The Brain That Changes Itself

Meet the 90-year-old doctor who is still practicing medicine, the stroke victim who learned to move and talk again and the woman with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole. All these people had their lives transformed by the remarkable discovery that our brains can repair themselves through the power of positive thinking. In this audiobook, bestselling author, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge reveals the secrets of the cutting-edge science of 'neuroplasticity'. He introduces incredible case histories – blind people helped to see, IQs raised and memories sharpened – and tells the stories of the maverick scientists who are overturning centuries of assumptions about the brain. This inspiring audiobook will leave you with a sense of wonder at the capabilities of the mind, and the self-healing power that lies within all of us.

About the Author :
Norman Doidge, M.D., is a psychiatrist, a psychoanalyst, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Brain at Changes Itself, which was chosen by the Dana Foundation from over thirty thousand titles as the best general book on the brain. It has sold over a million copies around the world. He was on the Research Faculty of the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research at Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry in New York City, and on the faculty of the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry for thirty years. He lives in Toronto. For almost 25 years Jim Bond produced and hosted general interest and fine arts radio talk shows, primarily in the Midwest. Since 1985 Bond has maintained an active schedule as a director and narrator of radio and television commercials, corporate videos, and audiobooks, many of which have won awards, including an Audie Award.

Review :
'Mind-bending, miracle-making, reality-busting stuff with implications for all human beings.' 'Lucid and absolutely fascinating ... engaging, educational and riveting. It satisfies, in equal measure, the mind and the heart.' 'A fabulous synopsis of the current revolution in neuroscience.' 'For years the doctrine of neuroscientists has been that the brain is a machine: break a part and you lose that function permanently. But more and more evidence is turning up to show that the brain can rewire itself, even in the face of catastrophic trauma: essentially, the functions of the brain can be strengthened just like a weak muscle. Scientists have taught a woman with damaged inner ears, who for five years had had "a sense of perpetual falling," to regain her sense of balance with a sensor on her tongue, and a stroke victim to recover the ability to walk although 97% of the nerves from the cerebral cortex to the spine were destroyed. With detailed case studies reminiscent of Oliver Sacks, combined with extensive interviews with lead researchers, Doidge, a research psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at Columbia and the University of Toronto, slowly turns everything we thought we knew about the brain upside down.' 'Using a combination of experimental results, disease studies, and anecdotal information, the author explains how the human brain can change. Every section advances Dr. Doidge's case for the existence of what he terms "brain elasticity". He cites practical applications for the treatment of autism, stroke, and memory loss. Narrator Jim Bond easily handles the formidable scientific vocabulary of anatomical and biochemical names like “hippocampus,” “dopamine receptors,” and “localizationists.” He renders them into a conversational manner that lightens the heavy load of ponderous detail and psychoanalytical theory. His slow pace and measured diction allow plenty of time for maximum comprehension and absorption. Advanced scientific readers interested in physiological psychology will especially benefit from this challenging disquisition.'