The Brain That Changes Itself
by Norman Doidge · first published 2007
76% recommend21% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, story-driven introduction to neuroplasticity for general readers, with real-world cases of the brain rewiring itself. Suits anyone wanting a primer on how habits, practice and training reshape the mind.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., 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, child
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…(perpetual, I don't get through it every year, but I get through much of it, often) EDIT: I also hilariously underestimate the number of books I want to read. Here's one more I think is vital for my 2020: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗…(reasonable) Tempo: Timing, Tactics and Strategy in Narrative-Driven Decision Making (abstract as hell but rewarding) Thinking Fast and Slow (loved it) The Elephant In The Brain (seriously underrated) The Brain That Changes Itself (inspirationally freaky) The Power of Habit (good!) The Secret Barrister (mildly disturbing) Thinking In Systems (huge fan of this book!) A Short History of Truth (meh...) Man's Search For Meaning…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…to have that you need to keep using your brain and challenging it. Old people usually have much less opportunity to stay mentally active. And less motivation. Statements above are based mostly on The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge[1] which I highly reccomend. Plus just listen to some old folks that you can tell are still quick - Warren Buffet 86, Chomsky 88, James Harris Simons 79 and so on. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/d...
on “How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives” ↗…than e.g. somebody having some disease that he has to organize his life around it or e.g. being paralyzed. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3950413/ edit: btw I love and highly recommend Brain That Changes Itself book, by Norman Doidge, but this is something different
on “Air pollution causes ‘huge’ reduction in intelligence: study” ↗…day. As a secondary suggestion which has also been extremely helpful and beneficial, I'd recommend reading up on psychology, biases, and neuroplasticity. The most impacting book I've ever read is "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. This book will give you a scientific/real basis of understanding how your brain works; how your habits form and are re-enforced, and how you can take control of these processes to…
on “Ask HN: When you feel stuck in life” ↗…a lot further than that. Did you read the recent Software 2.0 rant by the Tesla AI guy? https://medium.com/@karpathy/software-2-0-a64152b37c35 Other good sources are The Master Algorithm (ML) or The Brain That Changes Itself (neuroscience), the former surveying general capabilities and limitations of various approaches and the later surveying findings from medicine on just how plastic our sensory inputs and interpretive capacities…
on “Discovering a Blue Ocean Idea” ↗If anyone wants a great primer about neuroplasticity I recommend reading “The brain that changes itself” by Dr Norman Doidge
on “Immediate brain plasticity after one hour of brain–computer interface” ↗It's called neuroplasticity. I've read "The brain that changes itself" by Norman Doidge and it uncovers a whole new world.
on “Girl born with half a brain retains full vision” ↗If you're interested in reading more about pushing the limits of remapping the human brain, check out The Brain That Changes Itself by Doidge. Fascinating.
on “The blind man who taught himself to see” ↗This is an awesome list! Still haven't read some of them yet, but the few left are in my queue. I would add one more: The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doige. This book will give you a whole new perspective on how your mind and the human brain works! It will talk about neuroplasticity and real world examples of people that had their brain tweaked…
on “Ask HN: Books that change your way of thinking?” ↗If you enjoy these kind of brain modification technologies, check out the book The Brain That Changes Itself, which discusses neural plasticity http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp.... This is the science that led to the cochlear implant and may lead to other brain-interface devices.…
on “Intelligence Council Predicts 3D Printed Organs, Megacities, Brain Chips by 2030” ↗Another great book with further discussion and examples on this subject, neuroplasticity, is The Brain That Changes Itself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_That_Changes_Itself In summary from my reading of the book, current research seems to back the perspective that our brains are basically making sense of chaos:…
on “One rat brain 'talks' to another using electronic link” ↗Post more neuroscience articles, please! I read The Brain that Changes Itself recently and it markedly reinforced certain suspicions I had. Which other areas of are most active in neuroscience at the moment that might one day be related to human/computer interfaces?
on “Revenge of the lizard brain” ↗I highly recommend reading "Brain that changes itself" by Norman Doidge. I have no idea how good lumosity games really are, but you can improve your cognition doing such "puzzles" if they are designed well. http://www.amazon.com/The-Brain-That-Changes-Itself/dp/01431...
on “Lumosity: a warning to users (2009)” ↗Not about mindfulness, but I highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp...
on “Meditation study shows changes associated with awareness, stress (2011)” ↗