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Psychology » Neuroscience

Browse book recommendations:

Psychology

  • Applied Psychology
  • Autism
  • Child Psychology
  • Mental Health
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Psychology Research
  • Self Help
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Looking for the best books ever written on neuroscience? So are we. We asked the experts, including Lisa Feldman Barrett, Andrew Lees, Dick Passingham, Sebastian Seung, David Brooks and Sarah-Jane Blakemore for their reading recommendations.

Among the most commonly recommended books in this section are Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Peter C Whybrow's The Well-Tuned Brain, and Utah Frith's Autism: Explaining the Enigma. (Those seeking the best books on autism: see our tag page here.)

    The best books on Neuroscience as a Career, recommended by Andrew Lees

  • Read
    The best books on Neuroscience as a Career - An Essay on a Shaking Palsy by James Parkinson

    1

    An Essay on a Shaking Palsy
    by James Parkinson

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    The best books on Neuroscience as a Career - Take Me Home: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself by Jonathan Taylor

    2

    Take Me Home: Parkinson’s, My Father, Myself
    by Jonathan Taylor

  • Read
    The best books on Neuroscience as a Career - The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates

    3

    The Naturalist on the River Amazons
    by Henry Walter Bates

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    The best books on Neuroscience as a Career - The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    4

    The Complete Sherlock Holmes
    by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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    The best books on Neuroscience as a Career - Naked Lunch by William Burroughs

    5

    Naked Lunch
    by William Burroughs

The best books on Neuroscience as a Career, recommended by Andrew Lees

Are you considering a career in neuroscience? Neurologist Andrew Lees, one of the world’s leading authorities on Parkinson’s and author of Mentored by a Madman: The William Burroughs Experiment, talks about the books that continue to inspire him in his work.

    The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics, recommended by Anjan Chatterjee

  • Read
    The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics - Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes From and Why by Ellen Dissanayake

    1

    Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes From and Why
    by Ellen Dissanayake

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    The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics - Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain by Semir Zeki

    2

    Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain
    by Semir Zeki

  • Read
    The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics - The Neurobiology of Painting by F Clifford Rose

    3

    The Neurobiology of Painting
    by F Clifford Rose

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    The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics - Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience by G Gabrielle Starr

    4

    Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience
    by G Gabrielle Starr

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    The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics - Art, Aesthetics, and the Brain by Ed. Huston & Nadal et al

    5

    Art, Aesthetics, and the Brain
    by Ed. Huston & Nadal et al

The best books on The Neuroscience of Aesthetics, recommended by Anjan Chatterjee

Why is it that following a certain kind of brain damage, some artists’ work changes for the better? Neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist Anjan Chatterjee speaks to Five Books about how we can deconstruct the way the brain processes aesthetic experiences. He recommends the  best books on neuroaesthetics

    The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience, recommended by Dick Passingham

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    The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience - The Concept of Mind by Gilbert Ryle

    1

    The Concept of Mind
    by Gilbert Ryle

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    The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience - Perception and Communication by Donald Broadbent

    2

    Perception and Communication
    by Donald Broadbent

  • Read
    The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience - Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence by Harry Jerison

    3

    Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence
    by Harry Jerison

  • Read
    The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience - Images of Mind by Michael Posner and Marcus Raichle

    4

    Images of Mind
    by Michael Posner and Marcus Raichle

  • Read
    The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience - Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory by Donald Hebb

    5

    Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory
    by Donald Hebb

The best books on Cognitive Neuroscience, recommended by Dick Passingham

Neuroscience has banished the problem of dualism—the ‘ghost in the machine’ mulled over by philosophists since the time of Descartes, says the renowned cognitive neuroscientist Professor Dick Passingham. Here, he chooses five books that signified major breakthroughs in this fast-advancing field.

    The best books on The Human Brain, recommended by Suzana Herculano-Houzel

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    The best books on The Human Brain - Connectome by Sebastian Seung

    1

    Connectome
    by Sebastian Seung

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    The best books on The Human Brain - The Feeling of What Happens by Antonio Damasio

    2

    The Feeling of What Happens
    by Antonio Damasio

  • Read
    The best books on The Human Brain - Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham

    3

    Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
    by Richard Wrangham

  • Read
    The best books on The Human Brain - The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease by Daniel Lieberman

    4

    The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease
    by Daniel Lieberman

  • Read
    The best books on The Human Brain - The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution by Joseph Henrich

    5

    The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution
    by Joseph Henrich

The best books on The Human Brain, recommended by Suzana Herculano-Houzel

The human brain contains 86 billion neurons and burns a quarter of our energy intake. But it is by no means extraordinary, says Suzana Herculano-Houzel. Here, the Brazilian neuroscientist chooses five of the best books for understanding the complexities and connectivity of our most enigmatic organ.

