Dark and Magical Places
The Neuroscience of Navigation
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
"[Kemp] is…a natural storyteller, a deft explainer, and a terrific and funny writer." —Mary Roach, author of Fuzz
How the brain helps us to understand and navigate space—and why, sometimes, it doesn’t work the way it should.
Inside our heads we carry around an infinite and endlessly unfolding map of the world. Navigation is one of the most ancient neural abilities we have—older than language. In Dark and Magical Places, Christopher Kemp embarks on a journey to discover the remarkable extent of what our minds can do.
Fueled by his own spatial shortcomings, Kemp describes the brain regions that orient us in space and the specialized neurons that do it. Place cells. Grid cells. He examines how the brain plans routes, recognizes landmarks, and makes sure we leave a room through a door instead of trying to leave through a painting. From the secrets of supernavigators like the indigenous hunters of the Bolivian rainforest to the confusing environments inhabited by people with place blindness, Kemp charts the myriad ways in which we find our way and explains the cutting-edge neuroscience behind them.
How did Neanderthals navigate? Why do even seasoned hikers stray from the trail? What spatial skills do we inherit from our parents? How can smartphones and our reliance on GPS devices impact our brains? In engaging, engrossing language, Kemp unravels the mysteries of navigating and links the brain’s complex functions to the effects that diseases like Alzheimer’s, types of amnesia, and traumatic brain injuries have on our perception of the world around us.
A book for anyone who has ever felt compelled to venture off the beaten path, Dark and Magical Places is a stirring reminder of the beauty in losing yourself to your surroundings. And the beauty in understanding how our brains can guide us home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The brain's ability to navigate takes center stage in this sharp survey from molecular biologist Kemp (The Lost Species). As he writes, "Navigation is one of the most cognitively complex tasks our brains perform." Kemp explores this complexity from a range of perspectives: he takes readers inside research labs where scientists probe the way neurons connect with other neurons to create mental maps and images; investigates how the Tsimane people navigate dense Bolivian rainforest; demonstrates how desert ants find their way around the Sahara Desert; and digs into neurobiology research, including the 1984 discovery of head-direction cells, which function as an inner compass. Along the way, Kemp debunks numerous myths, including the idea that females possess poorer navigational skills than males, and reflects on the difference between the navigational abilities of modern humans versus those of Neanderthals. What separates the two, he suggests, is the use of the subjunctive form, which led to humans being better at navigating. Kemp peppers in accounts of his own poor navigational abilities and colorful stories of people getting lost, which keep things moving along. The result is both enjoyable and accessible.
