Livewired
The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain
-
-
4.5 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Vivid. . . . Livewired reads wonderfully, like what a book would be if it were written by Oliver Sacks and William Gibson, sitting on Carl Sagan’s front lawn.” —The Wall Street Journal
You will never think about your brain in the same way again.
What does drug withdrawal have in common with a broken heart? Why is the enemy of memory not time but other memories? How can a blind person learn to see with her tongue, or a deaf person learn to hear with his skin? Might we someday control a robot with our thoughts, just as we do our fingers and toes? Why do we dream at night, and what does that have to do with the rotation of the earth? The answers to these questions are right behind our eyes. The greatest technology we have ever discovered on our planet is the three-pound organ carried in the vault of the skull. The magic of the brain is not found in the parts it’s made of but in the way those parts unceasingly reweave themselves in an electric, living fabric. In Livewired, you will surf the leading edge of neuroscience atop the anecdotes and metaphors that have made David Eagleman one of the best scientific translators of our generation. Covering decades of research to the present day, Livewired also presents new discoveries from Eagleman’s own laboratory, from synesthesia to dreaming to wearable neurotech devices that revolutionize how we think about the senses.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neuroscientist Eagleman (The Brain) delivers an intellectually exhilarating look at neuroplasticity. In his view, the brain's ability to reconfigure connections between its different areas in response to feedback is "quite possibly the most gorgeous phenomenon in biology," and also holds exciting practical applications. Eagleman explains how the brain's "maps" of the body are not genetically precoded, but arrive "remarkably unfinished" at birth and are then molded by experience, and walks readers through the concept of cortical redeployment, in which the function of different brain areas is reallocated according to need for instance, in blind people, the visual cortex doesn't go unused, but is adapted for other purposes. Optimistically proposing that humanity can use neuroplasticity to its advantage, Eagleman describes the therapeutic field devoted to substituting one sense for another, and the potential for augmentation of existing senses (as has occurred with some cornea transplantees who found themselves suddenly able to see ultraviolet light). Finally, Eagleman addresses the implications for future tech innovations, observing that AI systems, despite their now "mindblowingly impressive" state, lack the brain's essential plasticity. Eagleman's skill as teacher, bold vision, and command of current research will make this superb work a curious reader's delight.