    The best books on Emotion and the Brain, recommended by Morten Kringelbach

  • Read
    The best books on Emotion and the Brain - The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt

    1

    The Children's Book
    by A.S. Byatt

  • Read
    The best books on Emotion and the Brain - On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks

    2

    On the Move: A Life
    by Oliver Sacks

  • Read
    The best books on Emotion and the Brain - Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation by David Huron

    3

    Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation
    by David Huron

  • Read
    The best books on Emotion and the Brain - Sync: How Order Emerges from Chaos In the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life by Steven Strogatz

    4

    Sync: How Order Emerges from Chaos In the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life
    by Steven Strogatz

  • Read
    The best books on Emotion and the Brain - The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well Lived by Peter C. Whybrow

    5

    The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well Lived
    by Peter C. Whybrow

The best books on Emotion and the Brain, recommended by Morten Kringelbach

We live at a time of unprecedented insight into the workings of our own minds. We can use this knowledge to improve both ourselves and humanity, argues the neuroscientist.

    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain, recommended by Bradley Voytek

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    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain - The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

    1

    The Master and Margarita
    by Mikhail Bulgakov

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    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain - The City & the City by China Miéville

    2

    The City & the City
    by China Miéville

  • Read
    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain - World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

    3

    World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
    by Max Brooks

  • Read
    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

    4

    The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
    by Oliver Sacks

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    The best books on Surrealism and the Brain - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

    5

    Snow Crash
    by Neal Stephenson

The best books on Surrealism and the Brain, recommended by Bradley Voytek

Neurological disorders lead to far more surreal stories than those we find in science fiction, argues University of California neuroscientist Bradley Voytek.

    The best books on Mind and The Brain, recommended by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

  • Read
    The best books on Mind and The Brain - Autism: Explaining the Enigma by Uta Frith

    1

    Autism: Explaining the Enigma
    by Uta Frith

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    The best books on Mind and The Brain - Making up the Mind by Chris Frith

    2

    Making up the Mind
    by Chris Frith

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    The best books on Mind and The Brain - Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre

    3

    Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks
    by Ben Goldacre

  • Read
    The best books on Mind and The Brain - Saturday by Ian McEwan

    4

    Saturday
    by Ian McEwan

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    The best books on Mind and The Brain - Fermat’s Last Theorem by Simon Singh

    5

    Fermat’s Last Theorem
    by Simon Singh

The best books on Mind and The Brain, recommended by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

The Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, discusses aspects of the relationship between the mind and the brain. Recommends books on autism, the allure of neuroscience, consciousness and maths

    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book, articles and one movie, recommended by David Carmel

  • Read
    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book - Introducing Consciousness by David Papineau and Howard Selina

    1

    Introducing Consciousness
    by David Papineau and Howard Selina

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    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book - Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State by Adam Owen et al

    2

    Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State
    by Adam Owen et al

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    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book - Selective Attention Test by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons

    3

    Selective Attention Test
    by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons

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    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book - Failure to Detect Mismatches Between Intention and Outcome in a Simple Decision Task by Petter Johansson et al

    4

    Failure to Detect Mismatches Between Intention and Outcome in a Simple Decision Task
    by Petter Johansson et al

  • Read
    Consciousness for Beginners: the best book - Synecdoche, New York by Charlie Kaufman

    5

    Synecdoche, New York
    by Charlie Kaufman

Consciousness for Beginners: the best book, articles and one movie, recommended by David Carmel

What is consciousness? Can we measure it? Cognitive neuroscientist David Carmel introduces some of the philosophical and scientific complexities of identifying what was formerly known as the ‘soul.’

    The best books on Neuroscience, recommended by David Brooks

  • Read
    The best books on Neuroscience - The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

    1

    The Happiness Hypothesis
    by Jonathan Haidt

  • Read
    The best books on Neuroscience - Descartes' Error by Antonio Damasio

    2

    Descartes' Error
    by Antonio Damasio

  • Read
    The best books on Neuroscience - Smart World by Richard Ogle

    3

    Smart World
    by Richard Ogle

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    The best books on Neuroscience - The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker

    4

    The Blank Slate
    by Steven Pinker

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    The best books on Neuroscience - Consilience by Edward O. Wilson

    5

    Consilience
    by Edward O. Wilson

The best books on Neuroscience, recommended by David Brooks

It’s hard to understand many things about the world around us without a knowledge of the unconscious workings of the brain, argues the New York Times columnist David Brooks. He chooses five accessible books that’ll get you into neuroscience as well.

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We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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