Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme
Based on astonishing case studies, this is a brilliant and beautifully written follow-up to Dr Doidge’s record-breaking bestseller The Brain That Changes Itself. In his first book, Norman Doidge described the most important development in our understanding of the brain in four hundred years: the discovery that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to mental experience — what we call neuroplasticity. Now The Brain’s Way of Healing shows how this amazing discovery really works, significantly broadening the field from traumatic brain injury to all manner of diseases and conditions in which brain functioning is a factor — including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and dementia. He describes how patients have retrained their brains and learned to walk, speak, or hear, while others have reset the brain’s energy patterns and circuits to overcome or reduce chronic pain or alleviate anxiety, trauma, learning disorders, and many other impairing syndromes. As he did so lucidly in The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge presents exciting, cutting-edge science with practical real-world applications, and illustrates how anyone can apply the principles of neuroplasticity to improve their brain’s performance.
“Fascinating. Doidge’s book is a remarkable and hopeful portrait of the endless adaptability of the human brain.”—Oliver Sacks, MD, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat What is neuroplasticity? Is it possible to change your brain? Norman Doidge’s inspiring guide to the new brain science explains all of this and more An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable, and proving that it is, in fact, possible to change your brain. Psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity, its healing powers, and the people whose lives they’ve transformed—people whose mental limitations, brain damage or brain trauma were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. Using these marvelous stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an immensely moving, inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.
Do you ever wonder what is happening inside your brain when you feel anxious, panicked, and worried? In Rewire Your Anxious Brain, psychologist Catherine Pittman and author Elizabeth Karle offer a unique, evidence-based solution to overcoming anxiety based in cutting-edge neuroscience and research. In the book, you will learn how the amygdala and cortex (both important parts of the brain) are essential players in the neuropsychology of anxiety. The amygdala acts as a primal response, and oftentimes, when this part of the brain processes fear, you may not even understand why you are afraid. By comparison, the cortex is the center of “worry.” That is, obsessing, ruminating, and dwelling on things that may or may not happen. In the book, Pittman and Karle make it simple by offering specific examples of how to manage fear by tapping into both of these pathways in the brain. As you read, you’ll gain a greater understanding how anxiety is created in the brain, and as a result, you will feel empowered and motivated to overcome it. The brain is a powerful tool, and the more you work to change the way you respond to fear, the more resilient you will become. Using the practical self-assessments and proven-effective techniques in this book, you will learn to literally “rewire” the brain processes that lie at the root of your fears.
We live in a time in which more than 100 million Americans suffer from a neurological illness. Not only is that number expected to rise and the annual cost to care for people with neurological disorders expected to surpass 1 trillion dollars, but the impact of these illnesses on our lives is unlike any other. Neurological disorders affect every fiber of our being. They cause physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive impairments. They rob us of our lives and families in a way that diseases of other organs can’t. Oftentimes it seems that we are helpless to do anything about it. But, what if that wasn’t true? Neuroplasticity: Your Brain’s Superpower empowers us to have a different relationship with our brains. Instead of just succumbing to whatever potential dysfunction, degeneration, or disease that may impact our nervous system, in this book we explore the ways in which we can give our brains exactly what they need to adapt, heal, and thrive. Neuroplasticity: Your Brain’s Superpower takes us on a journey through things that influence the evolution of our brains, including various diseases. Not only do we learn about these illnesses, but also about the potential healing that can take place after the injury. This book expands the conversation about brain health so that we can include the principles of neuroplasticity to help us take control of our neurological destinies.
A growing body of neuroscience research has established the principle of neuroplasticity; a powerfully hopeful message that we can use our minds to change our brains in the direction of greater health and well-being. The key to shaping this change rests in how we direct and focus and our attention. In an easy-to-use workbook format this publication offers a strengths based, preventative, positive approach, grounded in neuroscience research, for creating a stronger sense of overall well-being. It contains more than 65 unique writing prompts and a facilitator’s guide with complete facilitation plans for 1-hour, 90 minutes and 2-hour groups.
Cutting-edge science and the ancient wisdom of Buddhism have come together to reveal that, contrary to popular belief, we have the power to literally change our brains by changing our minds. Recent pioneering experiments in neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to change in response to experience—reveal that the brain is capable of altering its structure and function, and even of generating new neurons, a power we retain well into old age. The brain can adapt, heal, renew itself after trauma, compensate for disabilities, rewire itself to overcome dyslexia, and break cycles of depression and OCD. And as scientists are learning from studies performed on Buddhist monks, it is not only the outside world that can change the brain, so can the mind and, in particular, focused attention through the classic Buddhist practice of mindfulness. With her gift for making science accessible, meaningful, and compelling, science writer Sharon Begley illuminates a profound shift in our understanding of how the brain and the mind interact and takes us to the leading edge of a revolution in what it means to be human. Praise for Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain “There are two great things about this book. One is that it shows us how nothing about our brains is set in stone. The other is that it is written by Sharon Begley, one of the best science writers around. Begley is superb at framing the latest facts within the larger context of the field. This is a terrific book.”—Robert M. Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers “Excellent . . . elegant and lucid prose . . . an open mind here will be rewarded.”—Discover “A strong dose of hope along with a strong does of science and Buddhist thought.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune
Brain plasticity is the focus of a growing body of research with significant implications for neurorehabilitation. This state-of-the-art volume explores ways in which brain-injured individuals may be helped not only to compensate for their loss of cognitive abilities, but also possibly to restore those abilities. Expert contributors examine the extent to which damaged cortical regions can actually recover and resume previous functions, as well as how intact regions are recruited to take on tasks once mediated by the damaged region. Evidence-based rehabilitation approaches are reviewed for a range of impairments and clinical populations, including both children and adults.
