No new cells. No major changes. If you grew up depressed, angry, sad, aggressive, or nasty, you'd be that way for life. And, as you grew older, there'd be nowhere to go but down, as disease, age, or injury wiped out precious, irreplaceable brain cells. But over the past five, ten, twenty years, all that's changed. Using fMRI and PET scanning technology, neuroscientists can now look deep inside the human brain and they've discovered that it's amazingly flexible, resilient, and plastic. Pictures of the Mind: What the New Neuroscience Tells Us About Who We Are shows you what they've discovered and what it means to all of us. Through author Miriam Boleyn-Fitzgerald's masterfully written narrative and use stunning imagery, you'll watch human brains healing, growing, and adapting to challenges. You'll gain powerful new insights into the interplay between environment and genetics, begin understanding how people can influence their own intellectual abilities and emotional makeup, and understand the latest stunning discoveries about coma and "locked-in" syndrome. You'll learn about the tantalizing discoveries that may lead to cures for traumatic brain injury, stroke, emotional disorders, PTSD, drug addiction, chronic pain, maybe even Alzheimer's. Boleyn-Fitzgerald shows how these discoveries are transforming our very understanding of the "self," from an essentially static entity to one that can learn and change throughout life and even master the art of happiness.

    Jack Kruse gives us his first book, Epi-paleo Rx: The Prescription for Disease Reversal and Optimal Health. Kruse, who used his findings to lose 140 pounds and pack on muscle, takes the reader through his prescriptions for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, autoimmunity, brain health, and aging. The material weaves together surprises from our Ice Age origins with the new science of epigenetics, or the effect of diet and environment on gene expression.A champion of “biohacking,” the art of tinkering with one’s own biology, Kruse pounces on his own profession’s ineptness when it comes to chronic conditions and urges readers to take health care into their own hands. He discusses which labs to order and why, why your doctor is obligated to write you a prescription you don’t need, the vital roles daylight and darkness play in metabolism, and the optimal diet for different stages of health and different times of year. Perhaps Kruse’s more fascinating contributions to Paleo literature are his findings on cold therapy—the effect of cold environments, immersion in cold water, and ice pack therapy on disease reversal, pain, and optimal living. Kruse explains how our origins as cold-adapted mammals hold the key to disease reversal, using a shocking biohack to prove his theory.The Epi-paleo Rx is the result of Kruse’s abundant research and clinical application in his practice as a neurosurgeon. Kruse questions conventional wisdom about human metabolism and chronic disease, arguing science has incomplete information when it comes to insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, and their related illnesses. By examining the human body through the prism of our early beginnings and the science of epigenetics, we find each of us already possesses the “owner’s manual” to reverse disease and live optimally.

    The ability to put ourselves in somebody else's shoes, to see the world through somebody else's eyes . . .' Barack ObamaEmpathy is the power of understanding others, imaginatively entering into their feelings. It is a fundamental human attribute, without which mutually co-operative societies cannot function. In a revolutionary development, we now know who has it, who lacks it and why. Via the MRI scanner we are mapping the human brain. This is a new frontier that reveals a host of beneficial ideas for childcare, teens challenged by the internet, the justice system, decent healthcare, tackling racism and resolving conflicts. In this wide-ranging and accessible book full of entertaining stories that are underlined by the latest scientific research, Peter Bazalgette also mounts a passionate defence of arts and popular culture as a means of bridging the empathy gap. As the world's population expands, consuming the planet's finite resources, as people haunted by poverty and war are on the move and as digital communications infinitely complicate our social interactions, we find our patience and our sympathy constantly challenged. Here is the antidote.Culminating in a passionate manifesto on empathy, The Empathy Instinct is what makes us human and what can make us better humans.

    As a result, many stroke survivors are treated with outdated or ineffective therapies. Stronger After Stroke puts the power of recovery in the reader’s hands by providing easy instructions for reaching the highest possible level of healing. Written for stroke survivors, their caregivers, and their loved ones, the book presents a new approach that is startling in its simplicity: stroke survivors recover by using the same learning techniques that anyone uses to master anything. Basic concepts are covered, including repetition of task-specific movements, proper scheduling of practice, challenges at each stage of recovery, and setting goals and recognizing achievements. Stronger After Stroke bridges the gap between stroke survivors and what they desperately need: easily understandable and scientifically accurate information on how to achieve optimal rehabilitation.

    S. Ramachandran is at the forefront of his field-so much so that Richard Dawkins dubbed him the "Marco Polo of neuroscience." Now, in a major new work, Ramachandran sets his sights on the mystery of human uniqueness. Taking us to the frontiers of neurology, he reveals what baffling and extreme case studies can teach us about normal brain function and how it evolved. Synesthesia becomes a window into the brain mechanisms that make some of us more creative than others. And autism--for which Ramachandran opens a new direction for treatment--gives us a glimpse of the aspect of being human that we understand least: self-awareness. Ramachandran tackles the most exciting and controversial topics in neurology with a storyteller's eye for compelling case studies and a researcher's flair for new approaches to age-old questions. Tracing the strange links between neurology and behavior, this book unveils a wealth of clues into the deepest mysteries of the human brain.

