How the Brain Works

by Peter Abrahams

Where in the brain would you find the hippocampus and what is its function? What happens in the brain when we laugh? What’s the checklist for assessing the severity of a brain injury? And how is Alzheimer’s different from other dementias? In this accessible and fascinating book, readers will learn the answers to these questions and many more.

How The Brain Works takes the reader from the physiology of the brain through to its processes – such as what happens in the brain while we sleep – and on to traumas, diseases and psychological conditions. From learning about the blood vessels in the head to what goes wrong when someone has a stroke, from how alcohol affects the brain to diagnosing meningitis, from anorexia nervosa to post natal depression, How The Brain Works expertly explains the processes of the brain in a way that we can all understand.

With more than 600 colour photographs, medical imaging and anatomically accurate artworks, How The Brain Works is a highly detailed but simply written, wide-ranging guide that will appeal to both general readers and students.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Professor Peter Abrahams has practiced medicine for more than 30 years. He has written and edited many books, including Clinical Anatomy of Practical Procedures, An Atlas of Normal Radiological Anatomy, Essentials of Clinical Anatomy, and An Imaging Atlas of Human Anatomy.

Reviews

[Hilâl · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 ana kısımdan oluşuyor kitap; Fizyoloji, beyin hastalıkları ve psikolojik durumlar olmak üzere. Tanıtıma pek bakmayın, bence dil olarak o kadar da genel okuyucuya hitap etmiyordu. Özellikle fizyoloji kısmı oldukça terimseldi bana göre. Ama diğer iki ana kısım –beyin hastalıkları ve psikolojik durumlar- daha anlaşılabilir. Tüm konular ikişer sayfada açıklanmış. Bu durum özellikle 2. ve 3. kısmın genel bilgisi için idealdi bence. Çeviri ve baskı da harika. İlginiz varsa genel olarak keyifli ve kaliteli bir kitap.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The pictures are nice.
Was going to give this 2* because the info is largely out of date now and based pre DSM IV never mind DSM IV-TR or DSM 5. Unfortunately I had to take another star off when CBT was described as replacing positive thoughts with negative ones and Rogers' Client-centred therapy was described as based on a psychodynamic theory. Mind you pretty much everything was described as based off psychodynamic theory and the treatments suggested for pretty much everything were Prozac and CBT.
Very out of date and unfortunately has actual errors too but the pictures were nice.

[Hasan Çelik · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first received the book, I was a bit surprised. I was expecting a regular book, but I found myself with a reference book more like an encyclopedia. It’s a high-quality, glossy paper book with illustrated content. But don’t be misled by the word “illustrated.” The written content is equally impressive. It covers all issues related to the brain (such as diseases, etc.), its structure, and how it functions in great detail.
The book is divided into three main sections: the first part is physiology, the second part is brain diseases, and the third part covers psychological conditions. Below are some of the topics from these main sections:

Physiology :

* How does memory work?
* Brain development
* How do we smell?
* How does the brain process sound?
* How does alcohol affect the body?
* How do we dream?
* …(28 topics in total)

Brain Diseases :

* Migraine
* Autism
* Epilepsy
* Down Syndrome
* Stroke
* Alzheimer’s disease
* …(35 topics in total)

Psychological Conditions :

* Depression
* Medication treatments for psychiatric illnesses
* Obsessive-compulsive disorders
* Phobias
* Seasonal affective disorder
* …(19 topics in total)

Including the above, the book contains a total of 82 topics. I can say that each topic is meticulously prepared with illustrations. In my opinion, everyone will want to have such a work in their library. I believe it will be a very useful reference book.


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Kitap elime geçtiğinde aslında biraz şaşırdım. Çünkü normal bir kitap bekliyordum fakat ansiklopedi kıvamında bir başvuru kitabı ile karşılaştım. Baya baya kuşe kağıda basılı, resimli içeriklerin olduğu bir kitap. Yalnız resimli dediğime bakmayın. Aslında içeriğinin(yani yazı olarak) de aşağı kalır yanı yok. Beyinle ilgili tüm sorunlar(hastalıklar vs.), beyinin yapısı, çalışma şekli dolu dolu işlenmiş. 

Kitap, birinci bölümü fizyoloji, ikinci bölümü beyin hastalıkları, üçüncü bölümü ise psikolojik durumlar olmak üzere 3 ana bölüme ayrılıyor. Örneğin aşağıdaki konu başlıkları bu ana başlıkların içeriklerinden bazıları;


Fizyoloji :

* Bellek nasıl çalışır?
* Beyin gelişimi
* Nasıl koku alırız?
* Beyin sesi nasıl işler?
* Alkol bedeni nasıl etkiler?
* Nasıl rüya görürüz?
* …(toplam 28 başlık)


Beyin Hastalıkları :

* Migren,
* Otizm,
* Epilepsi
* Down Sendromu
* İnme
* Alzheimer hastalığı
* ….(toplam 35 başlık) 


Psikolojik Durumlar :

* Depresyon,
* Psikiyatrik hastalıklarda ilaç tedavisi
* Obsesif-kompulsif bozukluklar
* Fobiler,
* Mevsimsel duygudurum bozukluğu
* …..(toplam 19 başlık) 


Kitapta toplamda yukarıdakilerle birlikte 82 başlık bulunuyor. Her başlığın resimleriyle beraber özenle hazırlandığını söyleyebilirim. Benim görüşüm o ki, herkes kütüphanesinde böyle bir esere sahip olmak isteyecektir. Çok yararlı bir başvuru kitabı olacağını düşünüyorum.