In Search of Memory
by Eric R. Kandel · first published 2005
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Kandel's memoir of his path to a Nobel Prize doubles as a history of neuroscience and a clear account of the biology of memory, including his early sea slug work. Suits readers curious about how memory works physically.
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…more of an AI bend is "Society of Mind" by Marvin Minsky. For more classical neuroscience, "Phantoms of the Brain" by Ramachandran, well-known in perception research, is good. I haven't read it, but "In Search of Memory" is supposed to be excellent by Kandel, a memory researcher superstar. (I've found that many of the books by non-scientists about the brain are often shallow, claim to know too much, and use the same…
on “Ask HN: What is a good introduction to neuroscience?” ↗If you enjoy this series you will love In Search of Memory by Eric Kandel the co-host of this series.
on “The Charlie Rose Brain Series” ↗I think you might enjoy "In Search of Memory" by Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel (pdf linked below). He provides an entertaining and informative narrative documenting the history of neuroscience (a history Kandel himself heavily influenced). Kandel also…
on “Into the Grey Zone” ↗Have you read "In Search of Memory" by Kandel? It's half autobiography half exploration of that question. His studies on this topic won him a Nobel, and his life story is fascinating to boot!
on “Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules” ↗Article does a pretty terrible job at explaining how memory's are formed, some bits even misleading. If you're interested in the biological basis of memory, I suggest reading 'In search of memory' by Eric Kandel. It's a biographic tale of Eric Kandel winning his nobel and along the way you learn a ton about how the brain works.
on “Neuroscientists discover molecular mechanism that allows memories to form (2020)” ↗…It's not like myelin plays no role in learning, but the primary mechanism is synaptic formation. The author has ignored the stadium to focus on a seat. If you're interested in this I highly recommend "In Search of Memory" which is Eric Kandel's autobiography. He won the Nobel prize for his work describing how memories form and is a primary author of one of the most popular and widely used textbooks "Principles of Neural…
on “Learning needs to be effortful to be effective” ↗While the other recommendations are great, they are more psychologically focused. Check out Eric Kandel's "In Search of Memory". I really can't recommend it enough. He talks about his early work with aplysia and contemporary research into the basis of memory.
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best books you’ve read about memory and the brain?” ↗…in seeing that A. Predictive power is scientific understanding and B. You can never be to thorough in understanding the chain of events between an event and its predicted outcome. I highly recommend "In Search of Memory" as a wonderful autobiography, an inspirational demonstration of how science should be done, and a deep but accessible education in basic neuroscience. One of the best and most important books I've ever…
on “The New Science of Mind” ↗