    But how the mind works remains one of humankind's greatest mysteries. With boundless curiosity and enthusiasm, Shannon Moffett, a Stanford medical student, takes us down the halls of neuroscience to the front lines of cutting-edge research and medicine to meet some of today's most extraordinary scientists and thinkers, all grappling with provocative questions: Why do we dream? How does memory work? How do we see? What happens when we think? Each chapter delves into a different aspect of the brain, following the experts as they chart new ground. Moffett takes us to a lab where fMRI scans reveal the multitude of stimuli that our brains unconsciously take in; inside an operating room where a neurosurgeon removes a bullet from a patient's skull; to the lab of Christof Koch, a neuroscientist tracking individual neurons in order to crack the code of consciousness; and to a research lab where scientists are investigating the relationship between dreams and waking life. She also takes us beyond the scientific world—to a Zen monk's zendo, where she explores the effects of meditation on the brain; inside the home of a woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder; to a conference with the philosopher Daniel Dennett, who uses illusions, magic, tricks, and logic to challenge our assumptions about the mind; and to the home of the late Nobel Laureate Francis Crick, co-discoverer with James Watson of DNA's double-helix structure. Filled with fascinating case studies and featuring a timeline that tracks the development of the brain from conception to death, The Three Pound Enigma is a remarkable exploration of what it means to be human.

    He finds that nothing can capture a person’s attention as strongly as mystery, and that mystery is the key principle in how humans view and understand the world. Whenever patterns are broken, we are hard-wired to find out why. Without our curiosity driving us to pursue new discoveries and solve stubborn problems, we would never have achieved the breakthroughs that have revolutionized human medicine, technology—and culture. From Shakespeare’s plays to the earliest works of the detective genre, our entertainment and media have continually reinvented successful forms of mystery to hook audiences. Here, Lehrer interviews individuals in unconventional fields—from dedicated small-business owners to innovative schoolteachers—who use mystery to challenge themselves and to motivate others to reach to new heights. He also examines the indelible role of mystery in our culture, revealing how the magical world of Harry Potter triggers the magic of dopamine in our brains, why the baseball season is ten times longer than the football season, and when the suspect is introduced in each episode of Law & Order. Fascinating, illuminating, and fun, Mystery explores the many surprising ways in which embracing a sense of awe and curiosity can enrich our lives.

    Now he offers a completely new book, providing fresh, iconoclastic ideas about the relationship between the brain and the mind. In The New Executive Brain, Goldberg paints a sweeping panorama of cutting-edge thinking in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology, one that ranges far beyond the frontal lobes. Drawing on the latest discoveries, and developing complex scientific ideas and relating them to real lifethrough many fascinating case studies and anecdotes, the author explores how the brain engages in complex decision-making; how it deals with novelty and ambiguity; and how it addresses moral choices. At every step, Goldberg challenges entrenched assumptions. For example, we know that the lefthemisphere of the brain is the seat of language--but Goldberg argues that language may not be the central adaptation of the left hemisphere. Apes lack language, yet many also show evidence of asymmetric hemispheric development. Goldberg also finds that a complex interaction between the frontal lobesand the amygdale--between a recently evolved and a much older part of the brain--controls emotion, as conscious thoughts meet automatic impulses. The author illustrates this observation with a personal example: the difficulty he experienced when trying to pick up a baby alligator he knew to beharmless, as his amygdala battled his effort to extend his hand. In the years since the original Executive Brain, Goldberg has remained at the front of his field, constantly challenging orthodoxy. In this revised and expanded edition, he affirms his place as one of our most creative and insightful scientists, offering lucid writing and bold, paradigm-shifting ideas.

    Your level of vitality is directly connected to your brain. When your brain thrives, growing and making new connections, you are invigorated, infused with a new sense of aliveness and possibility, capable of infinitely new ways of moving, thinking, and feeling. Combining cutting-edge neuroscience, the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, and her own method based on more than thirty years of experience working with thousands of people around the world, Anat Baniel has defined the Nine Essentials your brain needs to flourish. In this breakthrough book, she offers specific, practical advice for incorporating those Essentials into everything you do to achieve immediate and powerful benefits.In Move Into Life, you’ll:•Learn the Nine Essentials your brain requires to thrive, including movement with attention, subtlety, and variation•Experience simple, safe physical and mental exercises that satisfy those needs and thus awaken your vitality •Discover why and how these methods work• Find easy ways of incorporating the Essentials into your daily life so every activity–from washing the dishes to working at your desk, from interacting with your loved ones to your golf game–brings you renewed vitalityEndorsed by leading physicians, scientists, and transformational teachers, the Anat Baniel Method will help you enjoy renewed energy and stamina. You’ll be lighter on your feet. Your memory will be better. Thinking and problem solving will become easier. If you are active in a sport, yoga, or work out at the gym, you will notice yourself performing better and with greater ease and fewer injuries. Most important, you will experience yourself moving more fully into your life.

