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 enlarge | Author: Norman Doidge
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
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Rating:  87 reviews
Sales Rank: 274
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0143113100
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.8
EAN: 9780143113102
Publication Date: December 18, 2007
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| Customer Reviews:
 When Change is Possible - Miracles Can Happen August 26, 2007
Brian Houghtaling
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
If you're like me - a rank amateur in the field of brain science - you'll find that Dr. Doidge has authored an interesting and compelling text to explain the science of neuroplasticity. More importantly, you'll discover the implications of the "new" discoveries that show that the human brain is malleable throughout our lifetime.
While I sometimes got lost in the details, Dr. Doidge provided enough easy to understand nuggets to allow me to grasp that the science of neuroplasticity has life altering applicability to all human beings. The text provides many stories of personal triumph that could be seen as unimaginable miracles to those who have no background in this exciting science. The stories have not only been useful in my own life, they have shown themselves to be useful to others as I share these exciting discoveries with friends who have children who struggle with similar stories as those depicted in the text.
I would not classify this text in the self-help genre. It is a detailed exploration of the brains ability to change itself and it prepares the reader with sufficient knowledge and encouragement to seek solutions that just a few years ago were thought to be the stuff of miracles.
Understand and improve your brain March 30, 2008
M. L Lamendola (Merriam, KS USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Brain research has made breakthroughs that can benefit just about everyone. Most individuals can benefit enormously by simply changing the kinds of inputs they provide their minds. This book discusses what some of those changes and inputs would be. Other benefits can also arise with other things people can do (also discussed in this book).
On a larger scale, this research holds the answer to the stupidity epidemic that is presently overwhelming our society. We see colossal stupidity on a massive scale in many ways, such as the $9 trillion USA federal debt that is growing even faster this year than last because Congress has increased the level of irrational spending. The book doesn't explore the idea of reversing aggregate stupidity, but it's one that struck me again and again as I read the book. If a critical mass of people engaged in purposeful brain input management, that could start a trend of diminishing stupidity. Maybe the book leaves this idea alone in an effort to avoid political commentary.
The Brain That Changes Itself sheds light on why so many people can't filter information, focus, or use the tools of reasoning--and why others can. Consequently, it provides us with insight on the effects of brain retraining--plus the how, what, and why. We also learn who some of the key players have been in the long battle to bring the concept of brain plasticity into the medical mainstream.
This is not really a self-help book, but it does give the reader a good overview of where brain science is today and how it might be personally useful. Most people are unwitting participants in the wrong kind of brain training (for example, watching television), as evidenced by many metrics of mental performance (such as the "sound bite attention spans" of today). You are always training your brain, whether you are trying to or not--that's a "between the lines" point that frequently emerges while reading this book.
Dr. Doidge brings us the latest brain research with real life accounts that are both informative and inspiring. The main principle he illustrates is the brain rewires itself based on a "use it or lose it" model. A related principle is "neurons that fire together wire together." The various accounts that demonstrate or prove these principles are fascinating.
The book shows conclusively how wrong some long-held beliefs are (for example, that people can't become smarter or learn new skills when they are older). It also justifies other beliefs (for example, talk therapy works--and it does so because it causes the physical structure of the brain to change). The book mostly does that with detailed accounts of individuals who have pushed the frontiers of brain science forward--often despite powerful opposition or hardships.
The brain, as Doidge repeatedly points out with evidence, logic, and anecdotes, is plastic (malleable). It adapts to its inputs, forming new neural connections, new structures (arrangements of cells), and even new cells as needed. We do not yet know the limits of this plasticity or how to drive the brain all the way to its limits. But we have some amazing examples of where limits that would seem "fixed" don't actually exist. Two such examples are the woman with half a brain (meaning not that she's a member of Congress but that she physically has only one hemisphere--the other half of her skull is empty) and the Sea Gypsies who have developed extreme control over their eyes so they can see clearly even thirty feet under water.
Unlike many works that are in the nonfiction section today, this one actually is nonfiction. It contains no political agenda, and it doesn't stray off topic. Clues to how authoritative The Brain That Changes Itself is may be found by perusing the notes and references section--which, at over 80 pages, makes up about 20% of the book.
This book contains 11 chapters and two Appendices. The first two chapters are inspiring stories of people who had seemingly insurmountable afflictions but used brain training to almost completely overcome them.
