The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books) by Norman Doidge Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)
Book Review: Useful for both scientists and lay people
Summary: 5 Stars
This book could easily be mistaken for a self-help book. It may serve that purpose for some readers, but it is actually more of a science documentary about the amazing learning powers of the human brain, complete with fascinating and well-written interviews of a number of influential brain scientists, and comprehensive end notes. Doidge is an excellent writer, making his complex subject matter very understandable and down-to-earth by adding personal touches here and there. He manages to do this without being obtrusive or annoying as some authors with an agenda do. His agenda is pretty simple: don't believe the saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." He details a wide variety of cases where one would assume that the brain is finished learning and improving, but - surprise! - it learns. He explores the concept of "brain plasticity," meaning its ability to be molded like plasticine modeling clay that never hardens. Here are some examples, each of which takes up most of a chapter:
Paul Bach-y-Rita developed devices that allow the blind to see again via their tactile sense, and to restore the sense of balance to people who have damage to their vestibular system. Accelerometers send tiny electrical stimuli to the patient's tongue, training them to walk gracefully without falling again.
Michael Merzenich developed auditory training systems that speed up processing in the brains of dyslexics and autistic children, and it seems, in anyone who goes through the course. This allows them not only to read and write better, but to listen and communicate better.
Jeffrey Schwartz developed cognitive training, based on brain scans of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, that allows patients to "shift the gear" out of their brain-lock by practicing new thoughts, and new actions, instead of repeating compulsions.
Edward Taub developed "constraint-induced therapy" for people paralyzed by stroke. By constraining the good limb and forcing patients to use the affected limb, new brain circuits can be called into service to replace lost brain tissue and restore movement and sensation.
For someone whose arm has been amputated, using the affected limb is not an option...or is it? V. S. Ramachandran helps patients who have pain or other annoying feelings coming from their phantom (imagined) limb, by having them practice moving their good arm next to a mirror that somehow tricks the brain into thinking the phantom limb can move, too. After enough mirror-box training with symmetrical orchestra-conductor movement commands to their phantom and real arms, the phantom problems vanish.
There are accurate descriptions of basic science research highlighting different aspects of brain plasticity, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation by Alvaro Pascual-Leone, and adult neurogenesis by Fred Gage.
Doidge describes a few of his own psychotherapy cases that take advantage of brain plasticity, and reviews a number of concepts from Freud that remain useful today in getting patients to change unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors.
This is the best book on brain plasticity that I know of, a topic that is often given marginal coverage in otherwise good neuroscience textbooks. He has done a good job of gathering and explaining a spectrum of examples showing that this is what the brain, especially the human brain, does well: change itself. Important historical context is included, showing us how the notion of functional remodeling in the brain has met with much resistance in the neuroscience community for decades. The interviewees Doidge chose are neuroscience pioneers that I often speak of in neuroscience courses I teach at Georgia Tech.
My only criticism with the book is the inclusion of some material in the chapter on sexual attraction and love, about deviant sexual behavior. Not for kids, or the squeamish. It seems out of place, as if the editors felt it would boost sales by giving it an NC-17 rating. He did not have to appeal to our prurient side, since the book has so much else to offer.
Readable by lay people and scientists alike, the index and end notes allow this book to serve as a starting point for further reading on all of its topics.
Book Review: Powerful mind
Summary: 5 Stars
Norman Doidge , zelf psychoanalist, psychiater, onderzoeker, schrijver en dichter beschrijft in The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science de laatste inzichten uit de school van neuro or brain plasticity . Met deterministische en Darwinistische inzichten over de hard wired aard van onze hersenen wordt afgerekend met veel praktijkvoorbeelden, gekoppeld aan spraakmakende onderzoeken. De jarenlang gepropageerde paradigma's rondom de stricte indeling van de hersenen in gebieden die vastomlijnde taken (gehoor, spraak, visueel geheugen, motoriek, plezier, etc.) uitvoeren of 'waarnemen', blijken niet langer houdbaar. Het boek brengt je bij vrouwen met verstoorde evenwichtsorganen, kwieke senioren, een schaakspelede Nathan Sharansky in Russische gevangenissen, sexuele aantrekkingskracht en liefde. Uitgebreid staat Doidge stil bij hoe een pornografische verslaving echt werkt, en waarom cold turkey afkicken daarvan helpt. Mensen die na uitvalsverschijnselen, hersenbloedingen of verlammingen weer leren spreken en bewegen. Wonderen, verricht door de neuronen, zenuwbanen en elektrische circuits in ons lichaam en voornamelijk hersenen, daarbij geholpen door bijzondere therapie?n met spiegels, alternatieve toediening van elektrische pulsen. Het blijkt mogelijk zorgen, obsessies, dwangmatige handelingen en slechte gewoonten te verminderen of geheel opzij te zetten zonder magie of repressie.
Pijn, ons voorstellingsvermogen, maar ook leervermogen en een bijzondere vrouw die opgroeide met slechts haar rechterhersenhelft. Twee appendices beschrijven de wederkerigheid tussen cultuur en hersenen en plasticiteit versus de vooruitgangsleer. The Brain that Changes itself heeft terecht veel lovende kritieken gekregen en nodigt uit tot hernieuwd lezen.
Book Review: Exciting new understanding of the brain written by 'true believer'
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a book that my men's book club enjoyed. I also enjoyed the book, but found the author to be a bit of true believer - if what he claims is true most every case of autism, paralysis, tinitis, and other neurological disorders can be fixed by taking advantage of the new understanding that the brain can create new routes and perhaps new nerves. The range of impact of this approach is staggering and will have implications for many years to come. The topics covered include sexual attraction, social skills, 'itches' of amputated limbs, fetishism, spatial reasoning, stroke recovery, feelings from phantom limbs, pain of phantom limbs, pornography addiction, cognitive decline, OCD, and even blindness. As you can tell, I found the information of various cases exciting and offering great promise, but I also found the lack of a balanced presentation by the author to be disconcerting.
Book Review: Highly impressive
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply put, this is one of the most informative, intelligent, easy to understand and highly beneficial books I have ever read in my entire lifetime. The reviews summarize the important points, I can only add that you will be thankful from the very first moment you pick up this book and hold it in your hands until you read the very last word. Book Review: Rewire YOUR Brain and Read This Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This book really was revelatory for me. Facing mid-age (I'm now 54), it was inspiring to learn about new developments in neuroplasticity that change the way we look at the mind-brain-body connection and what's possible when hereditary or environmental forces affect the brain's neuronal system.
The author, Dr. Norman Doidge, has a lucid writing style and does an excellent job of making complex experiments and new therapeutic approaches accessible to the lay reader. These pioneering scientists are putting rehabilitative medicine on its tail. If you think you knew what's going on in this field, think again. The creative leap in Dr. Moseley's use of illusion and imagination, or the epic difference that even a slight change in a physical therapy exercise can make in rewiring the motor map of the brain are astounding. It also says volumes on how we approach education as well as emotional and personality disorders.
Everyone should read this book while they still have the capacity to understand and appreciate its import. In the increasingly likely event in an aging population that you or a family member may be the unfortunate victim of a stroke, degenerative brain disease, or sudden accident, it may well mean the difference between a near-full recovery and the assisted living door.