Playful Brain

Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience

By: Sergio Pellis, Vivien Pellis

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Paperback | 1 September 2010 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

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290 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 1.65

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For centuries the phenomenon of play has perplexed scientists across the board. Studies by biologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and educators have excited keen debate and contention, producing diverse opinions that pose play as both a childish waste of time and a necessary tool in the development of a healthy fulfilled individual. But so far the lack of empirical research has meant that questions about functionality of play, its origins, and variety amongst different species remain unanswered. In this fully integrated study Sergio and Vivien Pellis address these questions synthesizing three decades of empirical research to create a truly seminal study into the whys and wherefores of play. With implications for so many disciplines, the Pellis original research and novel findings will not only expand our current knowledge of play behaviour, but will inspire change and progress from the laboratory to the playground. Professor Sergio Pellis and Associate Professor Vivien Pellis both work at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada."

Industry Reviews

"Sergio and Vivien Pellis' adventure into the wonders of the the 'playful brain' has fully legitimized play science as a mainstream discipline. Every page confirmed clinical hunches, evoked"aha's" and created fresh enthusiasm for the subject tinged with light-heartedness.A treat to read, it also motivated with urgency our need, as a play-ignorant culture, to move with boldness toward more play research and evidence-based play policies."-- "Stuart Brown - Founder and President of The National Institute for Play"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Psychology Physiological & Neuro-Psychology, Biopsychology Medicine Clinical & Internal Medicine Neurology & Clinical Neurophysiology Child & Developmental Psychology Science Biology, Life Sciences Life Sciences in General Neurosciences

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Illustrations	p. xxi
The puzzle of play	p. 1
A cause for rejoicing and a cause for caution	p. 7
What do rats do when play fighting?	p. 9
The playful rat	p. 15
The development of play fighting	p. 19
Was it good for you, big boy?	p. 22
Rethinking the play fighting of rats	p. 25
Sex differences in play fighting	p. 26
Turning a mouse into a rat	p. 29
Turning a mouse brain into a rat brain	p. 32
The peculiarities of play fighting in murid rodents	p. 36
On making species comparisons	p. 39
Reciprocity and fairness in play fighting	p. 42
How much like sex is murid play fighting?	p. 45
The neural control of play fighting	p. 46
The role of the cortex	p. 51
Is complex play fighting a by-product of changes to the brain and its development?	p. 54
Explaining species differences in the complexity of play	p. 60
So, what does playing buy you?	p. 62
Juvenile play and the rehearsal of action patterns	p. 65
Is it really the deprivation of play that causes the deficits in animals that have been reared in isolation?	p. 74
Being better at coping with stress	p. 78
The uniqueness of the juvenile play experience	p. 82
Learning to cope	p. 85
The many benefits problem revisited	p. 89
Brain begets play and play begets brain	p. 90
Playing for the present	p. 98
I can't wait until I have grown up to get value out of playing	p. 98
Play fighting as social assessment and social manipulation	p. 102
Wisdom in the trees	p. 105
Delayed and immediate functions of play revisited	p. 108
Taking species diversity seriously	p. 110
Mouse play to rat play revisited	p. 111
From handling pups roughly to parental play	p. 122
Returning to some unanswered oddities	p. 129
All roads lead to Rome	p. 134
What's so good about play fighting?	p. 137
The uses of ambiguity	p. 138
And on to humans	p. 141
How to become good at being ambiguous	p. 147
Why is play fighting more frequent in boys than girls?	p. 151
From here to eternity	p. 157
The deconstruction of complexity	p. 157
Where do we go from here?	p. 161
Endnotes	p. 167
Bibliography	p. 204
Index	p. 246
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Playful Brain

Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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