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"Overloaded"
This mind-bending, eye-opening book provides readers with an enjoyable route through the remarkable world of neurotransmitters, the chemicals inside each of us that touch every aspect of our lives.From adrenaline to dopamine, most of us are familiar with the chemicals that control us. They are the hormones and neurotransmitters that our brains run on, and Overloaded looks at the role they play in every aspect of our lives, from what we remember, how we make decisions and who we love to basic survival drives such as hunger, fear and sleep.Author Ginny Smith gets to the bottom of exactly what these tiny molecules do. What role do cortisol and adrenaline play in memory formation? Is it our brain chemicals that cause us to be 'hangry'? How do hormones and neurotransmitters affect the trajectory of our romantic relationships? These are just some of the questions that Ginny will answer as she meets the scientists at the cutting-edge of research into the world of brain chemistry who are uncovering the unexpected connections between these crucial chemicals that touch every aspect of our lives.
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First published June 1, 2021
71 people are currently reading
1440 people want to read
About the author
Ginny Smith
13 books10 followersA neuroscience expert and science communicator. Basically I’m a storyteller- I love telling stories about science, and helping others to do the same, drawing out the interesting narratives behind the facts and figures.
I read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, giving me a broad scientific background, but my main passion and expertise is in psychology and neuroscience, so I focus on helping kids and adults understand our complex minds. I also use my knowledge of the way our brains work to help communicate challenging scientific concepts in a way that is memorable and engaging. I live and breathe science in a way that brings people in. Science is fun and fascinating and ever changing, and I want to help everyone share in the joy of curiosity and exploration.
I read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, giving me a broad scientific background, but my main passion and expertise is in psychology and neuroscience, so I focus on helping kids and adults understand our complex minds. I also use my knowledge of the way our brains work to help communicate challenging scientific concepts in a way that is memorable and engaging. I live and breathe science in a way that brings people in. Science is fun and fascinating and ever changing, and I want to help everyone share in the joy of curiosity and exploration.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 15, 2021
In Overloaded, Ginny Smith gives a light, entertaining view of the way that the chemicals that act both as messengers and controls in the brain influence our behaviour, feelings, memory and more. Smith's writing style is conversational and fun. For non-biologists, many books on the brain spend far too much time mapping and describing various parts and structures of the brain, when what we're really interested in is what it does. Smith deals neatly with this by not telling us much at all about these structures, just naming them and getting on with it. I found this extremely refreshing - especially not to be told yet again that the hippocampus is so-named because it looks like a seahorse. It really doesn't.
As a result of liking Smith's approach, I feel quite guilty that I found the book hard to read all the way through. This isn't down to Smith's writing - it's all the fault of biology. The workings of evolution rarely manage to produce simple systems, and while the basic workings of neurons and receptors is relatively straight-forward and interesting, the way the brain uses different chemicals to carry messages, enhance the strength of a signal or suppress a response is messy and requires Smith to describe over and over the way that different molecules act. After a while this got a touch tedious. Again, I stress it's not the writing, it's the subject. Yes, it's fascinating to hear once how the manipulation of various chemicals at the interstices between brain cells enable our brains to the many ways that we act and respond as humans. But by the time we get to the fifth or sixth different system doing the same kind of things in different ways, it gets distinctly samey.
This is a real shame as we learn about the mechanisms behind all kinds of behaviours and responses: memories, motivation, moods, fear, sleep, hunger and satiation, logic, love and pain. My only small criticism of Smith's work is that where the inputs are primarily from brain studies, a lot of the work on outputs here are based on the results of psychological/sociological studies. Since the reproducibility crisis, we have been strongly aware how poor many of these studies have been - it would have been helpful if we had some indication of the quality of the studies relied on in the observations we read about.
If this is a subject you specifically want to find out more about, Overloaded is a great introduction. And the first few chapters work really well for the general reader. But after that, the inclination is strong to dip in and out, which is a real shame.
As a result of liking Smith's approach, I feel quite guilty that I found the book hard to read all the way through. This isn't down to Smith's writing - it's all the fault of biology. The workings of evolution rarely manage to produce simple systems, and while the basic workings of neurons and receptors is relatively straight-forward and interesting, the way the brain uses different chemicals to carry messages, enhance the strength of a signal or suppress a response is messy and requires Smith to describe over and over the way that different molecules act. After a while this got a touch tedious. Again, I stress it's not the writing, it's the subject. Yes, it's fascinating to hear once how the manipulation of various chemicals at the interstices between brain cells enable our brains to the many ways that we act and respond as humans. But by the time we get to the fifth or sixth different system doing the same kind of things in different ways, it gets distinctly samey.
This is a real shame as we learn about the mechanisms behind all kinds of behaviours and responses: memories, motivation, moods, fear, sleep, hunger and satiation, logic, love and pain. My only small criticism of Smith's work is that where the inputs are primarily from brain studies, a lot of the work on outputs here are based on the results of psychological/sociological studies. Since the reproducibility crisis, we have been strongly aware how poor many of these studies have been - it would have been helpful if we had some indication of the quality of the studies relied on in the observations we read about.
If this is a subject you specifically want to find out more about, Overloaded is a great introduction. And the first few chapters work really well for the general reader. But after that, the inclination is strong to dip in and out, which is a real shame.
October 10, 2021
Shiny moments.
Very likable author.
But ultimately the text is unfocused.
If you’re interested in this topic (behavioral neurobiology - endocrinology).