    Because of that, we can fundamentally change the way our brains work--for the better. Sort Your Brain Out shows you how to re-wire your brain to be more creative, make better decisions, improve your mood and memory, manage stress, and stave off senility. The book explains how the brain works and what you can do every day to subtly alter your behaviours, beliefs, and motivations to create positive change in your life and health.Presents tools and exercises for maximizing your brain power Written by brain scientist and television personality Dr. Jack Lewis and motivational speaker Adrian Webster Includes brain-powered self-help advice that will improve your mood, help you deal with stress, and be better and smarter at work or in your everyday life In Sort Your Brain Out, you'll discover how to shape and control the most adaptable organ in your body to think more creatively, keep your memory sharp, and live a better life on a daily basis.

    In 1996 Joseph LeDoux's "The Emotional Brain" presented a revelatory examination of the biological bases of our emotions and memories. Now, the world-renowned expert on the brain has produced with a groundbreaking work that tells a more profound story: how the little spaces between the neurons-the brain's synapses--are the channels through which we think, act, imagine, feel, and remember. Synapses encode the essence of personality, enabling each of us to function as a distinctive, integrated individual from moment to moment. Exploring the functioning of memory, the synaptic basis of mental illness and drug addiction, and the mechanism of self-awareness, "Synaptic Self" is a provocative and mind-expanding work that is destined to become a classic.

    This text introduces the basic mathematical and computational methods of theoretical neuroscience and presents applications in a variety of areas including vision, sensory-motor integration, development, learning, and memory.The book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses the relationship between sensory stimuli and neural responses, focusing on the representation of information by the spiking activity of neurons. Part II discusses the modeling of neurons and neural circuits on the basis of cellular and synaptic biophysics. Part III analyzes the role of plasticity in development and learning. An appendix covers the mathematical methods used, and exercises are available on the book's Web site.

    Although people with autism live in the same physical world and deal with the same `raw material' their perceptual world turns out strikingly different from that of non-autistic people. It is widely reported that autistic people have `unusual' sensory perceptual experiences that may involve hypo- and hypersensitivity, fluctuation between different `volumes' of perception and difficulty interpreting a sense.In this book, Olga Bogdashina attempts to define the role of sensory perceptual problems in autism identified by autistic individuals themselves. Often ignored by many professionals, this is one of the main problems highlighted by autistic individuals. This book singles out possible patterns of sensory experiences in autism and the cognitive differences caused by them. The final chapters are devoted to assessment and intervention issues with practical recommendations for selecting appropriate methods and techniques to eliminate the problems and enhance the strengths.Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome is vital to teachers and other professionals working with autistic individuals to fully comprehend sensory perceptual differences in autism. This book will help readers select appropriate methods for dealing with autistic individuals. In addition, parents of autistic individuals and autistic individual themselves will find the information will enable them to initiate relevant strategies and environmental changes to facilitate more effective learning.

    Is it in our genes? The structure of our brains? Our genome may determine our eye color and even aspects of our personality. But our friendships, failures, and passions also shape who we are. The question is: how?Sebastian Seung, a dynamic professor at MIT, is on a quest to discover the biological basis of identity. He believes it lies in the pattern of connections between the brain’s neurons, which change slowly over time as we learn and grow. The connectome, as it’s called, is where our genetic inheritance intersects with our life experience. It’s where nature meets nurture.Seung introduces us to the dedicated researchers who are mapping the brain’s connections, neuron by neuron, synapse by synapse. It is a monumental undertaking—the scientific equivalent of climbing Mount Everest—but if they succeed, it could reveal the basis of personality, intelligence, memory, and perhaps even mental disorders. Many scientists speculate that people with anorexia, autism, and schizophrenia are "wired differently," but nobody knows for sure. The brain’s wiring has never been clearly seen.In sparklingly clear prose, Seung reveals the amazing technological advances that will soon help us map connectomes. He also examines the evidence that these maps will someday allow humans to "upload" their minds into computers, achieving a kind of immortality.Connectome is a mind-bending adventure story, told with great passion and authority. It presents a daring scientific and technological vision for at last understanding what makes us who we are. Welcome to the future of neuroscience.

    STILL ALICE An accomplished professor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease learns that she is more than what she can remember. Now a major motion picture from Sony Pictures Classics. LEFT NEGLECTED A busy multitasking mother in her thirties learns to pay attention to what matters most in life after a car crash leaves her with a traumatic brain injury and a bizarre neurological condition called Left Neglect.