Chapter Three is more for "normal" people who are interested in becoming smarter. It details the research of Michael Merzenich on sharpening perception, improving memory, and increasing the speed of thought. Merzenich also delved into solving learning problems. The next chapter should hook just about everybody, as it explains the role of neuroplasticity in love and sexual attraction.
The next two chapters go into specific problems and how brain plasticity relieved them or even provided a total cure. Chapter Seven explores the dark side of plasticity, looking at such things as how brainwashing works. The flipside of that is the subject of Chapter Eight.
In Chapter Nine, research shows how and why "talk therapy" causes beneficial structural changes to the brain. These changes are more effective than drugs or surgery, because they solve the root problem rather than masking or muting the symptoms. There has long been a close-minded, one-sided "debate" in the medical profession as to the merits of psychoanalysis (or alleged lack thereof). The research explained in this chapter would appear to settle the "question" with finality.
It has long been canonical in medical literature that, while the liver and other organs can self-repair, the brain can't. Chapter Ten discusses why this isn't the case and what the implications are for a wide variety of conditions.
The eleventh chapter is the story of a woman who has only her right hemisphere. Her left hemisphere just never developed, leaving her with half a brain. The rich detail of this account makes for fascinating, page-turning reading. But the real value lies in the lessons we can take away from it, and those lesson are profound. Doidge highlights some of the implications of this case study, but just thinking about it later is a real mind-bender.
I'm a bit puzzled as to why the two Appendices aren't simply Chapter Twelve and Thirteen, especially since Appendix One is chapter-length. It could be because in the Appendices the author has inserted his own views and speculations, whereas in the eleven Chapters he took the role of reporter rather than commentator.
In any case, Appendix One looks at the interplay of brain plasticity and culture. Appendix Two is short, and it discusses the double-edged sword aspect of "progress" and "perfectibility" in regard to brain plasticity.
This book is on my "must read" list. A book that dovetails nicely with this one is The New Brain.
The Resurrection of Sigmund Freud May 9, 2008
Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
The history of Sigmund Freud's approach to the mechanisms of the mind has exhibited some tumultuous changes over the past century. Norman Doidge reminds us that Freud developed a thesis about the mind's plasticity over time. Freud's psychotherapy - irrespective of some questionable methods - was designed to allow the mind to search within itself and change outward behaviour by identifying memories hidden or repressed. However, after Freud, researchers using diagnoses of stroke or brain-injury victims, "mapped" areas in the brain for function. The first of these was the speech-producing region now named Broca's Area, after Paul Broca, its discoverer in the mid-19th century. Brain modularity, or "localization" as Doidge deems it, became the norm in brain research for decades following Broca. In this fine account of the history or recent brain studies, Doidge addresses a new concept being used to both treat and train - brain "plasticity".
Rewiring of the brain isn't a new concept. Among the more famous examples of how the brain reacts to challenges from the rest of the body is the concept known as "phantom limbs". Patients suffering amputations have complained of itchiness or pain seeming to emanate from the lost limb. V.S. Ramachandran and his colleagues have described this phenomenon in detail. "Rama" is but one of the researchers Doidge parades in a receiving line of innovative cognitive specialists. One of his more noteworthy is Michael Merzenich, who Doidge declares is the "world's leading researcher in brain plasticity". Merzenich followed the work of Wilder Penfield at McGill University in Montreal. Penfield used electrical probes to map the regions of the brain to identify which areas produced specific reactions. Penfield's work reinforced the consensus regarding "localization". Doidge goes so far as to deem neuroscience as long dominated by "localizationism" - a form of dogma. Merzenich, on the other hand used more refined equipment than available to Penfield, has made vast strides with closer detail. His work also demonstrated that "lost areas" in the brain have their duties taken up in other regions. The brain, he demonstrated, can "re-wire" itself - and in more than one way. The brain, then, isn't dominated by genetically assigned "localizations". It's "plastic" and able to change, through training or even using its own resources. In a sense, Freud's original concept has been vindicated by recent research.
Doidge follows the work of dozens of researchers who have revealed examples of this re-mapping activity. They investigate how stroke patients can learn to use limbs rendered unresponsive. The treatment seems bizarre - restrain the good limb so it will not replace the useless one. In a short time, the unresponsive limb begins to respond as the brain is forced to seek new pathways. Patient recovery has been almost spectacular, according to Doidge. He stresses that the theme is "use it or lose it" throughout the book, but is especially true in stroke victims. Where traditional therapy enhanced the capabilities of the working limb, brain plasticity demonstrates that recovering use of an affected limb should be favoured. This new therapy can be successfully applied months, or even years, after the stroke event. In this author's hands, these accounts read like a script for a car-salesman sitcom. He may be correct in his views, but nothing in brain sciences is entirely positive, as history has demonstrated.
There's more than just therapy in brain plasticity achievements. In Asia, particularly Japan, babies are born with ability to form the sound for the letter "L". Since Japanese doesn't contain any words with that sound, children lose the capacity to pronounce it. A new programme, using slowly sounded words can actually recover the pronunciation in immigrants to North America. The technique is an indicator of what Doidge refers to as "plasticity competition". Although the brain appears to re-route signals throughout the brain simply during daily use, there is also the possibility of patterns settling in and resisting change. Doidge refers to this as the "plastic paradox", and sees it as the way habits are formed and retained - even against good sense.
While Doidge has provided a comprehensive look at how recent research has overthrown the notion of "one area - one behaviour", there are numerous questions remaining. How does the mechanism work? What triggers neurons to reach out to make new connections? Is anything already in place displaced, or are idle synapses or dendrites now put to work? Does the old notion of our using "only 10 per cent. of our brain" - an cliche long dismissed by neuroscientists - have some validity, after all? Although two Appendices enlarge greatly on this overview - one on culture and another on "Progress", brain mechanics in this process remain obscure. This shortcoming requires vast amounts of further research but in no way diminishes Doidge's accomplishment. This book will remain a major element in the history of brain studies for some time. Written for any reader who has a brain, the author deserves the fullest praise for his accomplishment. The five stars is given a bit grudgingly, but this book requires the widest exposure possible. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
The Review That Wrote Itself March 27, 2007
J. Zimman (San Francisco)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
A revolution is now sweeping through the field of brain science, and this book chronicles the stories of the men and women who have ushered in a new age. The brain is no longer viewed as a machine that is hard-wired early in life, unable to adapt and destined to "wear out" with age. Instead, we learn that scientists are beginning to unlock the secrets of the powerful, lifelong, adaptability - or "plasticity" - of the brain. The implications are enormous for treating neurological disease, for addressing the aging process and for dramatic improvements in human performance. Author Norman Doidge is a psychiatrist on the Columbia faculty and he tells one spell-binding story after another, as he travels the globe interviewing the scientists and their subjects who are on the cutting edge of a new age. Each story is interwoven with the latest in brain science, told in a manner that is both simple and compelling. It may be hard to imagine that a book so rich in science can also be a page-turner, but this one is hard to set down.
New Hope for Healing! July 3, 2007
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is the most interesting book I've read about brain science . . . and the most relevant. I highly recommend you read it!
If you haven't been following brain science, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. Recent experiments have overturned a long-held tenant of brain science: That specific mental and bodily functions can only be directed from one location in the brain. Destroy that section and physicians have told you that you were out of luck. This conclusion doomed many who had suffered strokes and other brain injuries to having no hope of improvement.
The good news, as described in this easy-to-understand popular treatment, is that the brain can actually relocate functions to new areas if the primary site is destroyed. As a result, stroke victims can gain control over movements by therapy designed to disable their abler body areas . . . forcing the brain to establish new circuits to control the areas with little or no control; the blind can learn to "see" using sensor inputs from other areas of their bodies; those without balance can relearn balance through using other feedback mechanisms; and those with "phantom" pain tied to missing limbs can trigger elimination of that sensation. The only continuing limitation seems to be that some areas of the brain are only open to maximum flexibility during short periods of life. But promising research suggests that biochemical tools may be able to reopen those pathways to progress.
Chances are that your physician won't know about all of these advanced therapies. If you or someone you know has neurological disorders, you should read this book to see where to send them for help.
Be sure to check out the sections on how psychoanalysis can be used to rewire the brain to change sensations, reactions, and behavior, and the appendices on cultural impacts on the brain and the potential for perfectibility.
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