The Brain: The Story of You

The Brain: The Story of You by David Eagleman “The Brain" is an excellent companion piece to the six-part PBS series of the same title. Neuroscientist and best-selling author David Eagleman, educates and fascinates the general public with a wonderful popular-science examination of our brains. This captivating 224-page book includes the following six chapters: 1. Who am I?, 2. What is reality?, 3. Who’s in control?,4. How do I decide?, 5. Do I need you?, and 6. Who will we be?. Positives: 1. Popular science at its best. Accessible, enlightening and fun to read. 2. The fascinating topic of neuroscience in the masterful hands of David Eagleman. 3. Full of colorful illustrations that complement the excellent narrative. 4. Eagleman’s writing style is easy on the “brain”. His goal is to educate the general public and he succeeds. 5. Full of interesting facts spruced throughout the book. “As many as two million new connections, or synapses, are formed every second in an infant’s brain. By age two, a child has over one hundred trillion synapses, double the number an adult has.” 6. A good description of the teen’s brain. “Beyond social awkwardness and emotional hypersensitivity, the teen brain is set up to take risks.” 7. Goes over some of the keys components of the brain. “The scientists were particularly interested in a small area of the brain called the hippocampus – vital for memory, and, in particular, spatial memory.” 8. Includes interesting stories. The story of Charles Whitman is quite enlightening with major repercussions on a society that values evidence. 9. Describes how memories are formed. “Our past is not a faithful record. Instead it’s a reconstruction, and sometimes it can border on mythology. When we review our life memories, we should do so with the awareness that not all the details are accurate.” 10. Describes some of the tools of a neuroscientist. “One way to measure that is with electroencephalography (EEG), which captures a summary of billions of neurons firing by picking up weak electrical signals on the outside of the skull.” 11. Considers important philosophical questions. Does the idea of an immaterial soul reconcile with neuroscientific evidence? Find out. 12. Describes reality. “One way to measure that is with electroencephalography (EEG), which captures a summary of billions of neurons firing by picking up weak electrical signals on the outside of the skull.” “Everything you experience – every sight, sound, smell – rather than being a direct experience, is an electrochemical rendition in a dark theater.” “The slice of reality that we can see is limited by our biology.” 13. Describes consciousness. “…the conscious you is only the smallest part of the activity of your brain. Your actions, your beliefs and your biases are all driven by networks in your brain to which you have no conscious access.” “I think of consciousness as the CEO of a large sprawling corporation, with many thousands of subdivisions and departments all collaborating and interacting and competing in different ways.” 14. Describes how the brain decides. “It’s easy to think about the brain commanding the body from on high – but in fact the brain is in constant feedback with the body.” 15. An interesting look at willpower. “…willpower isn’t something that we just exercise – it’s something we deplete.” 16. A look at social neuroscience. “Our social skills are deeply rooted in our neural circuitry – and understanding this circuitry is the basis of a young field of study called social neuroscience.” 17. A fascinating look at Syndrome E and its repercussions. “Syndrome E is characterized by a diminished emotional reactivity, which allows repetitive acts of violence.” “Genocide is only possible when dehumanization happens on a massive scale, and the perfect tool for this job is propaganda.” 18. A look at the future of neuroscience. “The secret to understanding our success – and our future opportunity – is the brain’s tremendous ability to adjust, known as brain plasticity.” 19. Can consciousness be uploaded? Find out. 20. A helpful glossary of terms. Negatives: 1. As expected, a book this succinct will leave some interesting neuroscientific topics on the table. The topic of free will gets shortchanged. 2. A book intended for the general public and a companion piece no less, will lack depth. 3. The eBook edition has some glitches, as an example, extra blank pages inserted. 4. Endnotes included but no formal bibliography. In summary, this book exemplifies my love for science. Eagleman is a master of his craft and a skilled writer. He covers complex topics on the neuroscience with ease and provides the general public with an appetizer of knowledge. Neuroscience is a fascinating field in it is infancy and Eagleman successfully whets the public’s interest. I highly recommend it! Further recommendations: “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain” by the same author, “How to Create a Mind” and “The Singularity is Near” by Ray Kurzwell, “Who’s in Charge?” by Michael S. Gazzaniga, “The Human Brain Book” by Rita Carter, “The Tell-Tale Brain” by V.S. Ramachandran, “Hallucinations” and “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat” by Oliver Sacks, “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel H. Pink, “In Search of Memory” by Eric R. Kandel, “Self Comes to Mind” by Antonio Damasio, and “The Mind” edited by John Brockman.

