Mapping the Mind

Today a brain scan reveals our thoughts and moods as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. We can actually observe a person’s brain registering a joke or experiencing a painful memory. In Mapping the Mind, award-winning journalist Rita Carter draws on the latest imaging technology and science to chart how human behavior and personality reflect the biological mechanisms behind thought and emotion. This acclaimed book, a complete visual guide to the coconut-sized, wrinkled gray mass we carry around inside our heads, has now been completely revised and updated throughout. Among many other topics, Carter explores obsessions and addictions, the differences between men’s and women’s brains, and memory.

• Comprehensively updated for this edition with the latest research, case studies, and contributions from distinguished scientists

• Addresses recent controversies over behavior prediction and prevention

• Includes new information on mirror neurons, unconscious cognition, and abnormalities in attention spans

Twice awarded the Medical Journalists’ Association prize, Rita Carter is a science and medical writer based in the United Kingdom. She is the author of Exploring Consciousness (UC Press) and Multiplicity: The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self, among other books.