Synopses & Reviews
In this compelling, cutting-edge book, two generations of science writers explore the exciting science of body maps in the brain-and how startling new discoveries about themind-body connection can change and improve our lives. Why do you still feel fat after losing weight? What makes video games so addictive? How can practicing your favorite sport in your imaginationimprove your game? The answers can be found in body maps.
Just as road maps represent interconnections across the landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your bodily self, inside and out.In concert, they create your physical and emotional awareness and your sense of being a whole, feeling self in a larger social world.
Moreover, your body maps are profoundly elastic. Your selfdoesn't begin and end with your physical body but extends into the space around you. This space morphs every time you put on or take off clothes, ride a bike, or wield a tool. When you drive a car, your personalbody space grows to envelop it. When you play a video game, your body maps automatically track and emulate the actions of your character onscreen. When you watch a scary movie, your body maps put dread in your stomach andsend chills down your spine. If your body maps fall out of sync, you may have an out-of-body experience or see auras around other people.
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own explains howyou can tap into the power of body maps to do almost anything better-whether it is playing tennis, strumming a guitar, riding a horse, dancing a waltz, empathizing with a friend, raising children, or coping withstress.
The story of body maps goes even further, providing a fresh look at the causes of anorexia, bulimia, obsessive plastic surgery, and the notorious golfer's curse theyips. It lends insights into culture, language, music, parenting, emotions, chronic pain, and more.
Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even parlor tricksthat you can use to reconfigure your body sense, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way you think-about the way you think.
The Blakeslees have takenthe latest and most exciting finds from brain research and have made them accessible. This is how science writing should always be.
-Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D., author of The EthicalBrain
Through a stream of fascinating and entertaining examples, Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee illustrate how our perception of ourselves, and indeed the world, is not fixedbut is surprisingly fluid and easily modified. They have created the best book ever written about how our sense of 'self' emerges from the motley collection of neurons we call thebrain.
-Jeff Hawkins, co-author of On Intelligence
The Blakeslees have taken the latest and most exciting finds from brain research and havemade them accessible. This is how science writing should always be.
-Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D., author of The Ethical Brain
A marvelous book.In the last ten years there has been a paradigm shift in understanding the brain and how its various specialized regions respond to environmental challenges. In addition to providing a brilliant overview of recentrevolutionary discoveries on body image and brain plasticity, the book is sprinkled with numerous insights.
-V. S. Ramachandran, M.D., director, Center for Brain and
Synopsis
Your body has a mind of its own. You know it’s true. You can sense it, even though it may be hard to articulate. You know that your body is more than a vehicle for your brain to cruise around in, but how deeply are mind and body truly interwoven?
Answers can be found in the emerging science of body maps. Just as road maps represent interconnections across the landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your bodily self. Your self doesn’t begin and end with your physical body but extends into the space around you. When you drive a car, your personal body space grows to envelop it. When you play a video game, your body maps automatically track and emulate the actions of your character onscreen. If your body maps fall out of sync, you may have an out-of-body experience or see auras around other people.
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own explains how you can tap into the power of body maps to do almost anything better: play tennis, strum a guitar, ride a horse, dance a waltz, empathize with a friend, raise children, cope with stress. Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even parlor tricks that you can use to reconfigure your body sense, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way you think about what it takes to have a conscious mind inside a feeling body.
Praise for The Body Has a Mind of Its Own
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
“You’ll never think about your body–or your mind–in the same way again.”
–Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence
“A fascinating exploration of senses we didn’t even know we had.”
–Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses
“A delightfully original, understandable, and mind-stretching work.”
–William Safire, columnist, The New York Times Magazine
“A marvelous book.”
–V. S. Ramachandran, M.D., director, Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego
“[An] accessible, practical overview of an important scientific story.”
–Antonio Damasio, author of Descartes’ Error
Synopsis
In this compelling, cutting-edge book, two generations of science writers explore the exciting science of body maps in the brain-and how startling new discoveries about the mind-body connection can change and improve our lives. Why do
Synopsis
A critical analysis of the interaction between the mind and the body describes how the brain maps out every part of the body and the space around it and how the brain controls one's ability to sense, move, and act in the physical world, explaining the diverse applications of this science of body maps, from losing weight or recovering from a stroke, to finding new treatments and understanding human emotion. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.
About the Author
Sandra Blakeslee is a regular contributor to
The New York Times who specializes in the brain sciences. She has co-written many books, including
Phantoms in the Brain with V. S. Ramachandran,
On Intelligence with Jeff Hawkins, and S
econd Chances: Men, Women and Children a Decade After Divorce with Judith S. Wallerstein. She is the third generation in a family of science writers.
Matthew Blakeslee is a freelance science writer in Los Angeles. He represents the fourth generation of Blakeslee science writers. This is his first book.
From the Hardcover edition.
Table of Contents
The body mandala, or, Maps, maps, everywhere -- The little man in the brain, or, Why your genitals are even smaller than you think -- Dueling body maps, or, Why you still feel fat after losing weight -- The homunculus in the game, or, When thinking is as good as doing -- Plasticity gone awry, or, When body maps go blurry -- Broken body maps, or, Why Dr. Strangelove couldn't keep his hand down -- The bubble around the body, or, Why you seek elbow room -- Sticks and stones and cyberbones, or, The end of the body as we know it? -- Mirror, mirror, or, Why yawning is contagious -- Heart of the mandala, or, My insula made me do it -- Afterword: The you-ness of you.