Get Free Shipping on orders over $0
Brain Flows : How Network Dynamics Compose the Human Mind - Michael W. Cole

Brain Flows

How Network Dynamics Compose the Human Mind

By: Michael W. Cole

Hardcover | 3 November 2026

At a Glance

Hardcover


$144.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $36.25 with

 or 

Available: 3rd November 2026

Preorder. Will ship when available.

A pioneering theory of how brain network flows compose the neural symphonies that make us who we are

What enables us not only to comprehend the world but also to find meaning in it? How does a brain engender a mind? In Brain Flows, cognitive neuroscientist Michael Cole argues that movements (flows) of activity through brain networks create an improvised electrochemical symphony that generates our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and actions. Drawing on his decades of brain research, Cole traces the brain's complex network organization, which transforms brain flows into representations, goal pursuits, and entire minds. Central to this transformation, he explains, is compositionality, which allows neural representations to be reused and recombined to produce a brain state rich enough not only to perceive the constant novelty of the world but also to help generate it.

Cole describes the work of brain flows layer by layer, from simple network interactions to hallmarks of the human mind: consciousness, intelligence, free will, mental health, and creativity. After laying the groundwork-introducing the idea of brain flows and discussing goal pursuit, novelty, and hierarchies-he offers an innovative account of how brain flow patterns create the mind, putting cognitive and network neuroscience findings within rich theoretical and empirical contexts. Throughout , he offers lively examples from daily life that shed light on the dynamic origin of our minds. Ultimately, Cole shows that brain flows are central to what the brain does and thus who we are.

More in Neurosciences

The Brain Cliff - Dr Norman Swan

RRP $34.99

$20.99

40%
OFF
A World Appears : A Journey Into Consciousness - Michael Pollan

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Dopamine Nation : Why our Addiction to Pleasure is Causing us Pain - Anna Lembke
Behave : The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert M Sapolsky
10 to 25 : The Science of Motivating Young People - David Yeager

RRP $29.99

$24.99

17%
OFF
Clinician's Guide to Headache : Head, Neck, and Face Pain Syndromes - Pravin, MD, MBBS Thomas
Tiny Experiments : How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World - Anne-Laure Le Cunff
How To Change Your Mind : New Science of Psychedelics - Michael Pollan
Humans : The Evolution of a Species - DK

RRP $55.00

$42.75

22%
OFF
The Undoing Project - Michael Lewis

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Cognitive Psychology : 8th Edition - A Student's Handbook - Michael W. Eysenck
Rest : Why You Get More Done When You Work Less - Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF