Splendors and Miseries of the Brain

Semir Zeki is a visual neurobiologist in the Department of Cognitive Neurology at University College London. Zeki has pioneered the study of the primate visual brain and furthered research on how affective states are generated by visual inputs. He has published extensively in his field, including the books Inner Vision: an Exploration of Art and the Brain (1999) and A Vision of the Brain (Wiley-Blackwell, 1993), and has also co-authored a book with the late French painter Balthus, entitled La Quête de l’essentiel (1995).

"'Courageous and carefully considered ... Zeki's book is wide in its sympathies and sources, and it deserves attention as part of a fascinating enquiry set to continue for many years to come." (Brain, November 2009) “Set ... quite apart from the snappiness of most contemporary science-writing ... the book thinks hard, feels warmly and puts out provocative suggestions.” (London Review of Books, October 2009)“I enjoyed reading this book and appreciated the attempt of the author to bridge the expansive chasm between experimental result on visual sensory input and the intimate human experiences for which we all strive.” (The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, September 2009)"Zeki’s book has a beautiful and enigmatic cover and title. Zeki explores the unachievable through the works of artists and writers, concluding with Freud’s Civilisation and its Discontents. Counsellors with a background both in neuroscience and an interest in the arts will find it a fascinating read." (Therapy Today, September 2009)"An exuberant read." (Times Higher Education, April 2009)"The book offers a glimpse into the physiological, neurological and emotional mechanisms of the most profound human part of our experience." (Yoga and Health, February 2009)“This is a brave and unusual book¯what you are trying to do is look at the detailed neuroarchitecture of the brain, your particular specialty is how the brain sees (vision), and then apply it to a wider range of cultural ideas. I loved this book.” (Andrew Marr, Start The Week, Radio 4, November 2008)"What was once dangerous territory is now the hottest theme in brain research. the subtitle of Semir Zeki's excellent new book is Love, Creativity and the Quest for Human Happiness ... .One of the world's leading neurophysiologist [Zeki] has turned to brain imaging to explore matters as seemingly outside brain science's territory as beauty in literature and art - and even 'romantic love.'" (Guardian, December 2008)“This is going to lead to a new way of writing about the arts, and a new audience for certain kinds of science at the same time. (Start The Week, Radio 4, November 2008)

• List of Figures viiNote to the Reader ixAcknowledgments xIntroduction 1Part I Abstraction and the Brain 71 Abstraction 92 The Brain and its Concepts 213 Inherited Brain Concepts 264 The Distributed Knowledge-Acquiring System of the Brain 355 The Acquired Synthetic Brain Concepts 426 The Synthetic Brain Concept and the Platonic Ideal 467 Creativity and the Source of Perfection in the Brain 50Part II Brain Concepts and Ambiguity 598 Ambiguity in the Brain and in Art 619 Processing and Perceptual Sites in the Brain 6510 From Unambiguous to Ambiguous Knowledge 7311 Higher Levels of Ambiguity 87Part III Unachievable Brain Concepts 99Introduction 10112 Michelangelo and the Non finito 10213 Paul Cézanne and the Unfinished 11114 Unfinished Art in Literature 120Part IV Brain Concepts of Love 129Conte by Arthur Rimbaud 13115 The Brain’s Concepts of Love 13216 The Neural Correlates of Love 13717 Brain Concepts of Unity and Annihilation in Love 15018 Sacred and Profane 15819 The Metamorphosis of the Brain Concept of Love in Dante 17020 Wagner and Tristan und Isolde 18221 Thomas Mann and Death in Venice 19322 A neurobiological analysis of Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents 203Notes 213Index 227