A journey into the brain, showing how perception, thought, and action are products of 'maps' etched into your gray matter — and how technology can use them to read your mind.
Schwarzlose, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis, writes with the zeal of an enthusiastic teacher yearning to share her passion with her students. For the most part she succeeds. Her prose is lively. She jettisons scientific jargon ... The most engaging chapters are in the second half. The stories get quirkier. Also, Schwarzlose dives into the uses and potential abuses of technologies prompted by this mind-field of discoveries ... I was also irked that within this well-researched book, she added a few dubious claims gleaned from single studies.Still, these quibbles are trivial in a book that travels into rich terrain, charted by a smart and eager tour guide.
A thorough delineation of neural representations, or brain maps, that affect our sensory, motor, cognitive, and emotional capacities ... Schwarzlose illuminates four primary themes of brain maps: their universality, respective uniqueness, the idea that they are created out of necessity, and their ability to give organisms the opportunity to adapt ... The scope of the book is staggering, as is the potential of technology's role in decoding minds, and yet Schwarzlose successfully and enthusiastically relays the research in relevant, understandable, and absorbing language.
Neuroscientist Schwarzlose debuts with a fascinating deep-dive into the 'remarkable maps' in the human brain ... Schwarzlose’s presentation of cutting-edge science is consistently accessible and concise, as is her historical perspective on early brain research ... This is deeply enjoyable and thoroughly researched—science-minded readers should take note.
