About the Book…
THE BRAIN CAN CHANGE ITSELF. It is a plastic, living organ that canactually change its own structure and function, even into old age.
Arguably the most important breakthrough in neuroscience since
scientists first sketched out the brain’s basic anatomy, this
revolutionary discovery, called neuroplasticity, promises to overthrow
the centuries-old notion that the brain is fixed and unchanging. The
brain is not, as was thought, like a machine, or “hardwired” like a
computer. Neuroplasticity not only gives hope to those with mental
limitations, or what was thought to be incurable brain damage, but
expands our understanding of the healthy brain and the resilience of
human nature. Norman Doidge, MD, a psychiatrist and researcher, set out
to investigate neuroplasticity and met both the brilliant scientists
championing it and the people whose lives they’ve transformed. The
result is this book, a riveting collection of case histories detailing
the astonishing progress of people whose conditions had long been
dismissed as hopeless. We see a woman born with half a brain that
rewired itself to work as a whole, a woman labeled retarded who cured
her deficits with brain exercises and now cures those of others, blind
people learning to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging
brains rejuvenated, painful phantom limbs erased, stroke patients
recovering their faculties, children with cerebral palsy learning to
move more gracefully, entrenched depression and anxiety disappearing,
and lifelong character traits altered. Doidge takes us into terrain that
might seem fantastic. We learn that our thoughts can switch our genes
on and off, altering our brain anatomy. Scientists have developed
machines that can follow these physical changes in order to read
people’s thoughts, allowing the paralyzed to control computers and
electronics just by thinking. We learn how people of average
intelligence can, with brain exercises, improve their cognition and
perception in order to become savant calculators, develop muscle
strength, or learn to play a musical instrument, simply by imagining
doing so. Using personal stories from the heart of this neuroplasticity
revolution, Dr. Doidge explores the profound implications of the
changing brain for understanding the mysteries of love, sexual
attraction, taste, culture and education in an immensely moving,
inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at human
possibility and human nature.
