Nonfiction books on aspects of the workings of the brain make up a busy genre these days, one that I rarely read unless guaranteed something special. Swirling word of mouth led me to read The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by American psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Norman Doidge. I also happened to witness him talking to a packed crowd; that account was impressively lucid, and has in fact informed my reading.
The book’s central thesis, or rather that of the scientists Doidge champions, is that the brain is not hardwired to never change but only deteriorate with age. Neuroplasticity believes, instead, that the brain can modify its own structure and how it works. The author’s case studies are indeed startling: ‘retarded’ people dramatically improving; slow-learning kids doing subtle exercizes that sharpen their intellect; stroke victims resurrecting movement and speech against all current paradigms; amazing pain management techniques; a woman with only a right brain hemisphere who functions as if she possesses both halves; older women and men apparently staving off brain decay.
It’s the last aspect of plasticity that underlies the sales success of The Brain That Changes Itself – we all want to live forever! Doidge puts it thus:
The more education we have, the more socially and physically active we are, and the more we participate in mentally stimulating activities, the less likely we are to get Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Not all activities are equal in this regard. Those that involve genuine concentration – studying a musical instrument, playing board games, reading, and dancing – are associated with a lower risk for dementia.’
Of course, what most readers might resists inferring is that ‘rewiring’ or ‘renewing’ their brains takes effort on a scale few middle-aged or elderly people are willing or even able to achieve.
Doidge packages his claims with great skill, and he employs a smooth, understandable style. Copious, unintrusive endnotes provide academic credibility. I enjoyed all the case studies except his own example of a patient’s successful psychoanalysis – this struck me as tenuously connected to plasticity. Overall, the author’s achievement can be measured by his book’s readability in spite of a complex, multifaceted subject.
Why the revolutionary paradigm of neuroplasticity fails to convince the peer-review-based science community is not made clear; perhaps Doidge overstates the evidentiary backing. Yet the broad concept of a non-rigid brain appeals to common sense and The Brain That Changes Itself is a fine example of passionate yet rational argument. If the brain intrigues, you could do far worse than working through it.