Torn with this one.

It’s an autobiography of someone I knew little about. I read this to gain insight into cognitive memory and relearning over bad habits.

In the end this became in depth into the science of memory. I mean this stuff pans over decades, so it’s detail can be off putting even for someone so interested in biology as I.

A well written book, but it doesn’t flow very easily. It was a slog.

I'm really enjoying this book so far, especially as I'm considering a career in neuroscience research. Kandel's memoirs are both personal and historical. Reading about Kandel's personal growth to eventually become one of the leading scientists of the field has given me much opportunity to reflect on my own career goals. Also learning about the historical development of neuroscience as a discipline has been an interesting to the field as well (and much lighter to read than Principles of Neuroscience!).

The autobiography documents the personal and scientific journey of Eric Kandel, a Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology. Highly influenced by the psychoanalysis movement which has strong foundation in Vienna in the early 20th century, the scientist originally aspired to be a doctor working on clinical psychiatry, but found his calling in biology research, in particular one that focuses on the brain.

I found a few turn of events that shaped the scientist career particularly interesting:

Originally a history major, Kandel did not finish his basic science training, let alone scientific research late in his college career. I was particularly amused (I'm not sure how much this is exaggerated, but I greatly appreciated the author's candor) that his interests in science were highly influenced by the partners he had dated along the way, some of whom were daughters of prominent neuro-scientists and psychiatrists. Success sometimes is not a planned path - you are who you are shaped by the people around you and that you've met along the way.

Motivated by understanding the physiological mechanism for memory and cognition of the human brain, Kandel took a reductionist approach and chose Aplysia, a sea-snail as the main research bed for studying learning, namely habitualization, sensitization and classical conditioning. Despite advice by other scientists that moving from studying on human/mammalian brain to an invertebrate is actually against the research headwind and might be too narrow, Kandel was convinced that it is the way to make progress for two reasons.

First Aplysia has a relatively small number of cells (roughly a thousand) that one can exhaust, and the cells are order of magnitude larger in size compared to traditional research beds, which makes it easier to disect, observe and study. Second, the author was convinced that the lessons from studying Aplysia can be transferred to studies on mammalian or human, because nature is conservative -- "a mechanism used in the cells of one tissue is likely to be retained and used in the cells of another tissue", as the author described.

The first conviction is rational and derived from years of experience working in research labs, the latter is more of less conjectural but was proven out to be genuine insight. I found this reductionist approach key to his scientific success, as it was oftentimes most crucial to make progress, as opposed to getting trapped by the complexity of the problem, despite its importance.

Finally, although one would most likely argue that Kandel is cell biologist, he pivoted and picked up gene-research tools as they achieved breakthrough in the second half of 20th century, and he used these tools to build on his research on Aplysia, and study biological mechanism for short-term and long-term memory mechanism. As evident in his research careers, he learned and evolved through collaborating with experts, even though he did not necessarily have experience in those fields when he entered. These research agendas, however, are connected through his over-arching interests in deciphering the mechanisms of attainment, transfer, and storage of memory, which is his north-star.

I have not taken a biology class since high school, but I found Eric Kandel's narrative and story on biological research fascinating and interesting to follow. The author also has a humorous and candid tone in his words. It feels deeply human in his discussions of his journey leaving Vienna with his family during WWII, and how his roots and upbringings shaped him as a person. I would highly recommend.

Kandel is well known for being an incredible scientist and creative pioneer in his field, and in this book he is also a delightful storyteller. I loved reading about his journey that led to his lifelong goal to understand the neural basis of memory, and he ties this quest beautifully with his traumatic childhood in Vienna and his initial desire in medical school to understand human consciousness through psychoanalysis.

This book is introduced as being geared towards those who have little background in neuroscience, but I did learn a lot about the links between discovery that led us to what we know today (i.e. how Sutherland's discovery of second messenger cAMP helped shape Kandel's uncovering of that link to neuronal memory consolidation). I also admired his courage in moving forward with his research on a little-studied organism, the aplysia snail, and was able to make foundational discoveries at the biochemical and cellular level of memory. In his later life after winning the Nobel Prize, Kandel raised conversation and recognition of Austria's involvement in the Holocaust, bringing us back full circle to his childhood and initial college studies in history. Overall, this was a beautiful life story and would recommend to anyone interested in science, medicine, and/or history.

Biografias são gêneros que fascinam pela sua capacidade de recapitular a vida de pessoas extraordinárias. Neste caso, temos não apenas as memórias (uma espécie de autobiografia), mas também - e principalmente - uma biografia da neurociência cognitiva.

O autor, vencedor do prêmio Nobel, nos pega pela mão e nos guia por uma viagem pela sua vida ao mesmo tempo que desbrava os caminhos acadêmicos que trilhou até chegar ao seu grande triunfo. Claro que tudo isso tem como pano de fundo momentos decisivos da história da própria humanidade, já que Eric R. Kandel é um sobrevivente do holocausto e a história de sua própria mente representa muito bem seus achados no campo científico.

