Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Subject index
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Contents
Chapter 1: The brain as a survival machine
Chapter 2. A chemical code for survival
Chapter 3. Serotonin, steroids and signalling
Chapter 4. The brain and stress
Chapter 5. The weight-watcher in the brain
Chapter 6. Staying wet and salty
Chapter 7. Keeping warm, staying cool
Chapter 8. The sexual brain
Chapter 9. Bonding, motherhood and love
Chapter 10. The brain goes to war
Chapter 11. The rhythm of life
Chapter 12. The brain breaks down
Chapter 13. Individuality
Chapter 1 introduces the idea of a specialised part of the brain concerned with individual survival and adaptation to adversity – the limbic system.
Chapter 2 discusses the peptide chemical code used by the limbic system and suggests that this is the ‘language’ of the brain’s survival machine.
Chapter 3 discusses other chemical signals in the brain, particularly serotonin and related molecules. Introduces steroid hormones as third signal between body and brain.
Chapter 4 is all about stress. What it means to the body and brain, how the brain perceives and encodes a state of stress, and what it does about it.
Chapter 5 is about the way that the brain controls food intake and body weight, and why this can go wrong in Western society.
Chapter 6 is about how we maintain our body water and salt at proper levels, and how the brain prevents us drying out or losing too much salt.
Chapter 7 is about how the brain keeps us warm in the cold, or cool in the heat, and what happens when we become feverish or lose control of our body temperature. .
Chapter 8 is about how the brain controls sexual behaviour, and how hormones and the limbic system talk to each other to determine when we have sex and why.
Chapter 9 is about bonding, attachment and love: major factors in social structure and individual relationships. Is there a code in the limbic system for this?
Chapter 10 discusses aggression - its place in the survival of a species and an individual, and how the brain drives our competitiveness and the will to win.
Chapter 11 describes how the brain orders the events of the day and the years, and the importance of daily and annual programmes (rhythms) for adaptation and survival .
Chapter 12 discusses what happens when adaptation fails, or the cost of adversity becomes too great. In particular, it considers the role of emotional responses in adaptation and how disordered mood states can result in depression.
Chapter 13 sums up the book. It considers the role of genetic variation in the ability of individuals to adapt to unusual demands, and how genes interact with a person’s environment to influence survival and success.
Chapter 1: The brain as a survival machine
Chapter 2. A chemical code for survival
Chapter 3. Serotonin, steroids and signalling
Chapter 4. The brain and stress
Chapter 5. The weight-watcher in the brain
Chapter 6. Staying wet and salty
Chapter 7. Keeping warm, staying cool
Chapter 8. The sexual brain
Chapter 9. Bonding, motherhood and love
Chapter 10. The brain goes to war
Chapter 11. The rhythm of life
Chapter 12. The brain breaks down
Chapter 13. Individuality
Chapter 1 introduces the idea of a specialised part of the brain concerned with individual survival and adaptation to adversity – the limbic system.
Chapter 2 discusses the peptide chemical code used by the limbic system and suggests that this is the ‘language’ of the brain’s survival machine.
Chapter 3 discusses other chemical signals in the brain, particularly serotonin and related molecules. Introduces steroid hormones as third signal between body and brain.
Chapter 4 is all about stress. What it means to the body and brain, how the brain perceives and encodes a state of stress, and what it does about it.
Chapter 5 is about the way that the brain controls food intake and body weight, and why this can go wrong in Western society.
Chapter 6 is about how we maintain our body water and salt at proper levels, and how the brain prevents us drying out or losing too much salt.
Chapter 7 is about how the brain keeps us warm in the cold, or cool in the heat, and what happens when we become feverish or lose control of our body temperature. .
Chapter 8 is about how the brain controls sexual behaviour, and how hormones and the limbic system talk to each other to determine when we have sex and why.
Chapter 9 is about bonding, attachment and love: major factors in social structure and individual relationships. Is there a code in the limbic system for this?
Chapter 10 discusses aggression - its place in the survival of a species and an individual, and how the brain drives our competitiveness and the will to win.
Chapter 11 describes how the brain orders the events of the day and the years, and the importance of daily and annual programmes (rhythms) for adaptation and survival .
Chapter 12 discusses what happens when adaptation fails, or the cost of adversity becomes too great. In particular, it considers the role of emotional responses in adaptation and how disordered mood states can result in depression.
Chapter 13 sums up the book. It considers the role of genetic variation in the ability of individuals to adapt to unusual demands, and how genes interact with a person’s environment to influence survival and success.