The Balanced Brain
The Science of Mental Health
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A FINANCIAL TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Compelling . . . optimistic' Observer
‘Fascinating . . . a refreshing counterblast to many popular ideas about wellbeing’ Prospect
‘Excellent . . . anyone reading it will come away with a kinder, better understanding of themselves’ Lucy Foulkes
There are many routes to mental wellbeing and award-winning neuroscientist Camilla Nord is at the forefront of finding them. In this ground-breaking book, she offers a revelatory tour of the scientific and technological developments that are revolutionizing the way we think about mental health, showing why and how events - and treatments - can affect people in such different ways.
In The Balanced Brain, Nord reframes mental health as an intricate, self-regulating process, one which is different for all of us. She examines a huge diversity of treatments, from therapy and medication to recreational drugs and electrical brain stimulation, to show how they work, and why they sometimes don't. In doing so, she reveals how the small things we do to lift our mood during the course of a day - a piece of chocolate, a coffee, chatting to a friend - often work on the same pathways in our brain as the latest pharmacological treatments for mental health disorders. Whether they help us to manage pain, learn from experience or expend energy on the things that are important for our survival, these conscious actions are part of a complex process that is unique to each individual and the constant backdrop to our everyday lives.
Nord shows that, with so many factors at play, there are more possibilities for recovery and resilience than we might think. Whether you're suffering or simply doing your best to stay afloat, this book is an invitation to discover what makes each of us feel better, and why.
'Revolutionary, compassionate . . . down-to-earth and insightful’ Irish Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nord, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, debuts with an invigorating examination of "how the brain constructs your mental health." Contending that "your brain's biology, and its close relationship with your physical body, creates, sustains and protects your mental state," Nord explains that some scientists think poor mental health stems from a "miscalibrated" dopamine system that provides only modest boosts in mood for "positive events" yet "overresponds" to negative ones. Expounding on the effects of various treatments and activities on the brain, Nord discusses how exercise prompts the release of "pleasure-related endogenous opioids" and how antidepressants increase activity in the amygdala (a brain region involved in emotional processing and interpretation) in response to positive stimuli while dampening responses to negative stimuli. The research fascinates—she reports on studies that found depressed subjects were more likely to view ambiguous facial expressions as angry, highlighting the complex interplay between mood and how the brain interprets the world—while correcting oversimplified scientific misconceptions. For instance, Nord explains that contrary to the common belief that serotonin deficits in the brain cause depression, studies have found that deliberately lowering serotonin levels doesn't reliably produce low mood in subjects, suggesting depression's origins are more complicated than the effects of one neurotransmitter. The result is a superior volume on the biological underpinnings of mental health.
