How to Train Your Own Brain Technology Review
The content -- nearly neuroplasticity and the effects of meditation on the brain -- is very interesting. Simply this volume is written in an irritating pop mode that under-explains the science and boils everything down to "Scientist A was talking to Scientist B and then he had an idea that would change everything." Extremely skimmable and if you'd never read about these ideas before, perchance a good intro. But I've read improve books on the discipline. And her lengthy discussions of horrific animal experiments is a bit much for me to stomach.
Yeah, another book with a great deal of data in it, and all fascinating to me. This is another that deals with neuroplasticity of the brain, just the author comes from a Buddhist background, and so the whole discussion centers around the various meetings of the Heed and Life Institute, where various scientists or scholars in the fields of neurology and neurogenics come together with the Dalai Lama and his associates to speak of how the latest scientific pursuits in the field of brain science may cantankerous paths with Buddhist thought, and especially mindfulness meditation. Of course, reading all the details may have made my brain injure a footling at times (but hey! That merely means its circuitry was undergoing even more neurogenesis! haha)and it took awhile to wade through some of the jargon at times. Still, what a fascinating and exciting alloy of psychological/physiological/spiritual idea is contained here. Our brains can adapt, recoup for genetic disability or heal afterward trauma. The excerpts that speak of overcoming OCD and depression are besides really interesting. It was fun to take the author refer to the work of another favorite author of mine, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and briefly mention his mindfulness workshops at the University of Massachusetts. Makes me want to go out my (his) mindfulness meditation CDs again! Truly interesting stuff.
A book about neuroplasticity and the way scientists discovered the level of neuroplasticity within the human brain, and the continuing development of synapses and brain growth throughout a human's life. It'south as much about the conscientious progress of scientific method as almost its subject matter--information technology's not enough to "know" something. In science, y'all take to have all the intermediate steps, to prove the strong chain of your objective research. So it was wearisome but thorough thorough thorough. And I skimmed, because they had me at "yeah." Fascinating and changed my understanding of the mind, something I care very much about.
This is a jumbled mess of a book. There are plenty of positives: Sharon Begley, science journalist for Newsweek, is an impeccable researcher, as the xiii pages worth of works cited notes volition assert. The overall message of the book is articulate: while adult minds are non as flexible as children's minds, neuroplasticity is valid. You can modify your brain by focused and repeated attention on changing your thoughts. Unfortunately, this jewel of material is good for a three or iv-part newspaper column, but not for a 250+ page book. Begley's starting point for the book was a 2004 Mind and Life conference with neurologists, hosted by the Dalai Lama promoting harmony of Buddhist meditation practices and the health of the brain. At times, the volume reads similar a roving camera roofing the coming together. And so much of the info is in quotes as explained to the Dalai Lama. Sometimes the book speaks to the layman; other times the technical terms used would exist all-time understood by those with a medical degree. The target audience is unclear, the narrative muddled, the facts and experiments cited much more than fifty-fifty oftentimes relates to the point of the book. In the finish, there is not a lot of practical advice. I am sure there must be amend books that cover this subject.
This author shares the history and groundwork on neuroplasitcity - the ability of the encephalon to generate new neurons and new connections. It starts with a lot of research that has been washed over the last century and ends upwards with what the Dalai Lama has done with science to report how meditation changes the brain.
Meditation can help us reduce stress, overcome obsessive compulsion and some physical conditions.
Information technology is very well written and a must read for those who want to make real change in themselves.
