The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers


Daniel L. Schacter - 2001
    Schacter explores instances of what we would consider memory failure—absent-mindedness, transience, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, and persistence—and suggests instead that these miscues are actually indications that memory is functioning as designed. Drawing from vivid scientific research and creative literature, as well as high-profile events in which memory has figured significantly (Bill Clinton's grand jury testimony, for instance), The Seven Sins of Memory provides a more nuanced understanding of how memory and the mind influence each other and shape our lives.

Cheating Destiny: Living With Diabetes, America's Biggest Epidemic


James S. Hirsch - 2006
    James Hirsch’s myth-shattering blend of history, reportage, advocacy, and memoir will speak for, and to, the 20 million Americans who live with this disease. Cheating Destiny offers revealing views of the diabetic subculture, the urge toward secrecy that many diabetics feel, the glycemic rollercoaster they ride constantly, and the remarkable perseverance—even heroism—required for survival.Hirsch is uniquely qualified to write this book. An award-winning journalist and best-selling author, he has lived with type 1 diabetes for twenty-five years. His brother Irl, also a diabetic, is one of the country’s leading diabetologists. Most poignantly, he knows firsthand the toll diabetes can take on parents: his three-year-old son was diagnosed with the disease while Hirsch was writing this book.Hirsch draws on all this expertise to craft an incisive, surprising portrayal of the fascinating science behind the disease and the skyrocketing impact of diabetes on our economy and society. Most striking is his candid, authoritative writing about the psychological and emotional hurdles that diabetics confront every day. Anyone who lives with diabetes—or loves a diabetic—will find here an empowering voice of empathy.

Music, Language, and the Brain


Aniruddh D. Patel - 2007
    Patel challenges the widespread belief that music and language are processed independently. Since Plato's time, the relationship between music and language has attracted interest and debate from a wide range of thinkers. Recently, scientific research on this topic has been growing rapidly, as scholars from diverse disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive science, music cognition, and neuroscience are drawn to the music-language interface as one way to explore the extent to which different mental abilities are processed by separate brain mechanisms. Accordingly, the relevant data and theories have been spread across a range of disciplines. This volume provides the first synthesis, arguing that music and language share deep and critical connections, and that comparative research provides a powerful way to study the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying these uniquely human abilities.Winner of the 2008 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award.

Joy, Guilt, Anger, Love: What Neuroscience Can--and Can't--Tell Us About How We Feel


Giovanni Frazzetto - 2014
    Anger, guilt, anxiety, grief, empathy, joy and love are anatomized in turn, enlivened with research on everything from the role of monoamine oxidase A in anger to the engagement of opioid receptors as we thrill to music. And who knew that surrealist Salvador Dali created an art installation in the shape of a giant caterpillar to explore the process of sedation?”—Nature   Is science ever enough to explain why we feel the way we feel? In this engaging account, renowned neuroscientist Giovanni Frazzetto blends cutting-edge scientific research with personal stories to reveal how our brains generate our emotions. He demonstrates that while modern science has expanded our knowledge, investigating art, literature, and philosophy is equally crucial to unraveling the brain’s secrets. What can a brain scan, or our reaction to a Caravaggio painting, reveal about the deep seat of guilt? Can ancient remedies fight sadness more effectively than antidepressants? What can writing poetry tell us about how joy works? Structured in seven chapters encompassing common human emotions—anger, guilt, anxiety, grief, empathy, joy, and love—Joy, Guilt, Anger, Love offers a way of thinking about science and art that will help us to more fully understand ourselves and how we feel.

Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience


Indre Viskontas - 2017
    To start building a more straightforward, accurate understanding of current breakthroughs in neuroscience, you have to start by shattering popular brain myths.Each of these 24 lectures takes as its focus a single powerful, prevalent brain myth, and uses it as a launch pad from which to explore myriad topics in neuroscience: decision making, memory, dreams, emotions, neuroplasticity, consciousness, mental illness, and much more.Our memory is an accurate, objective record of the past. Our senses reflect the world as it really exists. Our dreams have hidden meanings. We are only using 10% of our total brain power. Modern technology (including social media) is making us less intelligent. Dr. Viskontas doesn't just settle for obliterating these and other myths. Instead, she replaces them with scientific facts gathered from experiments, research, and case studies. The result is an eye-opening adventure into the latest understanding of why the brain works the way it does.Whatever order you enjoy these lectures in, you'll be left with insights that will help you better determine the hard scientific truths behind the breaking news (and myths) of tomorrow.