Dr. Eagleman led me on a fascinating tour of this most enigmatic organ, constantly and authoritatively updating the experiments and hypotheses I recalled from my graduate work in counseling psychology. This is written in a very engaging and personal style that reduces complex, technical issues into readily understood and relatable everyday experience. One question arose for me in the final chapter of the book dealing with the confounding issue of self-awareness and whether this can be achieved with non-biological platforms, i.e. silicon, water, etc. It prompted me to wonder if our ability to be self-aware, presently absent in the most sophisticated robots, is not basically due to having physical bodies that are continuously registering some degree of pleasure and pain, many times at seemingly subconscious levels. Constant approach-avoidance experiences, due to our physical sensitivity to what we experience as pleasure and pain, and the prewired need to survive, could be an indispensable foundation for motivation, emotional existence, and, consequently, self-awareness. Since a non-flesh and blood entity could be taught our reactions to these experiences but would be unable to physically feel them, I wonder if, unlike a robot, our physical selves constantly buffeted by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain even in micro amounts, is not the essential ingredient separating is from the robot, our self-awareness. This is a wonderful, thought-provoking read, perfectly designed for curious people who may not have a great appetite for erudite, technical detail, but who are fascinated by the bottom line describing what we presently believe makes us think and do, for better or worse, what we see virtually every day.

Have you ever read a book so interesting that you constantly take notes or highlight “I want to remember this, I want to remember that . . .”? That’s my experience with this book. The book is easily worth a read and a re-read of those sections that you find of interest. So many topics that I won’t list them but the book includes a reference to the revelation in an autopsy that his Albert Einstein’s brain had an enlarged area related to his playing the violin. I mentioned that in conversation with a person learning to play the violin which we both found interesting, BUT if I painstakingly listed the fifty most interesting details in the book I’m not certain that would even make the list of the top fifty. EXCELLENT! I give it a rating 8.9 out of ten and the only reason I don’t rate it higher is so that if I ever rate something that I think is better I’ll have room to give a higher rating.

Fantastic intro to Neuroscience. My professor recommended we read this along side my undergraduate research project. Even though I don't work in neuroscience I remembered a ton from this book. Just a good book for learning the basics of how the brain works!

In his earlier illuminating book ‘Incognito’, David Eagleman showed us our hidden selves and challenged us to think about ourselves differently. He continues in that direction in his new book ‘The Brain: The Story of you’ and visualizes the possibilities of the future of the brain and in fact the future of our species. The Singularity is a concept popularized by the well known futurist scientist Ray Kurzweil (refer his book ‘The Singularity is Near’ in 2005) where he envisioned a future where we will be able to leave our bodies and live in a digital world by uploading our brains into a computer system. Kurzweil was pretty much vague on the details but Eagleman in this book shows us how challenging that can be. With over 100 billion neurons and many trillions of connections among them, the complexity of the brain is unquestionable but understandable. However the fact that ‘consciousness’ emerges from this is the amazing outcome that leaves us in awe. Kurzweil had argued that ‘consciousness’ is a rather natural outcome of a complex interconnected system, and in books like the ‘The Age of Spiritual machines’ it was assumed that soon computers and robots (and may be the Internet) would develop a consciousness. But as we understand more about the biological nature of the brain and its learning system, we will start doubting whether an artificial system will ever develop consciousness on its own. I don’t doubt that when technology is advanced enough we would be able to create a human like (or a human better) intelligence but I don’t think a machine or AI system can naturally develop consciousness if its creator (that is us) did not train it to. The best parts of David Eagleman’s book are where he explains (a) how the plasticity of the brain and its self learning ability to understand patterns can be leveraged in the future to provide different inputs to the brain (than the normal sensory inputs that we are born with) (b) how many other inputs that we don’t normally recognize influence our brain – a beautiful example is on how our emotions are influenced by the input to our brain from our facial muscles when we witness an event (c) what will be our future – I leave this for you to read and find out!

I bought this book for my brother and he really likes it. He says he’s learning a lot from it, and the clear explanations make everything easy to understand. A really helpful and well-made book!

Good entertainment for a couple of hours. Kind of like a TV show but not much in depth discussion of how our brains actually work and a little too politically correct for my taste.

Most of the information given in this book was already in the authors previous book, however this book is precious because it contains a philosophical approach to the neuroscience and new technologies can come to life based on it. The author is a neuroscientist, that's why I believe everything written about neuroscience is true but out of his field there are wrong (at least open to argument ) data. For example "brains in vats" argument doesn't not belong to Rene Descartes. It belongs to another philosopher Hilary Putnam. ( Descartes' argument on the same subject was a demon making humans dream whatever he wants). The book also upset me as a Turkish reader by presenting genocide claims against Turks as historical truth. Despite these points I liked the book and it can be considered as mind opening.

Wonderful book that talked about the Miracls of the brain in a very simple interesting way.