This is a pretty interesting book about the enquiry on encephalon plasticity by the science journalist Sharon Begley. It focuses on a number of recent studies suggesting that the concrete structure of the brain can modify in response to experiences, sensory and cognitive practices. Perchance the nigh radical of these are Richard Davidson's investigations into the effects of meditation on the brains of Buddhist monks. Other researchers show that cognitive therapy, combined with meditation, tin can effectively care for OCD and depression past reshaping neural pathways. In this book the humanities are represented rather 1-sidedly by Buddhist teachings and the Dalai Lama, who likewise contributed a forward to the volume. The Mind and Life conference in Dharamsala, where the exchanges between the scientists and the Dalai take place is Begley'south focal indicate and she describes it in vivid item. The Dalai is a pioneer among Buddhist leaders in encouraging a dialogue with science and it is his approbation that fabricated Davidson's research on the affect of pity meditation possible. The Dalai believes that because science is so ascendant in our times, a collaboration with it volition help spread the message of Buddhism.
As a humanist, with picayune background in cognitive research, I find the thought that our mental patterns represent to physiological structures both intriguing and disturbing. Even those of usa who identify as "materialists" would similar to imagine the heed as a realm of autonomy and freedom. Some unenlightened others might fall prey to the distortions of ideology, just fifty-fifty they tin can wipe the slate make clean and set themselves on the right path by reading a volume or enrolling in a philosophy course. The notion that thoughts reside in a physiological construction poses a challenge to this reasoning. Yet, at least to some extent, the findings of this book confirm what some 20th century theorists of subject-formation claim: that nosotros are deeply informed by our social surround and our everyday practices, and that truthful alter takes hard work and the transformation of these daily practices.
As Begely writes, the science of encephalon plasticity and cognitive science in general is still in its infancy. What the scientist can learn near the encephalon, using MRI and other technology falls far short of what the humanities and social sciences were able to acquire over millenia past observing and analyzing human being thought and behavior. The discovery of brain plasticity is significant because information technology does permit for a meaningful dialogue between the humanities and cognitive sciences, i that goes beyond common affirmation or criticism of the "discourse" of science. Each area of inquiry tin pose a number of vital questions for its counterpart, and each would practise well to take these questions seriously.
As fascinating as this unlikely rapprochement is, I would advise Buddhists and those who share their want for a more peaceful globe, to approach the research on encephalon plasticity with more caution. The almost radical merits that Begley attributes to cognitive inquiry is that "human nature" is non set up but malleable, especially in respect to negative or fierce emotions, such as acrimony, selfishness, suspicion of difference, which fuel conflict. This claim is a bit of a stretch, given that the research only suggests that it might be true, even so it is central to the arc of the book because information technology overlaps with a sure interpretation of Buddhism. The strongest evidence for the plasticity of such qualities equally compassion and generosity is provided by Davidson's study of Buddhist monks, whose brains seem to have get structurally more compassionate. The weaker evidence is provided past experiments in which individuals who accept been unconsciously "primed" by words associated with beloved and care, and who have subsequently acted in a more than altruistic way. Both studies are interesting and potentially pregnant, but information technology would exist wise not to overestimate them. After all this is something that most of us already know: those who are treated with intendance and compassion are more likely to act compassionately. And peradventure, in some circumstances, our minds tin can create those initial atmospheric condition of compassion (equally in meditation or exact priming). What is problematic hither is the claim that those practices in themselves can lead to peace and "happiness," every bit it is conceived in the West.
The book's most significant insight, as suggested by the title of the earlier edition, is that the mind can change—and repair—the brain. This counters the conceptualization of the brain every bit genetically predetermined and governed by mysterious chemic processes which no one can actually sympathize but which tin can somehow exist managed past plush pharmaceuticals. What the Buddha had intuited about the mind's ability to effectively manage thoughts and emotions through meditation, cerebral scientific discipline at present seems to confirm. Yet suggesting that science and Buddhist philosophy effectively state the same thing is misleading. I don't know the tradition well enough to speak for it, only I know that nigh Buddhist monks are required to work in the community, and that they are only permitted to beg for today's lunch and not tomorrow's. It is a securely anti-materialistic culture, and I imagine that "happiness" has a rather unlike meaning for a Buddhist than for a Westerner. Information technology is likewise quite evident that regardless of whether some part of our selfishness and greed is inborn (and Buddhism seems to recognize that it is), we live in a society that encourages those mental attitudes, and information technology encourages them all the more in those who do not have admission to all the goods by which our lives are measured. While I call up that meditation tin be a positive practice regardless of the context, it is also important to remember the social or philosophical values that are traditionally associated with information technology. My own view is that in our highly atomized society, the individual practice is not enough. If nosotros really want to bring about change, then we as well have to piece of work to transform social structures that assert and advantage the mental attitudes that Buddhism classifies as "afflictive."
