Nonfiction Navigators discussion

Brain science is hard to understand. Very hard. However, Dr. Norman Doidge describes the current understanding of brain plasticity by using relatable examples and comprehensible diction instead of arduous textbook style writing. In The Brain that Changes Itself, Doidge challenges the age-old belief that the brain's structure is concrete by providing countless experiments that prove the brain to be malleable.

Doidge shines a light on traumatic injuries and brain illnesses by providing individual cases from patients around the world. By diving into personal lives, he brings the disorders to life and creates an intriguing story rather than spewing facts. He describes the issues the patient faces, followed by the experiment performed on the patient in step by step procedures. He interprets the results in a way that is understandable for the average person. Each case is different, yet ties back to how the brain remaps itself long past childhood.

A large portion of the book addresses learning, visual, and memory deficiencies. He describes how these deficiencies improve, and often surpass normal standards, by continuous use of a program called Fast ForWord. Doidge stresses the monumental process that can be made during a short time period with this computer program. He even uses this program on individuals who have had a stroke and serves as mental rehabilitation. Doidge even sprinkles in a little drama when a scientist's experimental stroke monkeys are captured by PETA.

In addition to undermining the belief that the brain is unchanging, Doidge proves the "one structure, one function" theory false. He uses experimental data to prove how almost all activities require multiple brain lobes to communicate in order to execute a task properly. He even goes a step further to demonstrate how bordering lobes can take over abandoned lobes, such as the arm lobe when the arm is amputated, and expand its own capabilities since it has more space.

To me, this book unveils the incredible research that has changed the way neuroplasticians see the brain. I couldn't put the book down because I was constantly introduced to intriguing new characters and rare diseases. I learned so much without feeling like I was reading a lab report. The experiment that stood out most to me was futuristic in every sense of the word. Scientist John Donoghue inserted a chip in a man's brain to detect intended muscle movement and used those thoughts to move a prosthetic arm, similar to moving things with his mind. In addition to partial telekinesis, the effects of learning disabilities and strokes are now diminished with practice from Fast ForWord, feelings of a phantom limb now dissipate, and autistic children can now learn at a normal pace.The Brain that Changes Itself is not just a book for science lovers, it is for all readers with an interest in innovative research and findings.

Doidge, Norman. The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print.