The Emotional Computer

In recent years interest in exploring the undiscovered world of the brain has grown rapidly. The development of sophisticated computers capable of replicating many human activities has opened up new horizons and confronted us with new problems. Consequently, many writers have sought to explore the nature of human consciousness and to distinguish between human and machine 'thinking'.

In this fascinating book Professor Jauregui explores what it is about the human "self" that distinguishes us from machines. Professor Jauregui puts forward an original view of the brain: that of an 'emotional' computer. According to this view, the brain is a machine which, in accordance with certain programs installed via the genes or via culture, informs us every day when we should eat, play tennis or have sex.

This happens through the activation of feelings, entities which have been for the most part left out by cognitive psychology. The key to understanding behaviour lies in the working of physiological mechanisms, which in turn depend on the brain's intricate systems of networks. The book is also situated in current debates in sociobiology surrounding the relationship between sociology and biology, the brain and society, and what is innate and what is acquired.