Brain Arousal and Information Theory

Donald Pfaff's book is highly innovative. He addresses a classic problem in neurobiology which has lain fallow for decades. Central nervous system arousal is fundamental to emotional and cognition yet I don't know of any other book or article that so thoroughly delineates the mechanisms and function of arousal in the brain. In addition to reviewing a huge body of neuroanatomical, neuropsychological and genetic data, Pfaff proposes a daring new theoretical approach based on information theory. Despite the technical nature of the book, Pfaff's main points are easy to understand. Pfaff has virtuoso command of the literature and has given us a brilliant set of new thoughts. -- Dr. Helen Fisher, Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University. Author of Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love Donald Pfaff provides fresh ideas for the framework of an old concept,"arousal". He takes the reader through the history of how the concept evolved and embraces the modern era by incorporating genetic findings into the established neurobiology underpinning arousal. This is not simply a review of the subject but a synthesis of old and new experimental findings to provide new ideas generated by a deep understanding of the subject. Updating ones knowledge is a pleasing experience, but being provoked to reconsider the subject in a new way is intellectually rewarding. Donald Pfaff achieves this distinction in Brain Arousal and Information Theory. -- E.B. Keverne, University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Royal Society

Pfaff presents a daring perspective on the long-standing puzzle of what arousal is. He argues that, beneath our mental functions and emotional dispositions, a primitive neuronal system governs arousal. Employing the simple but powerful framework of information theory, Pfaff revolutionizes our understanding of arousal systems in the brain.

Arousal is fundamental to all cognition. It is intuitively obvious, absolutely necessary, but what exactly is it? In Brain Arousal and Information Theory, Donald Pfaff presents a daring perspective on this long-standing puzzle. Pfaff argues that, beneath our mental functions and emotional dispositions, a primitive neuronal system governs arousal. Employing the simple but powerful framework of information theory, Pfaff revolutionizes our understanding of arousal systems in the brain.

Starting with a review of the neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurochemical components of arousal, Pfaff asks us to look at the gene networks and neural pathways underlying the brain’s arousal systems much as a design engineer would contemplate information systems. This allows Pfaff to postulate that there is a bilaterally symmetric, bipolar system universal among mammals that readies the animal or the human being to respond to stimuli, initiate voluntary locomotion, and react to emotional challenges. Applying his hypothesis to heightened states of arousal—sex and fear—Pfaff shows us how his theory opens new scientific approaches to understanding the structure of brain arousal.

A major synthesis of disparate data by a preeminent neuroscientist, Brain Arousal and Information Theory challenges current thinking about cognition and behavior. Whether you subscribe to Pfaff’s theory or not, this book will stimulate debate about the nature of arousal itself.