Отличная книга, о зарождении neuroscience, развитии и собственно о механизмах памяти. Почему practice makes perfect, а repetitio est mater studiorum, и какие за всем этим стоят клеточные, биохимические и генетические механизмы. Для меня, по большому счету, книга иллюстрирует саму себя: не раз во время прочтения я ловила себя на мысли, что где-то эту булочку я уже видела – опыты Ходжкина-Хаксли, строение коннектома, гиппокампы лондонских таксистов. А ведь и правда видела – в прочитанных раньше статьях, в пройденном на Курсере курсе по neuroscience, круги замыкаются, вопросы проясняются, непередаваемое чувство!

In addition to the most conspicuous contents of the book -- the introduction to relatively modern knowledge in neuroscience and its historical development, and of course Dr. Kandel’s life story -- which are intriguing already in themselves, I think it’s worth taking serious notes during reading, of how he chose directions in doing science. Many of his thought processes spark wisdom of a mature scientist who balanced well the pursuit of knowledge and practical career considerations. In this respect this autobiography has done a great job and would be ideal for any young student interested in science, or for anyone who wants to understand what a scientific career and the actual scientific process in the field are like.

As an example, the most important thing in doing biological research is to choose which system to study (e.g. focusing on giant squid axons was crucial in early days of neuroscience), if not which question to ask -- Dr. Kandel detailed both topics throughout the book. As we follow his career, we see how he started with interests in cognitive functions from a psychoanalytic perspective, and ended up studying learning and memory using invertebrate neurons. His story shows us although it is important to be creative and diligent in doing research, it is more important to work in the right direction. I also particularly like some of his observations on the scientific methodologies, such as how psychoanalysis sadly drifted further and further away from experiments and objectivity, and the story about the philosopher Karl Popper's interaction with his colleague on a concrete scientific issue, of whether synaptic signal should be electrical or chemical.

There are some caveats with some of his advices, though. Dr. Kandel took great risk in his career when he took a leap of faith in studying the invertebrate neuron, an unpopular direction warned by his colleagues then, and he considered it an important and successful move. It's true scientific progress requires creativity and exploration, but it's also true that Dr. Kandel came from a well-educated family and was already on a path to success mere by being at NIH. Many scientists with less stellar resume and fewer alternative career options would have much less leisure in taking such risks. I felt that he didn’t stress his privileged position enough, and this story might be somewhat impractical for many.

Ce livre est tout à fait époustouflant! Il s'agit d'une autobiographie du scientifique Eric Kandel. C'est à la fois un témoignage historique et scientifique ; les péripéties de sa vie et celles de ses recherches sur la mémoire. Au début, il se focalise sur son éducation: on retrouve la frénésie de la vie de la Vienne d'entre-deux-guerre (on peut croiser avec le témoignage de Stefan Zweig par exemple) et même de son idéalisation. Issu d'une famille juive autrichienne, il est profondément marqué par la psychanalyse et les travaux de Freud. C'est dans cette voie qu'il commence ses recherches. Après ses études secondaires à New York, ce sont des études d'Histoire qu'il suit. On comprend vite que ce sont les contacts humains qui sont déterminants, dans un environnement moteur, pour mener à bien son projet de recherche. De fil en aiguille, grâce à l'appui de sa famille, de sa femme, et de ses rencontres fructueuses et volontaires de collègues, il élabore la nouvelle théorie de l'esprit. Il intercale les résultats de ses recherches. Il explique ainsi avec pédagogie le fonctionnement des synapses, le tout agrémenté de schéma (et j'insiste, parce que ça aide vraiment à comprendre le côté scientifique sans être spécialiste de neurobiologie). Si vous vous intéressez à la mémoire et à son fonctionnement, au processus d'apprentissage, ce livre me semble désormais indispensable.

This is a thoroughly intriguing read. Quite a detailed account of Mr. Kandel's career and the entire history of basic science breakthroughs that built up neurology. From Freud to Cajal to modern day technology (2000's), this book gives an excellent lay friendly technical depiction of simple neuronal mechanisms, and at the same times tells a great story of Mr. Kandel's life long journey in pursuit of science. Highly recommend!

Я думал это научпоп, а это мемуары. Next.

I wanted a book about the physical implementation of memory in the brain. Fifty or so pages in, all I had learned was that Kandel had been molested by a nurse when he was a boy. A heart-warming story this might be, but the word science should be stripped from its title.

