The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better
by Sandra Blakeslee, Matthew Blakeslee
Book Summary Information
Author: Matthew Blakeslee, Sandra BlakesleeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-09
ISBN: 0812975278
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better
Book Review: The mandala of the mind
Summary: 4 Stars
Research on the brain has come far since the 1930s when Wilder Penfield of the University of Montreal was compelled to cut open the skulls of epileptic patients. The process meant the epileptic victim remained awake. It was the only way Penfield could learn from the subject who would describe their reactions to his gentle probing. The information, however, often led to relief resulting from Penfield's later precise surgery based on his mappings. In this comprehensive account, the authors - a mother-son science journalist team - trace the research resulting from Penfield's early efforts. In clear, concise prose, they show the revolutionary advances that have come about since then and how Penfield's early "brain maps" provided the foundation for even more effective therapies.
Penfield's technique seems harshly cruel today, but the patients suffered far more from the disability than from the probing, as the brain has no nerves that transmit pain. The mapping became a guide for better understanding of how the brain and body interact. Some of this work was covered in Sandra Blakeslee's earlier collaboration with V. S. Ramachandran: "Phantoms In the Brain". That study pointed out how amputees can still sense the presence of a missing limb, even feeling "pain" that can have no discernible cause. This work carries the implications of Ramachandran's findings forward, expanding it to address other, less extreme examples. The body-brain links are many, varied and subject to constant change. The authors refer to this as "The Body Mandala", a graphic representation of a detailed, intensely interwoven network. In this mandala, however, change is constant and varying.
The hands and fingers play a large role in this book. Professional golfers are subject to a condition they refer to as "yips". Yips are a condition where the hand is unresponsive to your wishes, or move in unintended directions. Musicians, particularly violin players, have a similar affliction in the fingers used to press the strings down. For professionals, this can be disastrous, impairing or even destroying a career. Victims will hide the condition if possible, hoping exercise or other therapy will provide a cure. It rarely does, with the authors pointing out that such exercises may actually worsen the condition. Other professions, such as tennis or soccer, for example, may have an entirely different effect on the body's mandala. The reaching for anything, even with a bat or racquet in the hand, extends the brain's mapping to reflect the action. Your "body map", linked with the brain, expands as you seek the cup of coffee on your desk. The concept gives an entirely new meaning to the term "personal space". Do politicians make this projection when addressing crowds?
The revelations provided here will change drastically not only our view of ourselves, but provide the means of therapy for conditions once considered impossible to treat. Moreover, as the authors make clear, the centre of operations for our body is the brain. Because we exist in a variety of environments with our brain constantly adjusting to the changes, the authors spend much time on recent research in "brain plasticity". The concept of brain plasticity overturned a long-held belief among neurologists that brain maps were firmly set in adolescence. The Blakeslee team recounts Ramachandran's work on "phantom" limbs, but go on to show how therapies and prosthetic devices have given even amputees amazing new capabilities. The case of Aimee Mullins, who was born without the fibula bone in her legs, went on to become an Olympic runner using artificial "feet". This success was due to her constant practice remapping her brain's image of where her body could extend.
This book is an excellent summation of the research and clinical work performed over the past generation. It's skilfully written and amply illustrated with diagrams and photographs. However, no matter how outstanding a science journalist's talents, the entire lack of references strongly diminishes the value of this book. Also lacking is any explanation of how some of the recording techniques today actually work. A good science writer should be able to convey the mechanics without undue difficulty. With the number of works on brain science now available to the non-specialist, these are inexcusable lapses. If no other work of writing skill or comprehensive coverage were on the market, this book would be a fine introduction to the topic. As it is, it might as well be a collection of New York Times Science Page columns, for which Sandra Blakeslee has an enviable reputation. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
More The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better reviews:
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
Health, Mind & Body Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Books that make you think
Biography of the Dollar: How the Mighty Buck Conquered the World and Why It's Under Siegeby Craig Karmin
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2009-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Richby Timothy Ferris
Blackstone Audio Inc.; Published: 2007-04-09; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $15.08
Price in other shops:
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Betterby Sandra Blakeslee, Matthew Blakeslee
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2008-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.27
Price in other shops:
The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Authorby Richard Dawkins
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2006-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.60
Price in other shops:
Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilitiesby Jeffrey S. Rosenthal
Joseph Henry Press; Published: 2006-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.36
Price in other shops:
How Animals Talk And Other Pleasant Studies Of Birds And Beasts (1919)by William Joseph Long
Kessinger Publishing, LLC; Published: 2008-02-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.19
Price in other shops:
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (Helix Books)by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.77
Price in other shops:
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Scienceby Atul Gawande
Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.62
Price in other shops:
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadaversby Mary Roach
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 2004-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.52
Price in other shops:
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Lessby Barry Schwartz
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.84
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Natureby Steven Pinker
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2008-08-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.82
Price in other shops:
The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Forceby Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Sharon Begley
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops:
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Editionby Oliver Sacks
Vintage; Published: 2008-09-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.70
Price in other shops:
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journeyby Jill Bolte Taylor
Viking Adult; Published: 2008-05-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brainby John J. Ratey
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-01-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops:
Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconsciousby Gerd Gigerenzer
Viking Adult; Published: 2007-07-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Othersby Marco Iacoboni
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2008-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.98
Price in other shops:
Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental Worldby Chris Frith
Wiley-Blackwell; Published: 2007-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.06
Price in other shops:
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselvesby Sharon Begley
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-11-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.48
Price in other shops:
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)by Norman Doidge
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-12-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops: