The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science...

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. ... | Norman Doidge | Serviceable account of some fascinating science

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The Brain That Cha...

	The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. ... Norman Doidge Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 102 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the best books I have ever read.

On the first audio disk of this series (I bought the audiobook)
there is a story about a woman whose vestibular apparatus in her
inner ear was destroyed by a destructive antibiotic. The woman
could not even stand up she was so affected by not having any
sense of balance. With a very simple (conceptually anyway)
electronic device that fed back accelerometer signals to an
area on her tongue she was able, not only to link her brain
into this machine outside her body speaking in mechanical
codes to her own brain, but eventually the feedback allowed
her inner neurons to silence the noise she was hearing inside
and cure herself altogether. She no longer needs the external
device.

This is just one of the many different examples in different
dimensions that illuminates many newly discovered aspects of the
human brain. This book is full of them. Not only that but reading
between the lines gives one many ideas of how this kind of information
will change the world and an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy
that has been caused by human ignorance and dogma about the brain.

This story is one of many that completely turns around the ideas
most of the world has had for centuries about the nature of the
human being. In my mind that makes this book one of the most
important and most eye opening books I have ever or will ever
read.

This book ought to be required reading for every human being,
because it is only in redefining what we are for ourselves
that the human mental world will change for the better to enable
us to meet the challenges of the future for all life on planet
Earth.

Bravo ... 5/5 stars!!!

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Serviceable account of some fascinating science

This book begins as promised, delivering a few stories of the 'recovering against all odds' variety, while explaining in not overly technical terms the neuroscience - or in some cases the likely neuroscience - behind these recoveries. In fact the first hundred pages or so I feared I'd stumbled upon an Oprah Winfrey style, inspirational love-in. The author will begin 'Jimmy had [inserting debilitating condition here] and was hopeless and suicidal until he stumbled upon [insert one of Doidge's hero doctors], who began working with Jimmy on [insert program plug here].' Then Jimmy's symptoms miraculously begin to recede and everyone weeps for joy. But whenever the reader is beginning to feel they're reading an infomercial cleverly disguised as a book, the author, to his credit, will delve back into some of the fascinating experiments relating to brain plasticity, or some of the historical science which informed the general consensus in the field of neuroscience.

The book then veers off alarmingly into the demented world of sadomasochists (to the mortification of thousands of Oprahmatons, I like to imagine), where the author somewhat dubiously attempts to tie brain plasticity together with nauseating sexual fetishes, which he unfortunately decides to ennumerate in detail. Luckily this section is not too long.

His fawning descriptions of the men at the frontiers of neuroscience read almost like an escort agency for science geeks' advertisment, bordering on obsequiousness, which contributes to the lingering suspicion that you are reading some of subtle tract of propaganda. And while the author's unbridled optimism appears a little too abundant to be considered scientific, the brain is still mysterious enough that some of the more incredible claims are believable, and the book as a whole is well worth reading, if only to discover the neurological justification for the incredible power of the human brain.

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Perfect for the layman

I ordered this book on recommendation from a friend because I suffer from brain damage due to a stroke. Not only has the information made me hopeful about a possible resolution for my problems, it would be fascinating for anyone who has an interest in science and anatomy. The medical world is still in its infancy as far as understanding the way the brain works. This author uses anecdotes to convey complex concepts which makes the information accessible to the layman.

Unsolicited Marketing

I am half way through the book so I may modify this review in the end:

I had to mention that the content of the book is great, and I love the subject and think the concepts will be revolutionary very soon. The author does a great job engaging the reader and making what can be an otherwise overly complex simple to understand (unlike Wider than the Sky, a great book but like reading an SAT language test).

The only problem is the way the author continues to push products and brands like I'm watching an infomercial. Seriously it has testimonials like "Bob saved his live with this product and you can too!"

I would rate the book 5 stars if the content wasn't product-oriented but made references in a footnote or appendix.

Cheers.

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