Penguin, 2007. - 224 p.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.Contents
Note to the Reader
Preface
A Woman Perpetually Falling.: Rescued by the Man Who Discovered the Plasticity of Our Senses
Building Herself a Better Brain: A Woman Labeled "Retarded" Discovers How to Heal Herself
Redesigning the Brain: A Scientist Changes Brains to Sharpen Perception and Memory, Increase Speed of Thought, and Heal Learning Problems
Acquiring Tastes and Loves: What Neuroplasticity Teaches Us About Sexual Attraction and Love
Midnight Resurrections: Stroke Victims Learn to Move and Speak Again
Brain Lock Unlocked: Using Plasticity to Stop Worries, Obsessions, Compulsions, and Bad Habits
Pain: The Dark Side of Plasticity
Imagination: How Thinking Makes It So
Turning Our Ghosts into Ancestors: Psychoanalysis as a Neuroplastic Therapy
Rejuvenation: The Discovery of the Neuronal Stem Cell and Lessons for Preserving Our Brains
More than the Sum of Her Parts: A Woman Shows Us How Radically Plastic the Brain Can Be
The Culturally Modified Brain
Plasticity and the Idea of Progress
Acknowledgments
Notes and References
Index
