HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING JOURNAL : HUMAN BRAIN

Mapping the Mind: Revised and Updated Edition

Today a brain scan reveals our thoughts and moods as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. We can actually observe a person’s brain registering a joke or experiencing a painful memory. In Mapping the Mind, award-winning journalist Rita Carter draws on the latest imaging technology and science to chart how human behavior and personality reflect the biological mechanisms behind thought and emotion. This acclaimed book, a complete visual guide to the coconut-sized, wrinkled gray mass we carry around inside our heads, has now been completely revised and updated throughout. Among many other topics, Carter explores obsessions and addictions, the differences between men’s and women’s brains, and memory.
• Comprehensively updated for this edition with the latest research, case studies, and contributions from distinguished scientists
• Addresses recent controversies over behavior prediction and prevention
• Includes new information on mirror neurons, unconscious cognition, and abnormalities in attention spans

I was tasked with producing a series of visuals to be featured in a journal/newspaper/supplement, communicating the words and thoughts of Bertrand Arthur William Russell. I created an insert consisting of a three double-paged spread and an outer cover based upon a World War Two era map case.

I decided to use a World War Two theme because Russell was very active within the protest of the war. Russell was a honorable and respected philosopher, born in Wales on the 18th May 1872 and died 2nd February 1970. As a pacifist he had strong views against war and conflicts, he was even imprisoned because of his beliefs. Despite his strong views, he spoke of philosophy as a war and conflict between the human mind. ‘Unless we can so enlarge our interests as to include the whole outer world, we remain like a garrison in a beleaguered fortress.’ Russell speaks as though we have to break free from this besieged defence to understand the whole outer world.

The first of the two illustrations is based on a World War Two military map, showing a besieged island in the shape of a brain, representing the mind of Russell. I have used military map symbols to show that allies (Russell’s mind) are defending against a large amount of enemy forces (the self mentally defending mind) surrounding the island. In order to break free from the attack, the allies must enlarge their advance to the outside of island, once there, the advantage will be gained and the battle for the island (mind) can then be won.

The second illustration is based on a eye-view jump map. Jump maps were used during World War Two by paratroopers in briefing, planning and initial orientation on the drop zone. The maps showed an eye-view perspective of what the parachutists would see once in the air. This helped to familiarize them with their intended drop zone and target. Like the first map the island represents the mind of Russell and ‘Knowing that the enemy prevents escape and that ultimate surrender is inevitable.’ It would be vital that the allied forces would have to find a route to break free, ‘If our life is to be great and free.’ I felt the jump map was suitable as parachutists would have been using this style of map to determine which route to take behind enemy lines, one wrong turn would result in a matter of life or death. Russell expresses that to live a great and free life we need to find the route to break free.

The third double page spread supports my historic research, it shows a letter from Winston Churchill to the chief of combined operations pressing for solutions to the initial Mulberry Harbour designs problems. The following page shows the early concept drawings for the Harbour in response to the letter. The spread helps add an authentic World War Two era theme.

I recently attended a conference called "The Brain, learning and applications" — I learned a lot and am putting some thoughts together.

The goal of this book is to make a link between fundamental research in the field of cognitive neurosciences, which now benefits from a better knowledge of the neural foundations of cerebral processing, and its clinical application, especially in neurosurgery – itself able to provide new insights into brain organization. The anatomical bases are presented, advances and limitations of the different methods of functional cerebral mapping are discussed, updated models of sensorimotor, visuospatial, language, memory, emotional, and executive functions are explained in detail. In the light of these data, new strategies of surgical management of cerebral lesions are proposed, with an optimization of the benefit–risk ratio of surgery. Finally, perspectives about brain connectivity and plasticity are discussed on the basis of translational studies involving serial functional neuroimaging, intraoperative cortico-subcortical electrical mapping, and biomathematical modeling of interactions between parallel distributed neural networks.