Stories and the Brain – The Neuroscience of Narrative

Paul B. Armstrong’s book, Stories and the Brain, explores the cognitive processes involved in constructing and exchanging stories, focusing on their role in the neurobiology of mental functioning. Armstrong argues that stories order events in time, imitate actions, and relate our experiences to others’ lives, correlated to cortical processes of temporal binding, the circuit between action and perception, and the mirroring operations underlying embodied intersubjectivity. Recent neuroscientific findings illuminate cognitive processes involving time, action, and self-other relations central to narrative. Armstrong’s study applies his analysis of aesthetic harmony and dissonance to narrative, revealing how narratives help the brain negotiate the conflict between pattern, synthesis, constancy, and flexibility, adaptability, and openness to change.