Suggested Reading
There are many interesting books about the brain available at your favorite bookstore or local library. If you’re interested in learning more about the brain, this list of recommended books is a good place to start. These books that cover a wide range of brain-related topics—from plasticity to Buddhism to music and beyond. Read them on your own or share them with your book club.
How We Decide (2009) By Jonah Lehrer
Each day of our lives is filled with choices, from what we eat for breakfast in the morning to what we wear to bed at night. How do our brains go about narrowing down this dizzying amount of options and settle on just a few? In How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer uses the latest research in the field of neuroscience to explore just that, examining how pilots, quarterbacks, investment bankers, and other people who find themselves under pressure make decisions.
The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn’t—and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger (2008)By Daniel Gardner
A mouse is generally a small, harmless creature, but that doesn't stop musophobics—people who are afraid of mice—from jumping on the nearest chair if they see one. Why do people behave this way? In The Science of Fear, Daniel Gardner, a writer for the Ottawa Citizen, tries to answer that question and examines why humans are prone to irrational fears.
Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath (2008)By Michael Paul Mason
In his new book, Head Cases, Michael Paul Mason details the sometimes devastating aftermath of traumatic brain injuries. A case manager at a hospital brain injury ward in Oklahoma, Mason describes the struggles of a snowboarder who lost his sense of reality after making a bad jump, a woman who lost both her long- and short-term memory after her car was hit by a freight train, veterans returning from Iraq, and other brain injury survivors.
Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research (2008)By Sue Halpern
In Can't Remember What I Forgot, Sue Halpern explores the latest advances in brain science and memory research. Halpern spent years visiting renowned neuroscientists and volunteering for numerous cognitive tests and brain scans, including radioactive testing that made her brain so "hot" she set off radiation alarms when she left the lab.
Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey Through Your Brain (2008)By David Bainbridge
In Beyond the Zonules of Zinn, David Bainbridge takes readers on an entertaining and engaging tour of the human brain and nervous system. A clinical anatomist at England’s Cambridge University, Bainbridge explains how early scientists tried to describe almost every crease and canal of the brain with strange and fantastical names before they had any idea of what the various structures actually did.
The Man with the Phantom Twin By V. S. Ramachandran
Taking his cue from Oliver Sacks, renowned physician and neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran digs into his case files for his latest book, The Man with the Phantom Twin, and tells the stories of individuals who experience odd and interesting neurological problems.Ramachandran’s patients face uncommon challenges, but he uses their experiences to illustrate how modern neuroscience can shed light on all of our brains and how they perceive and understand the world around us.
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain By Oliver Sacks
In his latest book, renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks explores how music affects the human brain. Using a series of case studies, Sacks describes a wide variety of interesting occurrences, from the fairly common—such as why we get songs stuck in our heads—to unusual stories like the tale of a man who was struck by lightening and then developed a new passion and talent for playing the piano. Written in an accessible and engaging style, Musicophilia is a fascinating look at how the neuroscience of music changes the lives of everyday people.
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better (2007)By Sandra Blakeslee & Matthew Blakeslee
Maps tell you where you are, where you’ve been and where you are going. This book looks at how our mental maps create the reality we experience in navigating life and in creating our sense of self. Beautifully written by New York Times science writer, Sandra Blakeslee and her son, Matthew, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own is an engaging series of case studies and highly informative sidebars which make complex cutting edge neuroscience not just accessible, but a compelling read.
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain (2007)By Maryanne Wolf
Maryanne Wolf explores the science of reading and how the brain translates marks on piece of paper into words and meaningful concepts. Using her son's dyslexia as a starting point, Wolf also discusses what happens in the brain when people, particularly children, have trouble processing visual information and can't learn to read. Wolf points out that the rise of computers and the Digital Age may have already hurt our ability to comprehend the written word.
