The Brain That Changes Itself. Stories of Personal Triumph From The Frontier of Brain Science

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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