Brain Mysteries

Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments - using such low-tech tools such as cotton swabs, glasses of water, and dime-store mirrors.

Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end until at twelve he wandered into a magic shop looking for a plastic thumb. Instead he met Ruth, a woman who taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires.

Written by two world-renowned sleep and dream researchers, When Brains Dream debunks common myths while acknowledging the mysteries that persist around both the science and experience of dreaming.

Written by Dr. Teri James Bellis, one of the world's foremost authorities on APD, this is the first book on the subject that is completely accessible to the public. Through helpful case studies, you'll finally discover the answers you need, as well as proven strategies for living with APD. Comprehensive and powerfully prescriptive, this book contains vital information for anyone who suffers from this serious disorder.

How does one begin to treat such cases, to counsel people whose lives may be changed forever? How does one train the next generation of clinicians to deal with the moral and medical aspects of brain disease? Dr. Ropper and his colleague answer these questions by taking the listener into a rarified world where lives and minds hang in the balance.

Why do you love? Why do you lie? What makes you happy? Every thought you have comes from one place: your brain. But what makes it tick? How much of it have we decoded, and how much of it remains an impenetrable mystery? Join author and cartoonist Jorge Cham and neuroscientist Dwayne Godwin on a deep dive into the fascinating world of the human brain, in which they will explore questions such as: What is consciousness? Where is you in the brain? And do we have free will? All while illuminating everything we know (and DON’T know) about one of the most complex objects in the known universe.

How do neurons turn into minds? The problem of consciousness has gnawed at us for millennia. In the last century there have been massive breakthroughs that have rewritten the science of the brain, and yet the puzzles faced by the ancient Greeks are still present. In The Consciousness Instinct, the neuroscience pioneer Michael S. Gazzaniga puts the latest research in conversation with the history of human thinking about the mind, giving a big-picture view of what science has revealed about consciousness.

What is this strange mental world that seems so essential to being human? The conscious mind brings together sensations, perceptions, thoughts and memories to generate the seamless movie of a person's life. It makes us aware of the world around us and our own self. How all this emerges from a kilogram of brain cells is one of the greatest unanswered questions.

Multiple sclerosis. Parkinson’s disease. Alzheimer’s. ALS. Chances are that you know someone with a neurologic disease. Because the brain controls so much and is integral to our identity, the diseases that affect it are uniquely devastating both to patients and families. And because it remains the most mysterious of our vital organs, treating the brain is an ongoing puzzle.

Each of us will know physical pain in our lives, but none of us knows when it will come or how long it will stay. Today as much as 10 percent of the population of the United States suffers from chronic pain. It is more widespread, misdiagnosed, and undertreated than any major disease. While recent research has shown that pain produces pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord, many doctors and patients still labor under misguided cultural notions and outdated scientific dogmas.

Brain, Nature, Mind, Universe is your gateway to the most astonishing wonders of science and the mysteries that continue to baffle experts. Delve into mind-bending facts and intriguing stories about everything from our brains to the cosmos. Each chapter reveals fascinating truths, quirky discoveries, and unsolved puzzles that will inspire curiosity in listeners of all ages.

For decades addiction has been viewed and treated as a social and behavioral illness, afflicting people of "weak" character and "bad" moral fiber. However, recent breakthroughs in genetic technology have enabled doctors, for the first time, to correctly diagnose the disease and prove that addiction is an inherited, neuro-chemical disease originating in brain chemistry, determined by genetics, and triggered by stress. In their groundbreaking The Addiction Solution, David Kipper and Steven Whitney distill these exciting findings.

Bullet to the Brain is a Felix Hoenniker medical murder mystery. A short story at the intersection of a murder most foul, a drug dealer grappling with quantum entanglement, and a neurosurgeon who thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes. Throw in an angry girlfriend and a genius scientist who disco dances in stiletto heels, and you’re in for a wild ride.

Polly Parrett meets Polly parrot. Together, can they solve a murder mystery? Things just don't always go the right way for pet-sitter, Polly Parrett. Dogs and cats can be tough enough; now she finds herself having to cope with a moody macaw, a volatile new resident at her mother's halfway house for veterans, and oh yeah, a dead body. What's more, the parrot and Polly share the same name, which not only makes for a lot of confusion, but it just might be that the parrot is the smarter of the two.

“Dr. Barlow’s book, Code Breaker, is the embodiment of brilliance in our profession, a true visionary masterpiece with the potential to revolutionize healthcare as we know it. His innate ability to unravel the intricate code of health and disease and produce innovative solutions is a testament to his genius.”—DR. MARIANNE ABATE, DC, CACCP

Five fun cozy mystery books with pet-sitter Polly Parrett.

Abby's weird computer program is working again. And it comes in handy when she and her friends agree to help the Old Dears with their family tree. Except Abby and John learn more about one of the ladies' ancestors than they ever wanted to know. Convicted in 1871 of murder and arson, Reuben Buchanan is a blight on the family's reputation. But was he really guilty?

Visiting another century... not the summer vacation she had planned.Those who have read Time and Again and Unclaimed Legacy know that Abby Thomas is a college student on a summer service project with 11-year-old Merri. And they know that the summer is not going the way Abby had expected - but in a good way. For one thing, she meets a very nice guy named John Roberts.

People behave in strange ways. We sometimes giggle when someone falls down, swear we've been to places we haven't, or continue believing in something despite scientific evidence to the contrary. For more than a decade, Scientific American MIND's long-running feature "Ask the Brains" has addressed questions from their readers on the quirks and quandaries of human behavior, psychology, and neurology. Here, in Ask the Brains, Part 1, they’ve compiled some of the best and most interesting inquiries about the human brain.

Abby Thomas is spending the summer in a run-down old house with a bratty pre-teen named Merrideth she is supposed to tutor. Not a dream job. But it does come with perks. There's John Roberts, a devastatingly attractive neighbor who is almost too wonderful to be real. And there's the new computer program Beautiful Houses - also too amazing to be real. No one knows how it works, but with it she can rewind and fast-forward the lives of all the people who ever lived in the house, including Charlotte Miles.