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The New Brain: How the Modern Age Is Rewiring Your Mind, by Richard Restak
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The era of the New Brain is upon us. Once a mysterious, hidden organ locked within our skulls, modern brain science now provides us with insights about the brain that only a few decades ago would have been considered the stuff of science fiction. We can now study the brain in "real time," witnessing how it functions while taking a test, practicing a craft, experiencing an emotion, or making a decision. Brain tests can even indicate when we're telling the truth or when we're lying.
Dr. Richard Restak reports from the frontiers of modern brain science and asks the relevant questions such as, is Attention Deficit Disorder the brain syndrome of the future? Is it a "normal" response to the modern world's demand to attend to several things at once? What happens in our brains when the image replaces language as the primary means of communication? How does exposure to violent imagery affect our brains? Are we capable of "genius" and training our brains to perform at a superior level?
The New Brain is the story of technology and biology converging to influence the evolution of the human brain. Dramatic advances are now possible, as well as the potential for misuse and abuse.
Dr. Restak, author of more than 15 books on the brain, leads you through the latest research and the expanding field of cognitive science, explains its implications, and even offers practical advice such as how to:
* Understand and mitigate the affects of media images and technology on our thoughts and emotions
* Estimate the effects of stress on our brain function and how to predict who is at greatest risk for harm
* Develop the habits that result in peak brain performance
No longer science fiction or fantasy, The New Brain recounts what our brains are capable of-- today.
- Sales Rank: #719496 in Books
- Published on: 2003-08-23
- Released on: 2003-08-23
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.26" h x .90" w x 6.26" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 228 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Restak (Mozart's Brain), a neurosurgeon and popular science writer on the brain, focuses on new technology for examining the physiology of the brain (such as MRI) and how it allows us to monitor and control a far wider range of activities than was formerly possible. Recent work holds the potential for, among other things, reducing the use of psychopharmacological drugs that have unpredictable side effects; substituting one sense (touch) for another (sight); and direct repair of brain and other neurological damage. Restak also demonstrates how the brain is modified the old-fashioned way, such as by practicing a skill. The negative aspects of recent work are invoked in more polemical than scientific prose, such as the specter of social control through "medicalization" of everything, and how the overstimulation of our brains by modern society is giving us all ADD. Hackles will rise the farthest over the author's proclamation that it is proven that TV violence affects our brains in ways that lead to violent behavior without even mentioning the word "censorship." A compact if sometimes oversimplified introduction to its subject, Restak's latest is best when it stays close to the data.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Scientific American
Pity the poor neurologists of yesteryear, saddled as they were with their conviction that our brains are hardwired after childhood. Then celebrate today’s scientists, who are exploiting brain-imaging technologies to show that our brains are capable of profound and permanent alterations throughout our lives. Neurologist Richard Restak does just that in The New Brain: How the Modern Age Is Rewiring Your Mind, even as he argues that we are being negatively altered by the sound-bite, techno environment in which we live. Technology such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, Restak begins, can now demonstrate that as a musician practices for many hours, certain neural pathways are strengthened. He then moves to a profound implication, namely that all kinds of technological stimuli are forging brain circuits that may hurt us instead of helping us. For instance, he cites correlations between positron emission tomography scans of violent people and normal experimental subjects who are simply thinking about fighting, then asserts that repeated viewing of violence on television and in video games can set up brain circuits that make us more likely to initiate realworld fisticuffs. Unfortunately, such brain imaging may leave more questions than answers. As Restak himself points out, the technology does not provide "neurological explanations," just "important correlations." Yet he is whipped up enough to diagnose all of modern society with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, the probable result of brain changes we are initiating in our media-saturated world. He reminds us of the antidote, though: we are still in control of what we allow ourselves to see and hear. In the end, Restak fails to create a sense that scientists have revealed a new way of understanding the brain. And the images that inspire speculation in the book still await research that may finally reveal the mechanisms of such phenomena as memory and aggression.
Chris Jozefowicz
Review
“The wise, witty, and ethical Dr. Restak has given us ... a book vital to understanding our own role in influencing our ongoing evolution as a species. He guides us gently and humbly through synaptic connections we did not know we had, thus igniting us to insatiable curiosity about our potentials.” ―Wilton S. Dillon, Ph.D., Senior Scholar Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution
Most helpful customer reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Fun, readable, engaging, but lacking just a little...
By a professional student
In my undergrad days it was still taught that the human brain did not develop past a certain age, and that damage to portions of the brain were irreversible... Today we know this is false. "The New Brain" begins in the first chapter with a discussion about Brain Plasticity - how the brain changes (and grows in ability) as we use it, and as functions become 'hard-wired.'
For me, the first four chapters were the most interesting because they deal directly with the implications of Brain Plasticity... (Chap 2, Genius and Superior Performance; Chap 3, Attention Deficit; and chap 4, The effect of images on the brain)
The remaining chapters go in different directions on the general theme of "what's new" with the brain via brain research techniques, drugs, new treatments, etc.
