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It is increasingly being recognized that the experimental and theoretical study of the complex system brain requires the cooperation of many disciplines, in cluding biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, and others. In this way brain research has become a truly interdis ciplinary endeavor. Indeed, the most important progress is quite often made when different disciplines cooperate. Thus it becomes necessary for scientists to look across the fence surrounding their disciplines. The present book is written precisely in this spirit. It addresses graduate students, professors and scientists in a variety of fields, such as biology, medicine and physics. Be yond its mathematical representation the book gives ample space to verbal and pictorial descriptions of the main and, as I believe, fundamental new insights, so that it will be of interest to a general readership, too. I use this opportunity to thank my former students, some of whom are my present co-workers, for their cooperation over many years. Among them I wish to mention in particular M. Bestehorn, L. Borland, H. Bunz, A. Daf fertshofer, T. Ditzinger, E. Fischer, A. Fuchs, R. Haas, R. Honlinger, V. Jirsa, M. Neufeld, M. Ossig, D. Reimann, M. Schanz, G. Schoner, P. Tass, C. Uhl. My particular thanks go to R. Friedrich and A. Wunderlin for their constant help in many respects. Stimulating discussions with a number of colleagues from a variety of fields are also highly appreciated.
List of contents
Prologue.- I Foundations.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Exploring the Brain.- 3. Modeling the Brain. A First Attempt: The Brain as a Dynamical System.- 4. Basic Concepts of Synergetics I: Order Parameters and the Slaving Principle.- 5. Dynamics of Order Parameters.- II Behavior.- 6. Movement Coordination - Movement Patterns.- 7. More on Finger Movements.- 8. Learning.- 9. Animal Gaits and Their Transitions.- 10. Basic Concepts of Synergetics II: Formation of Spatio-temporal Patterns.- 11. Analysis of Spatio-temporal Patterns *.- 12. Movements on a Pedalo.- III EEG and MEG.- 13. Chaos, Chaos, Chaos.- 14. Analysis of Electroencephalograms.- 15. Analysis of MEG Patterns.- IV Cognition.- 16. Visual Perception.- 17. Decision Making as Pattern Recognition.- 18. The Brain as a Computer or Can Computers Think?.- 19. Networks of Brains.- 20. Synergetics of the Brain: Where Do We Stand? Where Do We Go from Here?.- Appendices.- A. Analysis of Time Series.- A.1 Time Series Analysis.- A.2 Definition of Dimensions.- A.3 Dimension of Attractors.- A.4 Some Conclusions.- B. Determination of Adjoint Vectors.- C. The Potentials Occurring in Sect. 16.5.- References and Further Reading.- About the Author.
About the author
Hermann Haken is Professor of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Stuttgart. He is known as the founder of synergetics. His research has been in nonlinear optics (in particular laser physics), solid state physics, statistical physics, and group theory. After the implementation of the first laser in 1960, Professor Haken developed his institute to an international center for laser theory. The interpretation of the laser principles as self organization of non equilibrium systems paved the way to the development of synergetics, of which Haken is recognized as the founder. Hermann Haken has been visiting professor or guest scientist in England, France, Japan, USA, Russia, and China. He is the author of some 23 textbooks and monographs that cover an impressive number of topics from laser physics to synergetics, and editor of a book series in synergetics. For his pathbreaking work and his influence on academic research, he has been awarded many-times. Among others, he is member of the Order "Pour le merite" and received the Max Planck Medal in 1990.
