Product Description

An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. In this revolutionary look at the brain, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., provides an introduction to both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they’ve transformed. From stroke patients learning to speak again to the remarkable case of a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, The Brain That Changes Itself will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #353 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
For years the doctrine of neuroscientists has been that the brain is a machine: break a part and you lose that function permanently. But more and more evidence is turning up to show that the brain can rewire itself, even in the face of catastrophic trauma: essentially, the functions of the brain can be strengthened just like a weak muscle. Scientists have taught a woman with damaged inner ears, who for five years had had "a sense of perpetual falling," to regain her sense of balance with a sensor on her tongue, and a stroke victim to recover the ability to walk although 97% of the nerves from the cerebral cortex to the spine were destroyed. With detailed case studies reminiscent of Oliver Sachs, combined with extensive interviews with lead researchers, Doidge, a research psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at Columbia and the University of Toronto, slowly turns everything we thought we knew about the brain upside down. He is, perhaps, overenthusiastic about the possibilities, believing that this new science can fix every neurological problem, from learning disabilities to blindness. But Doidge writes interestingly and engagingly about some of the least understood marvels of the brain. (Mar. 19)
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Oliver Sacks
Only a few decades ago, scientists considered the brain to be fixed or "hardwired," and considered most forms of brain damage, therefore, to be incurable. Dr. Doidge, an eminent psychiatrist and researcher, was struck by how his patients' own transformations belied this, and set out to explore the new science of neuroplasticity by interviewing both scientific pioneers in neuroscience, and patients who have benefited from neuro-rehabilitation. Here he describes in fascinating personal narratives how the brain, far from being fixed, has remarkable powers of changing its own structure and compensating for even the most challenging neurological conditions. Doidge's book is a remarkable and hopeful portrait of the endless adaptability of the human brain.

Review
“Mind-bending, miracle-making, reality-busting stuff with implications for all human beings.”
—The New York Times

“A remarkable and hopeful portrait of the endless adaptability of the human brain.”
—Oliver Sacks

“The power of positive thinking finally gains scientific credibility.”
—The New York Times

Customer Reviews

The Brain that Changes Itself
This is a fantastic book - well written and easy to read and understand; great case studies;a must for anyone with any interest in the brain; anyone who has aged parents or friends and is looking for some help in understanding how to keep the brain alert or even how to reconfigure it!

Important about the brain
Very interesting and instructing about the wonderful brain we've got.
A must for all therapists around the world.

Fascinating topic, dull book
I'm a big fan of Oliver Sacks, and a fellow Sacks fan recommended this book. But in my humble opinion, Doidge makes his fascinating subject amazingly dull. I agree with another reviewer who said this book reads like a sales pitch. The personal stories are rambling, repetitive, and unscientific. I left my half-read copy on an airplane to lighten my carry-on luggage.