Brain Science Podcast discussion

This is where you should share books that you think other BSP listeners will enjoy. I will also be adding books here from time to time. Books I hope to feature will appear in the folder for the current year.

Seth Mnookin's The Panic Virus

Tim wrote: "Seth Mnookin's The Panic Virus"

I am interviewing Dr. Paul Offit author of Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All next week. This will be posted as the next episode of Books and Ideas at the end of this month.

Ginger wrote:
I am interviewing Dr. Paul Offit author of Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All next week. This will be posted as the next epi..."

I'm looking forward for that interview!

I recommend Ray Jackendoff, "Foundations of Language" which is reduced at Amazon.com.
Pinker likes it and put a blurb on the front cover.
This is up-graded Linguistics post-Chomsky, that tries to account for the psycholinguistic experimental evidence, such as "garden path sentences".

John wrote: "I recommend Ray Jackendoff, "Foundations of Language" which is reduced at Amazon.com.
Pinker likes it and put a blurb on the front cover.
This is up-graded Linguistics post-Chomsky, that tries to..."

Sounds interesting, I think I remember reading about Jackendoff's work in The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language (2007) by Christine Kenneally, which I featured back in BSP 30.

BSP30 was very interesting, and I ordered Kenneally.
An early book I liked was
"Language: Structure, Processing, and Disorders (Issues in the Biology of Language and Cognition)" by David Caplan (Jan 5, 1996).
He discusses in depth the multi-lexicon models used to explain dyslexia, and lesion evidence. Not particularly theoretical, and aimed at speech therapists etc. Not much on syntax, as I remember.
Amazon.com still has it, including used copies.

I just read Cordelia Fine's book "Delusions of Gender" which was a really interesting read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the brain science and what has actually been discovered about sex differences.

RankkaApina wrote: "I just read Cordelia Fine's book "Delusions of Gender" which was a really interesting read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the brain science and what has actually been discovered abou..."

I agree with this recommendation. It is a valuable andidote to books like The Female Brain. (In retrospect I find BSP 21 a little embarassing!) Another good choice is Brain Storm: The Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences by Rebecca M. Jordan-Young.

I'd like to recommend The Patient's Brain: The neuroscience behind the doctor-patient relationship, by Fabrizio Benedetti, published by Oxford U.P., 2011.

How To (understand) Hyperactivity book (1981) about ADHD Inattentive, central auditory processing, and mild dyspraxia by C. Thomas Wild (insights here and there - not a cure at all)
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/...
---
ADHD, Nutrition, Caffeine (helps some with ADHD), and Hidden Food Additives
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/...

Charles wrote: "How To (understand) Hyperactivity book (1981) about ADHD Inattentive, central auditory processing, and mild dyspraxia by C. Thomas Wild (insights here and there - not a cure at all)
http://health.g..."

I would not recommend a book that is 20 years old! I do recommend Driven To Distraction : Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood
by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey. Dr. Ratey was interviewed about ADHD in BSP 45.

I would not recommend you to anyone since the How To book is a true story and as valid as the day it was written. Also, regarding Hallowell and Ratey, they said Bill Clinton was ADHD and was one step away from being a great president if Bill Clinton took Ritalin (Time article as I recall). Also, Hallowell and Ratey said that food additives could not impact cognition and that is a false statement. Food additives do, for a few persons, not everyone. Also, you're a fool for trying to criticize books you have never read. Two other books I found helpful are: Nerves In Collision by Walter C. Alvarez, M.D. (about the many epilepsies - also 20 years old) and A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked (about Dilantin) by Jack Dreyfus - also 20 years old. You're a fool in my view to use the false logic that since a book is 20 years ago, it has no value. That's 100% bunk. The books I wrote contain introductions by Anita Uhl Brothers, M.D., of Berkeley, California - a fine physician. Again, you're an idiot (my view). Food additives (tartrazine) came up less than two weeks ago at a FDA meeting so the topic is still 100% relevant today - year 2011. You obviously get a kick out of trying to belittle people which means you're a lousy, incompetent doctor (my opinion).

Charles, my man, get a effing grip.

This book was listed in the "Also Notable" list of books in the current issue of Scientific American:

Shadows Bright as Glass: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Journey from Brain Trauma to Artistic Triumph
Amy Ellis Nutt

Looks like a really good read.
The author will be a guest on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross this Tuesday (April 18) at 3pm.

Maybe a potential guest on Brain Science Podcast?

I would like to recommend the book Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes And How To Correct Them: Lessons From The New Science Of Behavioral Economics by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich. It is an interesting book, and well-written too. I think I read the book inside of one day.

Jess wrote: "I would like to recommend the book Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes And How To Correct Them: Lessons From The New Science Of Behavioral Economics by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gil..."

