The Brain

October 12, 2015
Neuroscientist and novelist Eagleman (Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain) reports on many big, recent neuroscience developments in this deceptively simple look at the universe's most complex known object: the human brain. Much of Eagleman's work covers scientists' ever-increasing appreciation of human brain plasticity. He addresses how brains rewire themselves in response to practice and discusses devices that help the brain regain damaged functions such as vision and hearing. Eagleman also shows how new technologies have revealed the reach and limits of human empathy, noting that seeing others in physical pain lights up the same neurons activated by experiencing physical pain directlyâthough they light up less brightly when the observed victims are from a different social group. Those same brain areas even light up in response to emotional rejection. Remarking that human brains are essentially "peripheral plug-and-play devices," Eagleman shows that no matter what sort of data comes in, "the brain figures out what to do with it." And he effectively unveils the stunning degree to which "we can now hack our own hardware" in order to understand, and better, ourselves. This is a straightforward, stimulating companion book to the PBS series on the subject. Illus.

November 15, 2015

Eagleman, the author and presenter of a new six-hour PBS series, The Brain, offers here a companion book that, like the series, focuses on how the brain shapes the reality of our lives by transforming input from the sensory organs into perceptions, decisions, connections, memories, and movements. The author effectively presents evidence proving his thesis that understanding the brain is necessary in order to comprehend what it means to be human. As neuroscientists research the mind-body connection, their work is leading to possible cures for autism, uses of real-time brain-imaging feedback to help addicts understand and control their responses, and how to slow cognitive aging. Research is also helping to explain genocide, bullying, criminal behavior, and the unconscious. Eagleman concludes by arguing that brain science and technology are on the threshold of changing human destiny. VERDICT Strongly recommended for collections where PBS viewership is high or there is demand for popular science books.--Beth Dalton, Littleton, CO

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