MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant recipient, you'll investigate how the human brain is sculpted by evolution, constrained or freed by genes, shaped by early experience, modulated by hormones, and otherwise influenced to produce a wide range of behaviors, some of them abnormal. And you'll learn how little can be explained by thinking about any of these factors alone, because some combination of influences is almost always at work.

Professor Sapolsky includes a provocative exploration of the implications of our emerging understanding of the origins of individual differences, considering such questions as: How much do these insights threaten our own sense of self and individuality? Where do we draw the line between the essence of the person and the biological abnormalities? What counts as being ill? Who is biologically impaired, and who is just different? As more and more subtle abnormalities of neurobiology are understood, how much should we worry about the temptation to label people as "abnormal"? And what happens when we each have a few of these labels?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great Courses

WOW

Just wow.. Amazing how easily he explains every. Very accessible book. A lot of big concepts and big ideas taught so well.

A Must For Secular Dharmists

Provides foundational knowledge in the various subfields of biology that are relevent to human behaviour.

Very well narrated book

The author's elegant jokes double the joy of listening to this great course. I wish some subjects were coverd with more depth instead of brief mentioning and moving to the next subjects.

This subject lectures as well as possible in 12h possible

Excellent audiobook. One cannot do a better job in 12h. Goes deep in the subject but is also very broad overview and avoids simplistic explanations (its all about hormones/childhood/...)

Highly recommended!

awesome book!

was pleasantly surprised by the depth on genetics and really enjoyed the authors reading Style along with his dry humor sometimes

a most interesting book!!

learned many new things and got a better understanding of the complications of the brain in general and the human one specific.

Perfect Follow Up

for the Great Courses lectures Philosophy Of Mind and The Secrets Of Perception. This lecture series by Robert Sapolsky really ties together the ideas presented in these two other courses by uniting the physiology of the brain and the mysteries of individuality and consciousness. It is wonderfully rich in scientific detail and yet is presented with dynamic metaphor and example so as to make it readily accessible to the layman. The one bad rating for this book is unfair, in that it faults the series for not including the lecture notes and guides. For one, this is clearly stated in the Audio description, and for another, anyone who wants to pay attention to this series will get along just fine without the guides. (Many of the references can be looked up on the internet on the fly, anyway.) This series of lectures will prepare one for the works of Ramachandran, Gazzaniga and Seung, all of which I heartily endorse for further, more in-depth neurological texts.

A truly great teacher

Robert Sapolsky is an excellent teacher and this series of lectures is a wonderful listen. As mentioned in another review this audio book is missing the course guide that people familiar with the teaching company may expect and it would make an excellent supplement to these lectures. Best case scenario audible works out a deal with the teaching company to get them, but in the mean time this is definitely worth a listen if you'd like to better understand Humans and our behavior from the neurons on up.

Smartest man on the planet

Robert is the best. When people say who's one person you'd drop everything to have lunch with Robert is the first person I can think of.

Well done

This comprehensive review of the interaction of neural physiology, genetics and human behavior is fascinating and well done.