Psychology Brain

A pioneering exploration of olfaction that upsets settled notions of how the brain translates sensory information.

The brain's power is confirmed and touted every day in new studies and research. And yet we tend to take our brains for granted, without suspecting that those masses of hard-working neurons might not always be working for us. Cordelia Fine introduces us to a brain we might not want to meet, a brain with a mind of its own. She illustrates the brain's tendency toward self-delusion as she explores how the mind defends and glorifies the ego by twisting and warping our perceptions.

How Dogs Love Us answers the age-old question of dog lovers everywhere and offers profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends: with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.

Neuroscientists estimate that over 90 percent of our operating systems—beliefs, behaviors, patterns—are unconscious. Since the surface story determines less than 10 percent of our decisions, how can we illuminate the shadow story responsible for over 90 percent of what we do each day? Once we systematically understand our relationship with money, our individual meanings and symbolism, can we overcome the mind and brain’s resistance to change?

The human brain is not a static organ; it’s plastic, which means it can grow and change. But just like a muscle, you have to exercise it. In Make Your Brain Smarter, renowned cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman gives you the comprehensive fitness plan you need to “exercise” your way to a healthier brain. By taking advantage of the immense cognitive potential of your brain, you can think smarter, not harder, solving the complexities and problems that occur every day.

Dr. Lisa M. Shulman, a neurologist, describes a personal story of loss and her journey to understand the science behind the mind-altering experience of grief. Part memoir, part creative nonfiction, part account of scientific discovery, this moving book combines Shulman's perspectives as an expert in brain science and a keen observer of behavior with her experience as a clinician, a caregiver, and a widow.

The Beasts in Your Brain is a guide and companion equally for you and your loved ones, here to provide that essential first dose of information, understanding, and validation about mental illness and how it affects the young people of today.

For decades, modern medicine has predominantly focused on restoring health to a conventionally “normal” state for our age and medical history. But shouldn’t we aim to go beyond normal? Whether you’re twenty or eighty years old, have experienced a stroke, battle PTSD, or want to excel as an athlete or top executive, recent breakthroughs in molecular biology have granted us the means not just to repair but to enhance our physical and mental capacities.

This beginner's guide breaks down and analyzes the reasons why we procrastinate and guides you through proven solutions that will help you eliminate the habit of procrastination. It explains what motivation is, and how you can stay motivated, making it easier to take action.

Beginnings is modern month-by-month reference guide for parents of 0-5-year-olds. It will answer all the questions that parents have about their baby, toddler and preschooler's physical and psychological development.

Who hasn't had a rough day? What if that 'rough day' ended up spanning the course of years? And, it was invisible to others? Hannah's life was going great. She was a stylist with high profile clients in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Miami. Her talk show host career was taking off, but in one split second, everything changed. She was in a serious auto accident, left with a traumatic brain injury - and post-concussion syndrome, which results in threatening depression.

Nicolelis undertakes the first attempt to explain the entirety of human history, culture, and civilization based on a series of recently uncovered key principles of brain function. This new cosmology is centered around three fundamental properties of the human brain: its insurmountable malleability to adapt and learn; its exquisite ability to allow multiple individuals to synchronize their minds around a task, goal, or belief; and its incomparable capacity for abstraction.

According to R. Douglas Fields, PhD, we all have a rage circuit we can't fully control once it is engaged. The daily headlines are filled with examples of otherwise rational people with no history of violence or mental illness suddenly snapping in a domestic dispute, barroom brawl, or road rage attack. We all wish to believe that we are in control of our actions, but the fact is, in certain circumstances we are not. Something in our environment can unexpectedly unleash an automatic and complex rage response.

In 1994, The Bell Curve and its controversial thesis catapulted the topic of genetic racial differences in IQ to the forefront of a renewed and heated debate. Now, in A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer Harriet A. Washington adds her incisive analysis to the fray, arguing that IQ is a biased and flawed metric, but that it is useful for tracking cognitive damage. Featuring extensive scientific research and Washington's sharp, lively reporting, A Terrible Thing to Waste is sure to outrage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.

Many people claim they would rather be diagnosed with cancer than dementia or Alzheimer's. What they may not realize is that decreased or impaired brain function is not a foregone conclusion as we get older. Our own lifestyle choices and habits can have a significant impact - for good or ill - on our brains. And that means there's hope. Drawing from the latest medical research, Dr. Richard Furman helps listeners understand brain health and shows them how to make three powerful lifestyle changes that can help decrease the probability of developing dementia or Alzheimer's.

This book introduces the new and fascinating field of Clinical Neuroscience, which argues that the brain has the power to prevent and treat a variety of neurobiological disorders, from autism to attention deficit disorder. With ground-breaking neuroscience research presented in an accessible, easy-to-understand way The Brain Code teaches listeners how to get the most from their brains and how to access their peak cognitive function.

What makes you the way you are - and what makes each of us different from everyone else? In Innate, leading neuroscientist and popular science blogger Kevin Mitchell traces human diversity and individual differences to their deepest level: in the wiring of our brains.

From adrenaline to dopamine, most of us are familiar with the chemicals that control us. They are the hormones and neurotransmitters that our brains run on, and Overloaded looks at the role they play in every aspect of our lives, from what we remember, how we make decisions and who we love to basic survival drives such as hunger, fear and sleep.

A path-breaking journey into the brain, showing how perception, thought, and action are products of "maps" etched into your gray matter - and how technology can use them to read your mind.

To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact.