| Edition |
First American edition. |
| Description |
328 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary |
The brain may be the seat of consciousness and the engine of all human experience, but it’s also messy, fallible, and disorganized. For example, did you know that your memory is egotistical? That conspiracy theories and superstitions are the inevitable effects of a healthy brain? Or that alcohol can actually improve your memory? (Editor’s note: please read the book before testing that last conclusion.) In Idiot Brain, Dr. Dean Burnett celebrates blind spots, blackouts, insomnia, and all the other downright laughable things our minds do to us, while also exposing the many mistakes we’ve made in our quest to understand how our brains actually work. This is the best kind of popular science-lucid, funny, and whip-smart-from a debut author who will be tickling funny bones and firing neurons for a long time to come. |
| Contents |
Introduction -- Mind controls : how the brain regulates the body, and usually makes a mess of things -- Memories are made of this (some assembly required) : the human memory system, and its strange features -- We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and clowns : the many ways in which the brain makes us constantly scared -- Think you're clever, do you? : the baffling and complex science of intelligence -- You see this chapter coming? : the haphazard properties of the brain's observational systems -- You say you have a 'great personality', but how can you be sure? : the complex and confusing properties of personality -- Group hug! : how the brain is influenced by other people -- When the brain breaks down ... mental health problems, and how they come about -- Afterword. |
| Subject(S) |
Consciousness -- Popular works.
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Brain -- Popular works.
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Neurosciences -- Popular works.
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Memory -- Popular works.
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| ISBN |
9780393253788 (hardcover) |
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0393253783 (hardcover) |
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