The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books) | 
 enlarge | Author: Norman Doidge
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  95 reviews
Sales Rank: 8729
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 067003830X
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.8
EAN: 9780670038305
ASIN: 067003830X
Publication Date: March 15, 2007
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Product Description
An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives theyve transformedpeople whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 90 more reviews...
 The book that changes the brain that reads it October 6, 2008
This book looks like a solid sort of semi academic-y pot-boiler but in fact it is a hugely engaging, eye-popping even,take on how wrong the long held belief of 'localizationism' was (the view that the brain is made up mostly of hard-wired areas fit for only one purpose) for example, claims like, the auditory cortex is only for hearing, the visual cortex is only for seeing and such like.
it turns out that the brain is highly plastic (able to rewire itself over time) given the appropriate stimulus, and when disasters occur in the body or the brain, other parts can be recruited in to do the processing work.
It's a basic truism that we learn far more from failure than success. The health disasters that befall people turn out to be very instructive and beneficial for future sufferers when a seemingly intractable case is handled by an inspired doctor/scientist improvising unorthodox methods to attempt a cure or at least alleviation of the symptoms considered by orthodoxy to be irreversible.
Brain plasticity is the coherent theme of the whole book and it is always the focus of every chapter in ever more novel and surprising ways.
I cannot begin to do justice to how Doidge explains this, because he is quite simply brilliant at writing.
Each chapter concentrates on a particular narrative or story of how plastic the brain is, the chapters are like high quality Vanity Fair articles and would even stand on their own, expect that there is a sense of progression in the book and later chapters recapitulate findings from earlier ones.
I have a sense that Doidge (who is a psychiatrist I believe) would have spent an enormous amount of time refining this book as it beautifully crafted, hearteningly articulate and deserves to win a prestigious prize.
my favourites saying from the book is about how plasticity comes about:
"neurons that fire together wire together"
Read it, you're in for a massive treat.
This is an important, groundbreaking and fascinating book. For another, written by another brilliant psychiatrist, I recommend October 3, 2008
That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is remarkably candid, insightful, and wonderfully well-written. The writing just flows.
Setting New Goals September 30, 2008
I was impressed by the various examples presented of the plasticity of the brain and realized that this carefully written book would be helpful to anyone challenged by the effects of aging on one's capabilities. I have benefited from Posit Science's Brain Fitness and Cortex Insight programs and this book encouraged me to continue to exercise my brain to enjoy improvement that comes in small steps.
Very exciting and hopeful research September 28, 2008
Fascinating possibilities outlined in this book give hope for people with brain challenges. I couldn't put it down and am excited about the hope it offers for so many.
You can learn, teach, and heal better September 28, 2008
This book contains all kinds of fascinating theoretical information about the human brain, and how it works and can change itself. But its greatest value for me lies in all the practical ideas it offers on how to learn and teach better. It also extends hope and motivation to anybody who is trying to recover from a loss of body function due to brain damage caused by illness or injury. We have so much more potential for self-healing than we realize, if only we go about it in the right way, and persist, against all odds.
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