Today a brain scan reveals our thoughts, moods, and memories as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. We can actually observe a person's brain registering a joke or experiencing a painful memory. Drawing on the latest imaging technology and the expertise of distinguished scientists, Rita Carter explores the geography of the human brain. Her writing is clear, accessible, witty, and the book's 150 illustrations--most in color--present an illustrated guide to that wondrous, coconut-sized, wrinkled gray mass we carry inside our heads.
Mapping the Mind charts the way human behavior and culture have been molded by the landscape of the brain. Carter shows how our personalities reflect the biological mechanisms underlying thought and emotion and how behavioral eccentricities may be traced to abnormalities in an individual brain. Obsessions and compulsions seem to be caused by a stuck neural switch in a region that monitors the environment for danger. Addictions stem from dysfunction in the brain's reward system. Even the sense of religious experience has been linked to activity in a certain brain region. The differences between men and women's brains, the question of a "gay brain," and conditions such as dyslexia, autism, and mania are also explored.
Looking inside the brain, writes Carter, we see that actions follow from our perceptions, which are due to brain activity dictated by a neuronal structure formed from the interplay between our genes and the environment. Without sidestepping the question of free will, Carter suggests that future generations will use our increasing knowledge of the brain to "enhance those mental qualities that give sweetness and meaning to our lives, and to eradicate those that are destructive."
In the last decades of the 20th century, scientists have come to believe that the human brain is almost completely modular. Every bit of the brain does something in particular, and surprisingly specific abilities, memories, and responses are in localized areas. Journalist Rita Carter has drawn a map of what is known (and speculated) about the mind in a heavily illustrated field guide to the human brain.
Carter and her scientific editor, neuropsychologist Christopher Frith, cover the state of the mind in a reasonably accurate, accessible way. They emphasize topics that are likely to be of some practical interest--such as Alzheimer's or attention deficit disorder--but not so much as to give a distorted picture of the field.
Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book are the sidebars written by a variety of leading names in mind-brain science. Roger Penrose writes on computer minds, Francis Crick on consciousness, Steven Rose on memory, John Maynard Smith on social evolution, William Calvin on mosaic minds, Kay Redfield Jamison on creativity and bipolar disorders, and more. It's a stellar assortment, more than worth the price of admission--and there's a map of the mind on the cover, in case you misplace yours. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

it's OK:

the problem is that brain science is just in its beginning, too many unanswered questions, I would rather read some book give me some practical advice on the brain, not this kind of not-much-usage science.

This is the only one to read for your first:

I just finished this book and wanted to add another five star review as well as comment on anyone who didn't rate this book highly. I'm by no means an expert but have a deep curiosity about our inner workings. I've read a few other books by some of the juggernauts of neurology like Damasio, Le Doux, Linden, and Ramachandran.
Two quick points on why I really enjoyed it.
The first was it's brilliant holistic viewpoint of the entire brian. These other writers are all great but you must have prior... more info

Incredibly interesting, insightful, and easy to read, but also incredibly deterministic:

I gave this book five stars in spite of disagreeing strongly with almost all of her philosophical conclusions. I hope this tells you something about how good this book is. I find it hard to believe that there is a better introductory book out there on the topic of modern neuroscience. This one is incredibly easy to understand, is one of the most interesting non-fiction books I've read in some time, and is not one of the typical pseudo-science books floating around on this subject. Rita Carter has been... more info

A terrific, simplified, user-friendly introduction to neuroscience:

Ditto what other readers have said about the user-friendliness of Carter's book. The many sidebars and illustrations make an otherwise dauting topic--heuroscience--accessible to a lay audience as well as providing a handy basic reference for the more scientifically-minded.
I did deduct a star, however, for an oversimpliication to the point of misrepresentation of a number of subjects. Carter's discussion of the amydgala and dopamine are two areas. Add Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, Elkhonon Goldberg,... more info

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