Excelente libro me encantó como el autor explica el desarrollo de nuestras neuronas, gracias a eso eh podido entender más nuestro proceso de aprendizaje.

The book is simply and elegantly written and eminently readable. But apart from the author's charisma in writing there is wisdom in the layout and structure of the book which results in such an unimpeded flow of the text; apart from several simple illustrations there is nothing in the text to distract your attention. But unbeknownst to the reader, at the end of the book there are End notes which provide additional information and references; also a glossary. In the body of the text there are boxes which elaborate on points raised in the text. Finally at the beginning of the six chapters comprising the book, each featuring a trait of the human brain, there is a text highlighting the essence of the ensuing chapter. Our brain weighing roughly 1400 g - apparently the most complex structure in the known universe - a dense tangle of billions of cells and trillions of connections is what makes us human. One of the remarkable traits of the human brain is its plasticity. Humans are born with their brains unfinished with the result that we are helpless and totally dependent on those around us for many years. By contrast baby animals develop quickly because their brains are wiring up according to a largely p reprogrammed routine. But that preparedness trades off with flexibility which enables humans to thrive in many different environments. Instead of arriving with everything wired up - hardwired - a human brain allows itself to be shaped by the details of life experience. All the experiences of our life shape the microscopic details of our brain. Our brain constantly re writes its own circuitry and since our experiences are unique, so are the vast, detailed patterns in our neural networks. Because they continue to change during our whole life, our identity is a moving target. I imagine that many of us have pondered as to whether we perceive physical reality or reality is something reconstructed in our brain. Well, it is very much the latter. Outside our brain is just energy and matter. Over millions of years of evolution the human brain has become adept at turning this energy and matter into a rich sensory experience of being in the world. Our brain has no access to the world outside. There is only one way that information from out there gets into the brain. Our sensory organs - eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin - act as interpreters. They detect a spectrum of information sources (photons, air compression waves, molecular concentrations, pressure, texture, temperature) and translate them into the common currency of the brain namely signals. I shall conclude this part with Synesthesia for which the author has written a whole book. Synesthesia is a condition in which senses are blended e.g they perceive sounds as colors. I imagine that most of us do not realize the enormous power of the unconscious brain. The universe inside our heads extends far beyond the reach of our conscious experience. At every moment in our life, networks in our brain are buzzing with activity. Our life is shaped and colored by what is happening in the subconscious part of our brain: how we act, what matters to us, what we believe is true and false. Our experience is the final output of these hidden processes. It is the power of the unconscious brain that flawlessly orchestrates our movements ( walking, riding, bicycling etc). Between sleep and being awake, the biological material in the brain is the same but the activity patterns slightly change. Being awake (and conscious) we are aware of an identity, a life, needs, desires, plans. Consciousness reacts to surprises but also plays a vital role in settling conflicts within the brain. Consciousness makes plans and sets goals for the system as a whole. Humans do not simply have social needs, they are hardwired to be social creatures. Normal brain function depends on the social web around us. Our neurons require other people's neurons to thrive and survive. From our families, co-workers, and business partners, our societies are built on layers of social interaction. The world around us is a large part of who we are, the self does not exist in a vacuum. Finally, we are at a moment in human history when the marriage of our biology and our technology will transcend the brain's limitations . This is poised to fundamentally change what it will mean to be human.

Ho comprato questo libro dopo aver visto il documentario composto da 6 episodi dello stesso autore del libro ovvero David Eagleman. Cosi come mi ha piacevolmente stupito il documentario cosi mi ha stupito anche il libro . Presenta in maniera molto chiara con esempi molto interessanti il funzionamento del nostro cervello e devo dire che le informazioni scritte in questo libro non sono assolutamente banali e già note a tutti . Il libro presenta in maniera sintetica i frutti degli ultimi 10-13 anni di ricerca di D. Eagleman. Nel libro vengono considerati argomenti come la plasticità del nostro cervello, come fa il cervello ad adattarsi all'ambiente circostante, come fa a percepire la realtà che ci circonda , cosa noi siamo in relazione al nostro modo di pensare e infine come la tecnologia cambierà in futuro noi stessi in relazione ai cambiamenti ai quali il cervello va incontro. Lo consiglio a tutte le persone affascinate del nostro cervello , del nostro modo di pensare.Inoltre a chi è interessato consiglio anche di comprare i cd del documentario collegato in quanto tale documentario permette di avere una visione migliore delle cose spiegate nel libro grazie alle animazioni molto belle e alla chiarezza espositiva.

This book doesn't just explain how the brain works—it challenges the way you think about who you are as an individual with conciousness and awareness. Each chapter dives into a core question that will make you keep reflecting the rest of your day. Great read!