Clinical Neuroanatomy


Richard S. Snell - 2001
    Each chapter begins with clearly stated objectives, includes clinical cases, and ends with clinical notes, clinical problems, and review questions. More than 450 illustrations enhance the text.This edition's illustrations have been reworked for greater visual appeal and more diagnostic images have been added. Selected illustrations from Haines' Neuroanatomy: An Atlas of Structures, Sections, and Systems, Sixth Edition have been included. Coverage of neurophysiology has been expanded and updated.A bound-in CD-ROM contains 386 USMLE-style review questions with answers and explanations.

Saviour - An Uncommon Tale


Sunny Sinha - 2020
    He meets with an accident that changes the course of his life. It also changes him physically. He is now able to see the broken dreams, the pain and the time of death of any person with a mere physical touch. When he touches Simi, he learns that destiny has something bad in store for her. But destiny takes a sharp turn. In saving Simi, he becomes the cause of Raghu and Ishita’s accident. It is painful but it is a lesson that opens many doors for Arya.

Neuroscience


George J. Augustine - 1996
    Created primarily for medical and premedical students, 'Neuroscience' emphasizes the structure of the nervous system, the correlation of structure and function, and the structure/function relationships particularly pertinent to the practice of medicine.

Into the Silent Land: Travels in Neuropsychology


Paul Broks - 2003
    Broks fuses classic cases of neuropsychology with the his own case studies, philosophical debate, and thought provoking riffs and meditations on the nature of neurological impairments and dysfunctions.

How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then And Now


William H. Calvin - 1996
    In 'how brains think' a leading neurophysiologist - drawing on anthropology, evolutionary biology, linguistics and the neurosciences - argues that consciousness is a result of evolution.

Happily Ever After: My Journey with Guillain-Barr Syndrome and How I Got My Life Back


Holly Gerlach - 2012
    In less than three days, she was paralyzed and could no longer breathe on her own. She was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks part of the nervous system. She was admitted to the hospital, where she spent two and a half months in the intensive care unit on a ventilator. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, and worst of all, she couldn't hold her newborn daughter. She felt like her life was over as she couldn't be the mother that she had always wanted to be. As the weeks went on, the paralysis began to wear off. And once she was able to breathe on her own again, she started on her road to recovery. With intense physiotherapy, she learned how to use her muscles again and eventually how to walk again. She was determined, and worked hard, and after a long four months in the hospital, she was able to reach her goal of getting back to her husband and daughter. Holly Gerlach shares her inspirational story, where she faced the most terrifying and challenging experiences of her life. The book follows her entire journey, starting with the beginning symptoms, through the many months she spent in the hospital. The story continues on well past her release from the hospital, where she fought to regain her independence and eventually got her life back.

Adventures in Memory: Exploring the Science and Secrets of Human Memory


Hilde Østby - 2016
    The authors—two Norwegian sisters, one a neuropsychologist and the other an acclaimed writer—skillfully interweave history, research, and exceptional personal stories, taking readers on a captivating exploration of the evolving science of memory from its humble Renaissance beginnings up to the present day. They interview experts of all stripes, from the world’s top neuroscientists to famous novelists, from taxi drivers to quizmasters, to help explain how memory works, why it sometimes fails, and what we can do to improve it. Filled with cutting-edge research and nimble storytelling, the result is a charming—and memorable—adventure through human memory

The Brain in Love: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life


Daniel G. Amen - 2008
    Based on Dr. Daniel Amen’s cutting-edge neuroscience research, The Brain in Love shares twelve lessons that help you enhance your love life through understanding and improving brain function. Filled with practical suggestions and information on how to have lasting and more fulfilling relationships, The Brain in Love reveals: • How emotional and physical intimacy can help prevent heart disease, improve memory, stave off cancer, and boost your immune system • How the differences between men’s and women’s brains affect our perceptions and interest in sex • The science behind why breakups hurt so much, and what you can do to ease the pain• Surefire techniques to fix common problems–depression, PMS, ADD–that contribute to conflicts• How to make yourself unforgettable to your partnerThe Brain in Love explains everything there is to know about the brain in love and lust, guiding you to the emotional and physical intimacy you need.

Trapped


Richard Greener - 2011
    He had violent hallucinations based on the Iraq war and the reports of terrorism and violence constantly playing on his hospital TV tuned into CNN. He believed his family to be in danger, but he had no way to communicate with them. For a long time after the whole ordeal, he had trouble knowing what had happened. What was real and what wasn't. If part of the core of who we are is our memory, what does it mean when the memory is still there, but false?

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain


John J. Ratey - 2001
    Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives.In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.