Here is my humble critique: Restak is good at introducing new ideas, but where he falls just a little short is in engaging the reader with real critical discussion. Along those lines, he gives examples and statistics without really explaining what the experiment measured, or what the numbers really mean. For example in p203, he gives a diagram of measured P3 latency, but he doesn't tell you what this is actually measuring...He does, however tell you what it should mean for the discussion. Although the reader has no reason to distrust his interpretation, it would be nice if he presented just a few more concrete details. There are sections in which one may feel he is editorial-izing much, and teaching us very little about the new brain. Still...it's a good read, hence 3 stars... think of it as a cool conversation over drinks - not concrete enough to expand your knowledge, but compelling enough to perhaps change some behavior.
If you like the book - you might also like "The Midnight Disease" by Alice Flaherty, another physician, also writing on the brain, but without the shortcomings (or perceived shortcomings) I'm pointing out here... Whereas Restak's main focus is how the brain can change through use - Flaherty's book focuses on the Temporal Lobe, and the compulsion to write...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Clear explaination of current brain research
By K
This book surprised me with its clarity, accessibility, and objectivity. Restak lays out the latest brain research, focusing on what he calls the brain's 'elasticity', which is a fancy way of saying the brain adapts. Restak seemed surprised that the brain remains fairly elastic throughout someone's lifetime, instead of remaining fixed after a certain age (I think he mentioned 30). He, also, seems surprised that geniuses are made and not born. That while a person may have a knack for something, what will distinguish this person is how much effort he dedicates to his craft.
I think both of these observations are non-sequiters, since many, if not most, people know many old, or older people that adapt very well to new things and pick up new information as easily as anyone else who puts in the effort to learn it. Also, I think it's fairly obvious that people considered to be geniuses in a particular field are simply those that have worked hardest to master all aspects of it, especially the gritty, tediuos details, not just the cool parts.
Besides these not so surprising results, much of the book provides insight into some of the most fascinating aspects of the brain. For example, the fact that parts of the brain used for two separate tasks, but located next to each other, will have some sort of bleed over. Like associating colors with numbers. I associate red with the number 3 and a light green with the number 4, and so on. This is due to the proximity of the parts of the brain that process numbers and colors.
Another cool thing was the naming of letters. He gave as an example an alphabet with only two letters, one shaped like a circle, the other shaped like a five pointed star. Which one do you think has the name 'ooh' and which was is named (I think) 'ecka'. Either way, the letter you would name 'ooh' is the the same letter that over 99% of the world, across cultures and languages, would name 'ooh'. This is because of the roundness of your mouth when you say 'ooh' and the hardness of the 'ck' in 'ecka' that would be associated with sharp edges.
He, also, gives an interesting, and, I thought, surprisingly objective discussion of using pharmacology in a 'cosmetic' way, i.e., using drugs to diminish perfectly normal feelings that you don't want to feel. He uses the example of a person taking a Prozac like drug so he can handle a funeral, instead of feeling real grief.
The most surprising subject in the book talks about restoring the senses. The most striking story in the book is about a man born blind, but, through technology has his sight restored. Surprisingly, this does not make him whole. Because he got his sight so late in life, he never developed an emotional attachment to his sight. So instead of improving his life, he fell into depression because he thought the world was so 'drab'. I never thought of anything like this. It makes me think that if a deaf person had his hearing restored, he wouldn't enjoy music because he never developed an emotional attachment to sound.
I can't imagine either scenerio. I enjoy music and sound, and colors and sight so much that I never thought restoring those senses might cause an emotional dissonance.
I recommend reading this book. There's very little jargon and almost no wasted paper. Every sentence provides more information, instead of just filling up a book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Interesting, but misleading subtitle
By K. Smith
The subtitle of the book is misleading-there is only 1 1/2 chapters devoted to how our brains are being rewired by today's society. Thus, I was disappointed that I didn't learn what I thought I was going to learn.
The rest of the book is a summary of research that has been done, and where the research is going in the future. The subtitle should be "How the Modern Age is Researching Your Mind".
As a mom with ADD, and kids with ADD, I was under the impression this book addressed ADD more than it does. We have the genetic form, which is quite different from merely having a short attention span. In fact, people with ADD can hyperfocus on things that are interesting to them. This book doesn't make the distinction between a short attention span and and the overall brain malfunction of ADD.
I gave this book 3 stars because it does have some interesting information in it. I'm going to discuss his information on depression with my son's psychologist to see if the neurofeedback my son is doing can address the brain differences researchers have found. Mr. Restak doesn't even mention neurofeedback, although he talks extensively about how the brain can be changed at any age. In fact, he doesn't really give suggestions on how we can change our brains, if that is our goal, other than taking drugs. It would have been nice if he would have mentioned professionals that we can contact to make the changes he talks about.
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