The Custom-Made Brain: Cerebral Plasticity, Regeneration, and Enhancement
Jun 2014 · Columbia University Press
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About this ebook
Two leading neuroscientists examine how the brain is in flux and how this applies to addressing neurological, cognitive, and emotional health.
Beginning with a survey of the fundamental scientific developments that led to our current understanding of the regenerative mind, the authors elucidate the breakthrough neurobiological studies that paved the way for our present understanding of the brain’s plasticity and regenerative capabilities. They then discuss the application of these findings to such issues as depression, dyslexia, schizophrenia, and cognitive therapy, incorporating the latest technologies in neuroimaging, optogenetics, and nanotechnology. Their work shows the brain is anything but a static organ, ceasing to grow as human beings become adults. Rather, the brain is dynamic, evolving organically in relation to physical, cultural, historical, and affective stimuli, a plasticity that provides early hope to survivors of trauma and degenerative disorders.
“Highly informative, up to date, and entertaining, The Custom-Made Brain emphasizes that the brain is constantly being constructed during an individual’s lifetime, like a medieval cathedral that is never finished and yet ages without reaching ‘maturity.’ The brain, like the cathedral, is forever being repaired and restored. A stimulating read.” —Israel Rosenfield, City University of New York, author of The Invention of Memory: A New View of the Brain
“This short account succeeds in an original and thought-provoking manner. It will become a valuable resource for clinicians who manage the care of those disabled by stroke, brain injury, or dementia. Many young scientists will be encouraged to take up the challenge of brain repair in the face of decades of therapeutic pessimism.” —Lawrence Whalley, University of Aberdeen, author of The Aging Brain
Beginning with a survey of the fundamental scientific developments that led to our current understanding of the regenerative mind, the authors elucidate the breakthrough neurobiological studies that paved the way for our present understanding of the brain’s plasticity and regenerative capabilities. They then discuss the application of these findings to such issues as depression, dyslexia, schizophrenia, and cognitive therapy, incorporating the latest technologies in neuroimaging, optogenetics, and nanotechnology. Their work shows the brain is anything but a static organ, ceasing to grow as human beings become adults. Rather, the brain is dynamic, evolving organically in relation to physical, cultural, historical, and affective stimuli, a plasticity that provides early hope to survivors of trauma and degenerative disorders.
“Highly informative, up to date, and entertaining, The Custom-Made Brain emphasizes that the brain is constantly being constructed during an individual’s lifetime, like a medieval cathedral that is never finished and yet ages without reaching ‘maturity.’ The brain, like the cathedral, is forever being repaired and restored. A stimulating read.” —Israel Rosenfield, City University of New York, author of The Invention of Memory: A New View of the Brain
“This short account succeeds in an original and thought-provoking manner. It will become a valuable resource for clinicians who manage the care of those disabled by stroke, brain injury, or dementia. Many young scientists will be encouraged to take up the challenge of brain repair in the face of decades of therapeutic pessimism.” —Lawrence Whalley, University of Aberdeen, author of The Aging Brain
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About the author
Jean-Didier Vincent is professor emeritus at the University of Paris-Sud-Orsay and a member of the Faculty of Medicine, Paris-Sud-Kremlin-Bicêtre. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Voyage extraordinaire au centre du cerveau (Extraordinary Voyage to the Center of the Brain) and Biologie des passions (The Biology of Emotions) and belongs to the French Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medicine.Pierre-Marie Lledo is a research director specializing in neuronal stem cells and brain plasticity at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and chair the department of Neuroscience at the Pasteur Institute. He is recipient of a CNRS bronze medal and several Prizes from the French Academies of Medicine and Sciences. He belongs to the European Academy of Sciences.Laurence Garey has translated several works from French and German, including Korbinian Brodmann's Localisation in the Cerebral Cortex, and publications by Jean-Pierre Changeux, Michel Jouvet, and Michel Meulders.
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