Ernst Poppel - Böcker

These truly interdisciplinary conference proceedings give an account of modern brain research. The whole range from the molecular to the systemic level is spanned. The book intends to stimulate the use of supercomputers, for analyzing and comparing images obtained with PET (positron emission tomography), MEG (magnetoencephalography or fNMR (functional magnetic resonance imaging), or for simulating neural networks. The book also offers a basis on which scientists from different disciplines can assess the current state of the field.

The Federation of German Scientists together with the Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, organized an interdisciplinary and international "autumn school" in 2023 when 30 young researchers and students participated. This important volume comprises lectures presented by international leading scientists and prominent experts from different academic fields who provided the background knowledge for "balanced sustainability in a changing world".Topics selected in the first block of lectures focused on climate change and biodiversity. And in the second block, lectures were given on social and personal challenges in a changing world: How should "smart cities" be organized in the future, and how a successful urban transformation can be managed. Then it was explained how a neuropolitical approach to humanization can help to overcome polarization in countries. The aspect of a necessary social togetherness was addressed in the third block with an example from Nepal and beyond. Finally, in a fourth block, questions of peace and intercultural spirit were evaluated.How can we reach and maintain equanimity in a changing world? How can peace be obtained? All these lectures were followed by intense discussions with the students, and their questions reflect the interdisciplinary background of the participants.It is hoped that the pragmatic suggestions from the participants of this autumn school will provide inspiration in finding solutions for imminent global and local problems.

Neuroaesthetics has become an important new field in the sciences bringing together researchers from cognitive science (as a general term including brain science, psychology, anthropology, ethology, artificial intelligence), the humanities (including linguistics, philosophy), and the arts (artists from the visual arts, music and poetry). Thus, neuroaesthetics is a prime example of successful interdisciplinarity. In the book Neuroaesthetics: Exploring Beauty Within and Around Us we distinguish and represent in several articles two different kinds of interdisciplinarity: "Horizontal interdisciplinarity" brings together in a complementary way different fields like (as an example) psychology, linguistics and poetry. "Vertical interdisciplinarity" refers to research on data generating mechanisms like (as an example) neural activities in the brain being associated with subjective experiences of "beauty". In the book articles refer to the visual arts ("art in space"), to "faces in art", to poetry and music ("art in time"), and to general ideas (bridging art and science). This is a unique collection of articles with a broad scope.