Books for Prep | |
 - 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!!! Rating:  - Serviceable account of some fascinating scienceThis 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. Rating:  - Unsolicited MarketingI 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. Rating: - It reconciles so muchI've been reading other recent books about amazing recent neurological work. This one stands out for the degree to which it puts that work in a broader and more useful perspective on what it all means for everyone's future ways of learning, training and healing. Doidge even makes me see finally why psychiatry still holds Freud in such high esteem, and how what is supposed to go on in psychotherapy can be understood in much the same positive way as we view the effects of psychoactive drugs and cognitive behavioral therapies that have demonstrable success. "Plasticity" is Doidge's key concept and he uses it well to link conventional wisdoms of learning to biologically-based refinements on them. More than anything I've read recently, this book tells me we're discovering the mechanisms behind how genes and experience combine, and that clinicians are actually putting these discoveries to work. Take Me With You When You Go Rating: - The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain ScienceThe BRAIN that changed ITSELF is a unique book that in clear and concise terms explains the remarkable healing and reparative properties that our brain possesses. It can be read and understood equally well by both the medical specialist and the general public. It is detailed and yet is an easy to read book that reveals what is being re-discovered about how our brain can heal itself. It refutes most of medicine's long held tenets that the brain has highly specialized nerve cells that are located in certain physical areas. And if an area is severely damaged, those damaged cells frequently die and the function that they performed is lost forever or severely diminished. This book reveals that the contrary is true! The brain in fact is filled with neuronal stem cells that appear to be able to reproduce themselves almost indefinitely without any appearance of aging. These new nerve cells are then able to "rewire" the damaged area. The degree of healing and "rewiring" will vary with the healer's understanding of this process and what is the correct paradigm that needs to be applied for optimal physical and mental rehabilitation therapy. In its simplest form the average, intelligent, curious and imaginative lay person could be of the greatest assistance to a receptive physician in offering suggestions as to how therapy might be approached. It reviews how the somehow forgotten and yet precise brain research done years ago, which could not be explained or understood at that time due to limitations in technology has been re-discovered and proven by our new capabilities in dynamic brain imaging. It gives new hope to anyone that has sustained brain damage and who has been told in recent times that nothing further could be done for them. This also includes many types of memory problems and mental decline due to aging. I am chagrined and sad to say that too many of those in the practice of medicine today are unaware of some of these practical developments in our understanding of the brain's plasticity and due to many reasons may not have the time or be open to hear from their better informed patients what this book has to say. In addition to this book I would also highly recommend the PBS program: The Brain Fitness Program by Dr. Michael Merzenich. As well as Dr. Doidge's brain training program - "Brain Fitness Program 2.0." A second program - "Insight" - is designed to help a person to increase the speed that their brain can process things (data) that are occurring around them as it is happening. Both of these programs will help an individual of any age improve their memory and awareness of their surroundings. Patrick J. Donley, MD In association with Amazon.com | |