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littlehouse88's review against another edition
4.0
A bit gruesome in places, but a fascinating history of how doctors have come to understand the brain.
vstewart76's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
mischief_in_the_library's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it! My dad, not a scientist, found it a bit to brain-y, and couldn't finish it, but I did suggest he just skip over those bits, because there was plenty that wasn't quite so neuro-y.
I'm (halfway) a psychologist, and knew most of these concepts, knew what most of these brain areas did. But I was still enchanted with some of the tales, the history of these discoveries. THere are your gold standards, of course, Gage and H.M., for example, but even those stories came with details I hadn't heard before.
That said, I think it's written in a way that would appeal to those who hadn't heard of any of these before, who don't really know anything about brains and neuroscience. Definitely recommended.
I'm (halfway) a psychologist, and knew most of these concepts, knew what most of these brain areas did. But I was still enchanted with some of the tales, the history of these discoveries. THere are your gold standards, of course, Gage and H.M., for example, but even those stories came with details I hadn't heard before.
That said, I think it's written in a way that would appeal to those who hadn't heard of any of these before, who don't really know anything about brains and neuroscience. Definitely recommended.
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
4.0
What a great book! The science is explained very well. I love all the stories of what happens when something is off in our minds, like those people that have face-blindness. It's like becoming a superhero. In fact, things that make up superheroes simply just have a quality that is just off the charts. Our minds are just the most complex thing in the universe. Reading books like this that show how we are so flawed, unique, and the potential of what we can become make me have a stronger belief in God.
Perhaps even more important than the science, these stories enrich our understanding of the human condition, which is the point of stories. Whenever we read about people's lives, fictional or not, we have to put ourselves into the minds of characters. The power of stories reaches across the divide.
Notes:
That would be so wild: have sleep paralysis, but awake while having dream still playing.
The human brain remembers information best through stories.
The story of Isabelle Dinoire's face transplant is nasty. Why would her dog just do that. He was a Labrador Retriever after all.
Our brains are bias in seeing action and movement. In order to see still things the eyes have to scribble over it. That's all neat.
The brain pays more attention to the fine motor neurons and that is why people feel phantom fingers more than hands and hands more than arms.
Wars advance the field of medicine more than it could ever do on its own.
Temporal lobe lesions can flip people's orientation from gay to straight. Don't let the Left hear that one, though.
People lie to look good, gain an edge, or conceal something.
Reading requires higher neurological dexterity than speaking does.
If just the right spot gets damaged in our brain we can lose just about anything in our mental repertoire no matter how sacred.
Perhaps even more important than the science, these stories enrich our understanding of the human condition, which is the point of stories. Whenever we read about people's lives, fictional or not, we have to put ourselves into the minds of characters. The power of stories reaches across the divide.
Notes:
That would be so wild: have sleep paralysis, but awake while having dream still playing.
The human brain remembers information best through stories.
The story of Isabelle Dinoire's face transplant is nasty. Why would her dog just do that. He was a Labrador Retriever after all.
Our brains are bias in seeing action and movement. In order to see still things the eyes have to scribble over it. That's all neat.
The brain pays more attention to the fine motor neurons and that is why people feel phantom fingers more than hands and hands more than arms.
Wars advance the field of medicine more than it could ever do on its own.
Temporal lobe lesions can flip people's orientation from gay to straight. Don't let the Left hear that one, though.
People lie to look good, gain an edge, or conceal something.
Reading requires higher neurological dexterity than speaking does.
If just the right spot gets damaged in our brain we can lose just about anything in our mental repertoire no matter how sacred.
sarahphiles's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
fast-paced
gabe_reads's review against another edition
4.75
The brain is absolutely fascinating. And the history of how we've discovered it and about ourselves more generally was really well portrayed in this book. I find it so interesting the way damage and disease can teach us so much about the way the healthy brain works. This was filled with fascinating examples of that, weaved in with the neurosurgeons who made those discoveries.
alaa_ilikecats's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Ti's a fun read
And helped me remember things for my neuroscience exam
And helped me remember things for my neuroscience exam
larieber_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this book when I drove to DC. I loved it. The stories of weird brain diseases and symptoms they caused and how crazy and primitive neurosurgery was even in this past century is insane. So good.