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August 2, 2011 So far, this is the best book I've read about the encephalon. It describes diverse experiments on neuroplasticity and the general office of the encephalon and brainwaves, and the results of the experiments. Call back how we've all been told that once encephalon cells die, they don't regenerate? That'due south wrong. They totally DO regenerate, even in people in their 80s. And although many brain inefficiencies such as low, Add together, anxiety, OCD, etc. are largely influenced by genetics (certain people are born predisposed to these afflictions), people exercise NOT accept to live out their lives jump past these things, or appreciative to medication to mitigate the symptoms. Their brains tin can be RETRAINED to function unremarkably. This is an amazing message, and by and large counter to what most medical doctors promote. Because most medical doctors went to schoolhouse before all this was known, and they've not kept up with the science. Not that an inefficient brain can be changed apace or easily-- they compare it to an athlete. If someone wants to get actually adept at a sport, they're not going to go at that place practicing just 45 minutes once a week. So it is with brain conditioning. Y'all're not going to disengage a lifetime to ingrained patterns by going to therapy once a calendar week (or it volition take a very long time to see the modify at this rate, in whatsoever effect). Just if yous practice daily, and actually brand an endeavor, over fourth dimension you will see results. I recommend this book to everyone, not but people who accept diagnosed mental issues. Because the book also discusses ways that fifty-fifty highly-functioning people can meliorate their minds to ever more than optimal conditions. This is all actually fascinating, and the volume is well-written, easy to read, and without jargon.
Having recently finished The Universe in a Single Atom, I was quite interested in reading Railroad train Your Mind, Change Your Brain. It was an splendid companion piece to another volume I'm currently reading on neuroplasticity, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. Many of the case studies presented in The Brain appear in Train Your Heed and it was intriguing to see the impact that these cases have had on enquiry in the field of neuroscience. The information presented was engaging though a flake scattered. Withal, it was worth being bounced around a bit for the bulletin of promise that the volume provides. With our deepening understanding of neuroplasticity, there is renewed hope for all people, from the stroke victim, to the addict, to the regular person who wants increase their base-line happiness. The solutions may not be hands attainable, but they're not out of reach. Science is proving what Tibetan Buddhism has known for years. The adult encephalon CAN and DOES change.
Begley spends 250 pages explaining what I assumed was common knowledge - that adult neuroplasticity exists. She does a proficient task explaining the history of scientific enquiry into the concept of adult neuroplasticity. Withal, this explanation is targeted to those who practise not have meaning scientific background. Second, her accent is on history. The majority of the book focuses on the progression of Western scientific understanding of neuroplasticity through years of inquiry. The preface of the book implies that information technology highlights the western scientific investigation into the physical changes Buddhist meditation has on the brain, but this is barely emphasized and definitely not explained. The last chapter or two touches on this subject, and perhaps modernistic science does non take significant conclusions about it, but it would benefit the reader if more of the content centered around this material. Overall, not a great use of time. TL;DR - There is developed neuroplasticity, and witting thought tin reshape neuronal pathways.
A little preachy, a little dogmatic for Buddhism – just that's fair because it is a projection encouraged by the Dalai Lama. I as well take to agree with the other reviewers who betoken out this is not an in-depth study just more of an introduction. Also behave in mind that I listened to the sound book, which is a different feel compared to reading. Having prefaced equally such, this is a bully introduction to the topic. It's interesting, entertaining, and informative. It definitely gets i of my rare five-star ratings (fewer than ane in ten get a 5-star rating).
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