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts (2007)By Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
This book, written by two well-known psychologists, focuses on self-justification: how people in all walks of life—world politicians, unfaithful spouses, and pretty much everyone else—absolve themselves of their mistakes, even revel in or repeat them. As part of their inquiry, the authors shed light on how the brain’s wiring enables that self-justification. In the end, the book concludes that humanity could benefit from a little more self-awareness and a little less self-righteousness.
The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God (2007)By David J. Linden
In The Accidental Mind, David Linden (a neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins) draws attention to the brain’s quirky, often illogical design. He argues that the brain is not an optimized, streamlined machine; it’s a “weird agglomeration of ad-hoc solutions that have been piled on through millions of years of evolutionary history.” But that “weird agglomeration” has enabled our humanity—as his subtitle says, it has “given us love, memory, dreams, and God.”
A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers (2005)By V.S. Ramachandran, MD, PhD
From the very first pages, when he points out that the possible variations in neural connections in the human brain outnumber the atoms in the known universe, The book captures the reader’s interest. He brings to light accessible, compelling information about the role of neural structures in all our skills and abilities, often through stories of people with unusual or exceptional brains.
Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge By Gerald M. Edelman
In Second Nature, Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman takes a brain-based approach to explore human creativity and knowledge. But this is no dry, hard science text. Instead, Edelman bridges the gap between science (neurobiology) and the humanities (philosophy) to create a book that is, in the words of Harvard psychologist and author Howard Gardner, “at once witty and wise.”
The Happiness TripBy Eduardo Punset
In The Happiness Trip (originally published as El viaje a la felicidad), Spanish scientist and television personality Eduardo Punset offers a scientific perspective on the search for happiness. He believes that the search for happiness is related to our extended lifespans; now that we live well beyond our child-rearing years, we have time to worry about our personal happiness. Ultimately, he offers a formula for happiness that he hopes can help people take a positive step towards a happier life.
In Search of Memory (2006)By Eric Kandel
In Search of Memory is an intellectual and at times deeply personal autobiography of Eric Kandel, who won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his work on memory and learning in the brain. Kandel weaves his own memories and experiences—from his childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna through his adult career—through a history of the science of memory, including his own considerable contributions in that field. As the Scientific American review says, “One comes away in awe of the scientific advances—and of a life well and fully lived.”
The Brain That Changes Itself (2007) By Norman Doidge, M.D.
A revolution is now sweeping through the field of brain science and this book chronicles the stories of the men and women who have ushered in a new age. The brain is no longer viewed as a machine that is hard-wired early in life, unable to adapt and destined to “wear out” with age. Instead, we learn that scientists are beginning to unlock the secrets of the powerful, lifelong, adaptability – or “plasticity” – of the brain. The implications are enormous for treating neurological disease's. Read Chapter 3
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain (2007) By Sharon Begley
In her new book, Wall Street Journal science writer Sharon Begley highlights the convergence of an unlikely duo: breakthrough neuroscience and Buddhism. Each year, the Dalai Lama, Buddhist monks, and leading neuroscientists come together to discuss their shared belief in the changeability (known in the science world as “plasticity”) of the brain. As Begley points out, the potential benefits of brain plasticity are immense, ranging from an end to neurological disorders to a more peaceful world through greater compassion.
The Brain Diet (2006)By Alan C. Logan
In The Brain Diet, Alan Logan (a member of the Harvard Medical School’s Mind-Body Medical Institute) explores the complex relationship between diet and brain health. How does what we eat contribute to or affect Alzheimer’s, migraines, anxiety, intelligence, mood, and more? Logan takes a look at how the brain functions to offer information about the role different foods play in nourishing and protecting the brain. Brain-healthy recipes and food supplement suggestions are also included.
The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius (2005)By Nancy C. Andreasen
Nancy Andreasen, a neuroscientist at the University of Iowa and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Association, reflects on the roots of “extraordinary creativity” in this exploration. She studies the limited research available, as well as the lives of well-known creative geniuses (Mozart, da Vinci, and the like), ultimately concluding that creative genius arises from unique neural processes. There is some hope for the rest of us, though: as Andreasen points out, we can take steps to enhance our own creativity.
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (2006)By Daniel J. Levitin
A rock musician turned cognitive neuroscientist, Daniel Levitin is especially well-qualified to write about the brain’s responses to music. In This Is Your Brain on Music he does just that. Levitin considers the intricacies of music as well as those of the brain’s auditory processing to shed light on how and why music affects people so deeply. In so doing, he helps readers gain insight into one of the qualities that makes us all human.
The Naked Brain: How the Emerging Neurosociety is Changing How We Live, Work, and Love (2006) By Richard Restak
In The Naked Brain, Richard Restak argues that we are gradually becoming a “neurosociety” in which brain science affects everyday life. Restak details the potential and the peril inherent in a neurosociety. Some change will be for the good, as scientists and doctors learn more about how the brain works. But Restak believes there’s a risk, too. He points out that advertisers, politicians, and others are already looking to brain scanning technology to influence our choices.
Mapping the Mind (1999) and Exploring Consciousness (2004)
By Rita Carter
In 1999, Rita Carter published her acclaimed book Mapping the Mind, a field guide for the layperson about what scientists knew about brain structure and function. In 2004, she followed it up with Exploring Consciousness, a book that goes beyond structure and function to explore the origin and purpose of consciousness. Together, the books provide a wonderful introduction to the brain and its relationship to selfhood.
>> Purchase from Amazon.com
(Mapping the Mind)
>> Purchase from Amazon.com (Exploring Consciousness)
(Mapping the Mind) >> Purchase from Amazon.com
(Exploring Consciousness) 
Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development (2003) By George E. Vaillant, M.D.
This groundbreaking sociological analysis is based on three research projects that followed over 800 people from their adolescence through old age. Subjects were drawn from the Harvard Grant study of white males, the Inner City study of non-delinquent males and the Terman Women study of gifted females, begun respectively in 1921, 1930 and 1911.
The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force (2003) By Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Sharon Begley
UCLA psychiatrist Jeffry Schwartz and Wall Street Journal columnist Sharon Begley team up to explore how using the mind to change habits and activities can physically alter the brain for better function. They especially focus on obsessive compulsive disorder and stroke, citing an array of experiments that demonstrate how people can relearn to control actions thought lost to them.
Soul Made Flesh: Discovery of the Brain and How it Changed the World (2005) By Carl Zimmer
Carl Zimmer makes the history of neurology a gripping tale by juxtaposing massive social change in Cromwell’s England with the struggle against the Church to bring scientific method to biology. It’s surprising that the dominant view in the Age of Enlightenment was that “thought” and “soul” resided in the heart and that the brain’s gray matter was primarily for venting the body’s heat.
Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change (2006)By Bruce E. Wexler
Bruce Wexler, a Professor of Psychiatry at Yale Medical School (and member of the Posit Science Scientific Advisory Board), explores the interplay between culture and the brain’s physical and functional organization from childhood to adulthood. Immigrants provide an example of how this interplay changes with age: the brains of immigrant children are better able to make the structural changes needed to succeed in a new culture than the brains of their parents.
Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life (2004)By Steven Johnson
Author Steven Johnson skillfully explores how our attributes and emotions—love, fear, memory, and more—derive from the brain’s electrical and chemical responses to what we sense in the world around us. He uses his own brain as a case study by undergoing a series of neurological tests (from fMRI to neurofeedback) and sharing the results with the reader.
The Wisdom Paradox : How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger As Your Brain Grows OlderBy Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg
In this engaging and hopeful book, Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg explains not just how many aspects of the brain decline with age, but how life experience can assist in pattern recognition (that may lead to wisdom). As some areas of the brain decline, others improve. In discussing the plasticity of the brain, Dr. Goldberg challenges readers to maintain a lifestyle that keeps their brains active and challenged.
