Brain Power: Working Out the Human Mind

by Susan A. Greenfield

What is it about our brains that makes us different from other animals and unique as individuals? Brainpower looks at the answers to this question and at the ways in which our minds identify who we are, what we can do and how we feel. The human brain is the most mysterious and complicated structure in the known universe. For years doctors and scientists have striven to understand the workings of the brain. But as the millennium draws to a close, recent research and discoveries- many presented in this fascinating book-challenge previous ideas about the brain, and provide the basis for an exciting new era of discovery. Susan Greenfield has gathered six of the foremost experts in various "mind" disciplines-from psychology to pharmacology-to explain the brain's complexities in easy-to-follow chapters. Each discipline looks at the brain through the sequence of a human life, from its development in the womb, during infancy, to its heightened learning abilities in adolescence and finally, to the "wisdom of age." This full-color is the first book to look at the workings of the human mind from both the physical and the psychological viewpoint clearly explains the ways in which our minds do-and do not-work presents an optimistic view of the brain's increasing powers as we age offers the reader the experts' answers to the top 50 questions about the brain Brainpower not only explores the development of the brain but also provides new insights into the impact of technology, drugs, disease and other factors on our brain and on the future of society. With surprising ease, and in simple terms, Greenfield weaves together the various discussions of the parts and complexities of the brain. The final chapter presents the experts' answers to many of the most intriguing questions about the brain, such as how the brain corresponds with people's belief in the soul and the future of brain manipulation for the elimination of mental dysfunction.

Hardcover

First published March 30, 2000

About the author

Greenfield is Professor of Synaptic Pharmacology at Lincoln College, Oxford. On 1 February 2006, she was installed as Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Until 8 January 2010, she was director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain