Crenshaw's Books & Decks

Siegel is a Harvard-trained psychotherapist who has developed a branch of medicine called Interpersonal Neuro-biology, an innovative method of integrating brain science and psychotherapy, which considers the mind something that goes beyond the brain.

I really love his approach to human psychology, the fact that this is not a book about alternative medicine or self-help, but very alternative in its scientific approach to psychotherapy. The parts of the book I enjoyed the most are the pages devoted to specific medical cases that Doidge himself treated, which show how this sort of therapy works.

The two basic elements of Mindsight, which provide the individual with emotional stability and development are, according to this book, integration and flexibility. Integration is necessary for the mental and social health of the individual and is acquired in different ways: 1/ integration of consciousness. 2/ Horizontal integration (right and left hemispheres of the brain). 3/ Vertical integration (brain to body). 4/ Integration of explicit and implicit memory. 5 /Integration of our personal narrative, that is how we construct and describe our past and present to the world. 6/ Integration of our different social and emotional states. 7/ Integrating of the "I" with society and the real world. 8/ Integration of life and death, as we are born to die.

The main drawback of the book, to me, is the very long introduction describing how the various parts of the brain and how the brain operates. Page after page with too much information. The target of the book is the general public, so a shorter version, and more structured, it would have worked better. After all, the main target of the book is the general public, not the medical profession.Moreover, Doidge is not especially didactic, not even well-structured, so this part is -or it was for me- difficult to swallow.

"In synesthesia two or more senses are automatically and involuntarily coupled such that a voice, for example, is not only heard, but additionally felt, seen, or tasted." It is a genetic modification that affects sensory perception and mixes sensations and perceptions that are separated in different areas of the brain, so it can  alleatorily mix sounds with colours, touch with images, numbers with music, and so on. Synaesthesia has forced neurologists to rethink the traditional block/area division of the brain in self-sufficient and independent areas that are devoted to specific tasks and worked its play in the validation of neuroplasticity.

The book is written by two neurologists and synesthesia researchers, and offers the reader a clear, entertaining and well organised description, categorisation and analysis of the different neurological conditions called synesthesia, which affected, among other famous people, writer Nabokov and painter Kandinsky. The books is scientifically rigorous but written in a very approachable language, easily understandable by the lay reader, with a great deal of pictures, diagrams and drawings that will help you to understand better. Still, it contains the notes, footnotes, bibliography necessary to made it academic-friendly. The book as an epilogue by Navokok's son Dimitri, who, like his father, is also a synaesthete.

 

The book can be a bit dry at times, as the matter is scientifically described and categorised, but here the detail in the description is not superfluous as it serves to highlight the many variations and varieties of synaesthesia, a word that in fact describes things that are very different from a perceptual and sensorial point of view.

The tones and writing styles of the two authors are evident through the book, even though none of the chapters is attributed to any of them explicitdly. The last two chapters are, perhaps, the most interesting ones for both neurology students and neurology aficionados.

The edition of the book is wonderful, with glossy paper, coloured headers and footers differentiated by chapter, and plenty of illustrations. One o those books that are rarely published in our modern times, especially because the book is directed to the general public not just the medical world. A book difficult to find and a bit expensive that, however, you can borrow from your local library and really enjoy. 

The book will fascinate you, especially if you haven't heard or read anything about synaesthesia before, and have a fascination for neurology and the study of the brain.

Norman Doige, a well-respected psychiatrist and psychotherapist, has written one of the most impacting books you have read in the last years. So much so, that despite this being a book on Medicine, Medical Research and the Brain, has been read by million of people who came to it by worth of mouth.

The book is written in a very simple language, accessible to the lay, to people like you and me who are not medical professionals or know too well the intricacies of our brain or neurology. At the same time, the book is scientifically rigorous, with the expected footnotes and bibliography needed to be so. Moreover, Doidge has the rare virtue of being entertaining when writing about medical experimentation and about medical researchers. 

The book, in the first place, narrates the painful birth of neuroplasticity within the Medical world, showcasing the many different experiments and research projects that lead to the official recognition of this field by the Academia. It also exemplifies, to me, the dogmatism and rigidity of our modern scientific community, that rejects ideas that are scientifically sound and logic, even proven, beating up those who dare to propose them, until the evidences are so overwhelming that they have to recognise the obvious but without any apology. Secondly, and most importantly, you will find an explanation of what neuroplasticity is and how it works, and what means in practical terms for our health, for the treatment of brain damage and malformations, and for the understanding of what our brain is, and how mind and body are intricately related.

I spent the first 70-80 pages of the book saying WOW to myself, unable to put the book down. It is not just me. Most people who have read it, will tell you the same.

A book that anybody with a brain should read. So run and grab your copy.