Mind Sculpture: Unlocking Your Brain's Untapped Potential - Hardcover

Robertson, Ian H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0880642211 ISBN 13: 9780880642217

Publisher: Fromm Intl, 2000

Synopsis

A leading researcher of brain rehabilitation explains how the growth and function of the human brain can be affected by the manner in which one interacts with the world and by relationships with other people.

About this title

About the Author

Ian H. Robertson, one of the world's leading researchers in brain rehabilitation, has published many scholarly books and scientific papers on the subject. A former scientist at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, he also teaches psychology at Trinity College Dublin and at University College, London.

From Publishers Weekly

In an engaging hybrid of scientific inquiry and personal discovery, Robertson, who teaches psychology at Trinity College in Dublin and has worked as science correspondent for the London Times, examines the functioning of the human brain. Presenting his ideas with energy, humor and clarity, Robertson's argument that "life sculpts your brain" runs counter to a fairly recent trend in brain research that assumes most, if not all, human behavior is already "hard-wired" through evolution and genetics. Instead, Robertson claims there are many ways we can all "sculpt" our own realities by knowing how to exercise our brains in certain ways, thus affecting the "patterns of connections between neurons." For example, education actually builds stronger connections between brain cells, according to Robertson, as neurons fire within the "trembling web" (the 100 billion brain cells that "make up 'you'"). Retirement and lassitude, on the other hand, can diminish the number and strength of these connections. To support his central point that "cells that fire together, wire together," Robertson draws mostly upon clinical case studies. In several chapters, he portrays an intriguing cross-section of the population who have experienced abnormal relations between brain and body (e.g., phantom limbs) or who have severe memory blockages. In other chapters, Robertson discusses the effects of trauma, fear and hatred on the brain's neural connections. His theory about the power we all possess to shape our own life experiences has far-reaching implications for all aspects of society, including the treatment of illness, education, the workplace and human relationships. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fromm Intl
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0880642211
• ISBN 13: 9780880642217
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256