5/11/2014
تعتمد حركة )الاحياء( في الخلايا العصبية للدماغ على ثلاثة ركائز اساسية
The biology of nerve cell
1.tالخلية العصبية او ’ نيورون’ هو الوحدة الاساس في عملية حركة الاشارات في الدماغ
“The Neuron doctrine” the nerve cell or neuron is the fundamental building block and elementary signaling unit of the brain”
2.tالنظرية الايونية والتي تركز على عملية نقل المعلومات (الاشارات) داخل الخلية حيث تقوم الخلية الواحدة بانشاء اشارات الاكترونية تسمى action potential او امكانيات الفعل او العمل ان صح التعبير.
“the Ionic hypothesis” focuses on the transmission of the information within the nerve cell” where individual nerve cell generate electrical signals, called action potentials
3.tالنظرية الكيميائية والتي تركز على عملية نقل المعلومات (الاشارات) بين الخلايا العصبية. هي تطرح التساؤل حول كيفية تواصل الخلايا فيما بينها من خلال اطلاق اشارة كيميائية تسمى " موصل نيرون" في حين تقوم الخلية المستقبلة للاشارة باستيعاب الاشارة والاجابة من خلال جزؤ محدد في سطحها الغشائي يسمى "المستقبل" او حاسة الاستقبال
The Chemical theory of synaptic transmission “ focuses on the transmission of information between nerve cells”. How neurons communicates with another by releasing a chemical signal called neuron transmitter , the second cell recognizes the signal and responds by means of specific molecule in its surface membrane called a receptor

كما ان الدارسين والباحثين في هذا المجال يطرحون اسئلة في غاية الاهمية وهي من قبيل كيفية تمييز هذه الخلايا والنيورونات للمعلومات ما اذا مانت ترى ضوءا او شيئا ثقيلا او حرارة او حتى المدة والفترة الزمنية؟وكيف تميز هذه النيرونات بين اشارات الحواس المختلفة؟ فالاشارات كلها متشابهة وبنفس الطريقة لكن ما يختلف هو المكان المحدد للخلايا التي تفعل وتعمل عند استقبال وارسال الاشارات والمعلومات specific neural pathways for each class of sensation






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يتكلم كانديل عن ذكرياته وعائلته كيهود في ڤيينا قبل الحرب العالمية
الثانية وفي طور صعود النازية وهتلر، في بداية حديثة كان يذكر كيف كانت ڤيينا مدينة راقية ومتحضرة وشعبها وخصوصا اليهود كانوا اصحاب ثقافة واخلاق وعلم وثروة. ويقول مستغربا ومحللا كيف تحول كل هذا مع صعود النازية وكيف أصبح شعب ڤيينا اكثر عنصرية ضد اليهود من النازية الألمان ويبرر كل هذا العداء بالقول انه من الحسد حيث ان الڤيينيين بعد ان رأوْا نجاح اليهود في كافة المجالات العلمية والسياسية والاقتصادية الخ حسدوهم خصوصا في المجالات الأكاديمية وهذا كون لديهم رغبة في الثأر منهم(اليهود).
وينقل عن بعض الباحثين في تاريخ تلك الحقبة كيف استغنى الڤيينيين وأصبحوا اصحاب مكانة وثروة من خلال سرقة اليهود وأخذ منازلهم ومناصبهم ووضائفهم وكيف ان جل ماهم فيه من خير الان هو من حصاد تلك السرقات قبل 60 عام.
أقول يالسخرية ومن أين أتى خير اليهود الان؟ أليس من سرقتنا المستمرة منذ 60 عام او اكثر. يقول الله سبحانه وتعالى

"وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُم مِّن بَعْدِ إِيمَانِكُمْ كُفَّاراً حَسَدًا مِّنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِهِم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْحَقُّ فَاعْفُواْ وَاصْفَحُواْ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِير"

ويقول

"أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَى مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ فَقَدْ آتَيْنَا آلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَآتَيْنَاهُم مُّلْكًا عَظِيمًا"

ثم يقول كانديل ان هناك نوعين من العنصرية ضد اليهود، لأول هو من الحضارة اليهودية او عنصريّة حضارية يمكن التخلص منها عن طريق تغيير الدين من اليهودية الى دين اخر كالكاثوليك. والثاني هي عنصرية عرقية ضد اليهود بما هم يهود ولا يمكن التخلص منها الا عن طريق تهجير اليهود او التخلص منهم (القتل).

اعتقد والله العالم ان معظم اليهود (الصهاينة) الان لديهم عنصرية عرقية لنا نحن العرب وليست ثقافية او حضارية.

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"......How is one to understand the sudden, vicious brutality of so many people? How could a highly educated society so quickly embrace punitive policies and actions rooted in contempt for an entire people?
Such questions are difficult to answer. .......I doubt very much that any such quasi-genetic predisposition would operate in a vacuum. The Germans as a whole did not share the vicious anti-Semitism of the Austrians. How, then, did Vienna’s cultural values become so radically dissociated from its moral values?