My favorite writer in the area of behavioral economics is Dan Ariely, who I interviewed back in 2008 (Books and Ideas #19). I recently enjoyed listening to the audio version of his new book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home.

Niall Mclaren's 'Humanizing madness'

The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

This is an early book that lays out how "embodiment" differs from other models of human cognition. Co-author Evan Thompson followed up with Mind in Life an important philosophical contribution to mind science that picks up where the earlier book left off.

Colleagues of these two include Alva Noë, a BSP guest, and Antoine Lutz, who has done work on the brains of meditators, among other things.

The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation

Stephen Porges is, to quote from the book jacket, "the world's leading expert on relating the autonomic nervous system....to social behavior. He is also the creator of the groundbreaking polyvagal theory, which ... has provided exciting new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates social engagement, trust and intimacy."

Porges is a professor of psychiatry and the director of the Brain-Body Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

This is not an "easy" read; but it contains some truly revolutionary thinking based on years of research. Well worth the effort and time.

Scott wrote: "The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

This is an early book that lays out how "embodiment" differs from other models of human cognition. Co-author Evan Thompson followed up wit..."

Scott wrote: "The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

This is an early book that lays out how "embodiment" differs from other models of human cognition. Co-author Evan Thompson followed up wit..."

The Embodied Mind is definitely a classic. I just started reading Mind in Life thanks to a French listener who asked me to invite Thompson on the BSP. It is too early to know if that interview will happen.

I read these over the last couple of months and they are pretty strong summation of decision-making and biases that affect our reality.

You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths

How We Decide

Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans

I've only started listening to your podcast so I don't know if you've discussed "intelligence" beyond humans and other primates but this could serve as a good starting point if you were able to get a hold of the authors.

Angst: Origins of Anxiety and DepressionFor those wondering how we ended up with so much Angst, there is an evolutionary theory. We still have ancient herd instincts that promoted sociable behavior, only now when we defy them with Reason they speak to us through anxiety and depression. Oxford U Press. Angst: Origins of Anxiety and Depression
Thanks!

Justin wrote: "Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans

I've only started listening to your podcast so I don't know if you've discussed "intelligence" beyon..."

I haven't had a chance to read Gifts of the Crow but we did talk a bit about bird intelligence back in BSP 66, which was an interview with Randy Gallistel, co-author of Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science will Transform Neuroscience.

The Embodied Mind by Varela, Thompson, and Rosch

Mapping The Mind

- a great overview of what we know about how the brain works for beginners. Very interesting to read and packed full of lots of interesting cases.

Currently reading: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories Of Personal Triumph From The Frontiers Of Brain Science

- highly recommended book on the plasticity of the brain.

Michael wrote: "The Embodied Mind by Varela, Thompson, and Rosch"

The follow-up to this is Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind by
Evan Thompson. Thompson is featured in BSP 89.

Joseph wrote: "Mapping The Mind

- a great overview of what we know about how the brain works for beginners. Very interesting to read and packed full of lots of interesting cases.

Currently reading: The Brain Th..."

Check out Norman Doidge's interview in BSP 26.

Oh great, didn't realise Doidge had featured on the podcast!

I'd like to recommend a book for everyone to read. I've
read the book and found it fascinating, easy and enjoyable to read.
The book is called: mBraining Using your multiple brains to do cool stuff! by Grant Soosalu & Marvin Oka
The website for the book is: http://www.mbraining.com/

Ginger wrote: My favorite writer in the area of behavioral economics is Dan Ariely, who I interviewed back in 2008 (Books and Ideas #19).

Having practically worn out the BSP MP3s, I am now doing same with B&I -- highly recommend that podcast to anyone who enjoys BSP.

I recently finished Keith Woodford's fascinating Devil in the Milk: Illness, Health, and the Politics of A1 and A2 Milk, and my second reading of Doidge's The Brain that Changes Itself (highly recommend both the book and your interview of the author in BSP 26) Still working my way through Doug Field's The Other Brain.

While I didn't care for the tone or most of the conclusions of an earlier commenter, I do find myself recommending older books in both the ADD and sleep fields and find that many have remained relevant. William Dement's The Promise of Sleep ('99) is quite an interesting read - a you-are-there autobiographical retrospective of the sleep-science field.

A long-time Ratey fan, I also recommend the early work of Yale's Thom Brown - Attention Deficit Disorders and Comorbidities in Children, Adolescents, and Adults (a compilation, 2000) and Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults (2005).

I LOVE the way you interview, Ginger, and thank you so very much for spending minutes of YOUR life to add to ours.

xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie - ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
- ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder -
"It takes a village to educate a world!"

Madelyn wrote: "Ginger wrote: My favorite writer in the area of behavioral economics is Dan Ariely, who I interviewed back in 2008 (Books and Ideas #19).

Having practically worn out the BSP MP3s, I am now doing s..."

Thanks so much for your ongoing support.