The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

An utterly wonderful book – without question one of the most important books about the brain you will ever read’ Iain McGilchrist MA, author of The Master and His Emissary

Meet the ninety-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.

Here 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 book 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.

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An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, MD, traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they’ve transformed – people whose mental limitations or brain damage 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.