Certainly one important reason for the actions of the Viennese in 1938 was sheer opportunism. The successes of the Jewish community—economic, political, cultural, and academic—generated envy and a desire for revenge among non-Jews, especially those in the university.
Nazi party membership among university professors greatly exceeded that in the population at large. As a result, the non-Jewish Viennese were eager to advance themselves by replacing Jews in the professions: Jewish university professors, lawyers, and doctors quickly found themselves without jobs. Many Viennese simply took possession of Jewish homes and belongings. Thus, as Tina Walzer and Stephen Templ’s systematic study of the period has revealed, a “large number of lawyers, judges, and physicians improved their living standards in 1938 by plundering their Jewish neighbors. The success of many Austrians today is based on the money and property stolen sixty years ago.”

Another reason for the dissociation of cultural and moral values was the move from a cultural to a racial form of anti-Semitism.

Cultural anti-Semitism is based on the idea of “Jewishness” as a religious or cultural tradition that is acquired through learning, through distinctive traditions and education.
........However, it also holds that as long as Jewish identity is acquired through upbringing in a Jewish home, these characteristics can be undone by education or religious conversion, in which case the Jew overcomes the Jew in himself or herself. A Jew who converts to Catholicism can, in principle, be as good as any other Catholic.

Racial anti-Semitism, on the other hand, is thought to have its origins in the belief that Jews as a race are genetically different from other races.

This idea derives from the Doctrine of Deicide, which was long taught by the Roman Catholic Church. As Frederick Schweitzer, a Catholic historian of Jews, has argued, this doctrine gave rise to the popular belief that the Jews killed Christ, a view not renounced by the Catholic Church until recently. According to Schweitzer, this doctrine argued that the Jewish perpetrators of deicide were a race so innately lacking in humanity that they must be genetically different, subhuman. One therefore could remove them from the other human races without compunction.
Once racial anti-Semitism replaced cultural anti-Semitism, no Jew could ever become a “true” Austrian. Conversion—that is to say, religious conversion—was no longer possible. The only solution to the Jewish question was expulsion or elimination of the Jews."

به خاطر ترجمه‌اش 4 از 5 میدم در غیر این صورت ریتش 5 هست.

The book provides a perfect explanation how difficult it is to be a real scientist and how to combine so many factors in life and research. A perfect motivation. And also with strong bias in my topic of interest: everything about memory.

Years ago I added this book to my little "to read" list with expectations of this book being helpful on how to improve memory. Well, I was way off the mark with this.

After having read the book, I'd guess the target audience is a neuroscientist or person aspiring to become one in the future. Luckily, I am a curious physicist and getting a book about an of science in which I'm clueless, is an attractive adventure.

At points, the technical chapters do get over the top. I will likely forget all the cyclic AMPs, kinase A's and other peculiar names, yet it left me with an intuitive understanding, a mental visualisation of sorts, that I am grateful for. This book tackled the topic from the very beginning which was especially helpful for a person having a minimal background in the biology side of things. It became more complex (and maybe tedious) with time, yet it was not impossible to follow the book through.

Another part of the book was very autobiographical, which led to lots of names (which, again, I'll likely forget) and educated me slightly more about some aspects of history. I do not remember myself reading a book which emphasized Jews so much, thus seeing history from the authors perspective was really educational and interesting.

I wanted to give this book a five-star review, however, it did drag on a bit, so I'll take half a star away.

The book did have a great overview of how the science of memory came to be, yet I wonder what happened in the past ten years, the time after the book was published.

Incrível! São impressionantes as descobertas da fisiologia do cérebro ao longo da vida dele. Muito interessante.

This was an excellent read for me on several levels. I picked it up to learn to more about the science behind the formation of short and long term memories and was not disappointed. Dr. Kandel undertakes the task of explaining the scientific research in neurology and the mind to which he’s devoted his life. He succeeds admirably at making his descriptions simple enough for a general reader for whom high school or college biology may be a distant memory. What I hadn’t expected to find were the biographical details that showed how the memory of fleeing Austria with his family as a child to escape the Nazi regime affected the author his entire life. He also describes his efforts to make the current Austrian government and scientific community acknowledge Austria’s role in the Holocaust. Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed were the author’s descriptions of a life spent “doing science.” He is generous in his praise of colleagues and seems to have had no trouble navigating the politics of an academic career. Finally, I was touched by the love and respect with which he spoke of his wife Denise, who made sacrifices scientific career to shoulder most of the responsibility for raising their two children while he devoted himself to his passion for scientific discovery.