Os que gostam de biografias devem gostar, mas o livro tem um valor impressionante pela sua capacidade de divulgação científica: traduzindo para o mais leigo os complexos achados desse campo tão fascinante de estudo.

In search of memory by Robert Kandel

This was a strange and unusual read. Kandel combines a personal autobiography with the history of and an introduction to neuroscience. (With footnotes from the history of the philosophy of mind). If you are here because of Kandel you may like this, if you are looking for a history of neuroscience, some of the nostalgic longing for 20th century Vienna may be distracting - it was to me - and I love history.

Some key takeaways for me:

• There is serious physicalist work happening at understanding the neurobiological foundation of moods, emotions, memories, personality and identity.

• Any long term memory - by definition - changes the mind.

• The brain has a great amount of neuroplasticity, anything that can be learned can be unlearned, and relearned.

• Neuroscience solves Kantian a priori vs Lockian tabula rasa debate in philosophy. "The anatomy of the neural circuit is a simple example of Kantian a priori knowledge, while changes in the strength of particular connections in the neural circuit reflect the influence of experience. Moreover, consistent with Locke’s notion that practice makes perfect, the persistence of such changes underlies memory."

• Declarative vs procedural memories: "What we usually think of as conscious memory we now call, explicit (or declarative) memory. It is the conscious recall of people, places, objects, facts, and events. Unconscious memory we now call implicit (or procedural) memory. It underlies habituation, sensitization, and classical conditioning, as well as perceptual and motor skills such as riding a bicycle or serving a tennis ball."

• Emotions begin in the subconsciousness: "a consensus is emerging on how emotions are generated. The first step is thought to be the unconscious, implicit evaluation of a stimulus, followed by physiological responses, and finally by conscious experience that may or may not persist. "

• "Normal anxiety exists in two major forms: instinctive anxiety (instinctive or innate fear), which is built into the organism and is under more rigid genetic control, and learned anxiety (learned fear), to which an organism may be genetically predisposed but which is basically acquired through experience. - Both forms of fear can be deranged. Instinctive anxiety is pathological when it is excessive and persistent enough to paralyze action. Learned anxiety is pathological when it is provoked by events that present no real threat,"

• "Depressed people express a systematic negative bias in the way they think about life. They almost invariably have unrealistically high expectations of themselves, overreact dramatically to any disappointment, put themselves down whenever possible, and are pessimistic about their future. This distorted pattern of thinking… is not simply a symptom, a reflection of a conflict lying deep within the psyche, but a key agent in the actual development and continuation of the depressive disorder."

This is half a memoir, half a book on the biological basis of cognition, and I dove into it enthusiastically. Unfortunately, there's easily enough material in here for two books, one for the personal aspects and one for the science. I burned out halfway through Kandel's career, and couldn't muster the enthusiasm to finish the final hundred-odd pages before it was due back at the library.

Still, I'll keep an eye out for a used copy, because the subject is fascinating indeed: how does one study the biological foundations of thought and cognition? What's the mechanism for self-awareness? Understanding how electrical impulses are propagated between neurons is difficult enough: how do you design an experiment to measure thoughts? Kandel's certainly one for asking the big questions, and his tales of laboratory serendipity offer an amusing look inside the life of a research scientist.

معرفی شیرازه:
https://soundcloud.com/bbcpersian/l4d...

Weird combination of biography and history of neurobiology.

It's an autobiography by a Nobel prize winning neuroscientist. Kandel devoted his career to investigating the neurological processes of memory, down to the molecular level. I found the book fascinating for a number of reasons. First, as a guide to what memory is: its function and how it operates within and between neurons. Second, as a guided journey through a life-long effort to develop an approach to solving a problem I would have thought intractable. Third, a history of the early days of genetic engineering. Finally, a fairly candid insight into the mind of an ambitious scientist with a career to advance

At times it was very difficult to understand due to the density of the material, but well worth pushing through to the end to glean just how complex and amazing the study of the brain is, and how far we have to go. Begins with history, then describes in deep scientific detail the progression of Eric’s life and the experiments he was a part of. Ends with an exploration of where the study of the brain is going and the big questions left to answer. A difficult read but nothing short of fascinating.

This was a fascinating read, which makes me wish I had had more history of science classes back in University. It's awe inspiring to see that during one lifetime and some, thinking about the brain went from virtually bronze age to modern neuroscience.
One of the fundamental driver of that new knowledge has been animal research, and as someone who experimented on animals his entire life, it is somewhat surprising that Eric Kendel never once addressed in his book his personal view on the ethics of animal research.
The second half of the book was pretty technical and harder for me to get through as a non-biologist, but I'm still happy I pushed through. An enlightening read, if a difficult one at times.