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jenibo 's review for:
Although it is as easy to read as a self help book, this is just a really interesting round up of where science on the brain has taken us in recent times. No doubt it is no longer cutting edge; research continues all the time and a book takes about 9 months from manuscript to publication, so in that sense it is almost out of date by the time it is published. But easy to read it is - with each chapter dedicated to a different beneficiary of brain science, and their cures representing progress which would have been unthinkable 5 years ago, this is an indomitably optimistic work which makes us think that if we really work on it and keep up the stimulation we might be able to stave off brain degeneration, or even perhaps regenerate parts of a decaying brain into old age!
Almost as interesting as the case studies and origins of disorders are the interesting stories of how the scientific community and the practitioners themselves ignored various results which showed plasticity in the brain decades ago because they didn't fit with the current thinking on the brain, and the setbacks for which the concept of Localisation ( the idea that physical sections of the brain which can be mapped on all people which always operate a particular part of the body) was responsible. It is amazing how adaptable our brains can be, and in retrospect, incredible to see how we can fool them, for example into accepting that a limb is missing when the patient has been feeling reflected pain in the non-existant limb for years, using mirrors.
The current thinking on the causes and potential treatments of Alzheimers, Autism, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy amongst others is fascinating to me at least, and even if you don't see yourself as interested in science at all, but would like to know how to look after your brain you will be interested to read this work.
Almost as interesting as the case studies and origins of disorders are the interesting stories of how the scientific community and the practitioners themselves ignored various results which showed plasticity in the brain decades ago because they didn't fit with the current thinking on the brain, and the setbacks for which the concept of Localisation ( the idea that physical sections of the brain which can be mapped on all people which always operate a particular part of the body) was responsible. It is amazing how adaptable our brains can be, and in retrospect, incredible to see how we can fool them, for example into accepting that a limb is missing when the patient has been feeling reflected pain in the non-existant limb for years, using mirrors.
The current thinking on the causes and potential treatments of Alzheimers, Autism, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy amongst others is fascinating to me at least, and even if you don't see yourself as interested in science at all, but would like to know how to look after your brain you will be interested to read this work.