The Brain That Changes Itself. Norman Doidge (ISBN 978-0141038872)
Read this book. It’s a long time since I read such an inspiring book. Norman Doidge is a great storyteller and in this book he weaves together a number of individual stories of pioneering clinicians and researchers and remarkable people who overcame enormous difficulties. One of the most remarkable elements of the stories of the researchers is contemporary rediscoveries of decades old findings which were totally dismissed by orthodox science of the time, and which met equally harsh criticism when re-presented and developed. There’s something about scientific orthodoxy which slows up progress as entrenched authorities dismiss new discoveries. Whilst scepticism is a healthy scientific stance, there are lessons to be learned about the negative impact of closed minds.
The stories told in this book show how careful observation of, and listening to, individuals, the ability to imagine what nobody else has considered so far, and the courage to break new ground by thinking differently, all combine to break through limits, deepen understanding and show what’s really possible.
The dominant model of the brain for centuries has been a mechanical one. In particular, we’ve had (and, amazingly, many still have) a model of the brain as being a machine of many parts, with fixed areas responsible for specific functions. The discovery of brain plasticity – the capacity of the brain to physically change – has blown this old model out of the water.
In chapter after chapter of this book, Norman Doidge shows that the potential for the brain to recover from serious damage is astonishingly greater than you’d ever have imagined. He also shows how the relationships between the brain and the mind, between the brain and the body, and between the brain and other people, is completely bi-directional. Our brains physically change with our thoughts – thought patterns create and reinforce physical connections of neurons – and those connections set up thought patterns. Our brains change our relationships with others, and our relationships with others actually change our brains.
This is an immensely convincing and satisfying alternative explanation to mechanistic reductionism.
Ultimately this is an exciting read, an inspiring read, a book that will change your idea of the limits of human potential.
Heroes Not Zombies 