Read:
- T by Carol Hooven
- Aroused by Randi Hunter Epstein
- Anything by Robert Sapulsky
3/5 ⭐️s
😐
Very likable author.
But ultimately the text is unfocused.
If you’re interested in this topic (behavioral neurobiology - endocrinology).
Read:
- T by Carol Hooven
- Aroused by Randi Hunter Epstein
- Anything by Robert Sapulsky
3/5 ⭐️s
😐
July 16, 2024
sem base seria confuso, mas se querem ler sobre o assunto at least be interested (isto é p vocês reviews baixas)
August 27, 2022
This was an interesting and informative book on the functions of chemicals in the brain and the effects they have. As someone with an interest in biology and psychology I enjoyed reading about the functionality of the brain components.
This book has a lot of information and is a great introduction into neurobiology with information presented in an easy to understand way.
Thank you so much Bloomsbury Publishing for sending me a copy!
This book has a lot of information and is a great introduction into neurobiology with information presented in an easy to understand way.
Thank you so much Bloomsbury Publishing for sending me a copy!
January 2, 2023
SO interesting. I love how it gives a little bit of info for so many different areas of life.
January 6, 2021
This is a fascinating book packed with interesting facts about the brain. I enjoyed reading it and thinking about the issues which it raised. But it also felt at times as if there was too much detail introducing, and cluttering, some of the points.
Comparing this book to another, I felt that Marc Dingman’s 2019 book, 'Your Brain Explained,' was clearer. That book provided illustrations to show which bit of the brain was being discussed at each point, and the discussions felt sharper and more tightly edited.
However, what this book does better is breadth of scope. It covers similar ground as the other book, but it takes the discussions further. For example, the chapter on memory didn’t just discuss the problems affecting memory, but it also explored cognitive enhancement drugs, especially those which are sometimes used by students.
The book pitches itself well to be engaging. Each chapter starts with a personal anecdote which is cleverly woven into the point of the chapter. We hear about the author’s vivid birthday memories, frightening encounters with sharks and painful skiing injuries, all of which become jumping off points to explore how the brain is processing those experiences.
Less successful were the chatty asides. After a while they became a bit of an irrelevant distraction to the points being made in the body of the text.
Although the book contains a lot of information, there were also a few places were there are assertions without justifying evidence. For example, we hear that damage to the hippocampus affects memory formation, but evidential case studies were not cited. At another point the author gives an opinion rejecting Dualism, but there was no argument to justify that opinion.
The book is careful to be socially responsible. It flags up links between scientists and Nazism, and it notes instances of sexism. It also identified issues of potential bias affecting weight and LGBT issues.
There is a lot of information packed into this book. Readers who want to know about the brain will find it a treasure trove of examples and discussion points.
This review is based on an Advanced Review Copy of the text.
Comparing this book to another, I felt that Marc Dingman’s 2019 book, 'Your Brain Explained,' was clearer. That book provided illustrations to show which bit of the brain was being discussed at each point, and the discussions felt sharper and more tightly edited.
However, what this book does better is breadth of scope. It covers similar ground as the other book, but it takes the discussions further. For example, the chapter on memory didn’t just discuss the problems affecting memory, but it also explored cognitive enhancement drugs, especially those which are sometimes used by students.
The book pitches itself well to be engaging. Each chapter starts with a personal anecdote which is cleverly woven into the point of the chapter. We hear about the author’s vivid birthday memories, frightening encounters with sharks and painful skiing injuries, all of which become jumping off points to explore how the brain is processing those experiences.
Less successful were the chatty asides. After a while they became a bit of an irrelevant distraction to the points being made in the body of the text.
Although the book contains a lot of information, there were also a few places were there are assertions without justifying evidence. For example, we hear that damage to the hippocampus affects memory formation, but evidential case studies were not cited. At another point the author gives an opinion rejecting Dualism, but there was no argument to justify that opinion.
The book is careful to be socially responsible. It flags up links between scientists and Nazism, and it notes instances of sexism. It also identified issues of potential bias affecting weight and LGBT issues.
There is a lot of information packed into this book. Readers who want to know about the brain will find it a treasure trove of examples and discussion points.
This review is based on an Advanced Review Copy of the text.
April 19, 2021
This book was so so interesting and shined a new light into aspects and areas of the brain that I had never heard about and hadn’t even come across before, and if I did, it was information that was outdated or not as cut and dry as was previously thought.
I knew the brain had all sorts of complex interactions and one thing didn’t necessarily always mean and lead onto something else in a way we thought it would, but ‘Overloaded’ definitely opened up my eyes to just how much this was the case.
The brain is such a complex organ and things that were thought were straight forward are most definitely not. I think we’ve all heard serotonin is the ‘happy hormone’ but just how correct is this? How much of a role does dopamine play in reward responses and the effects into addiction and emotion were incredibly interesting to read, as well as be chapters on sleep, food and how we make decisions as well.
This is the sort of book you can learn an awful lot about and I loved how the author emphasised that neuroscience is a massively growing field and can really change from one week to the next with just what we know and learn about the brain. I really loved reading about all sorts of difference ongoing research and experiments in this field too.
The book was written really well in terms of teaching the reader all about brain anatomy, chemistry and physiology meaning you don’t need any prior or previous knowledge to help in your understanding - it just means it’s very detailed so there’s plenty to read and understand. It made for a very enjoyable read and it was definitely humorous and funny in places with the footnotes having me laugh out loud on many an occasion.
I love reading about the brain and think anyone else with an interesting in psychology, neuroscience or brain studies would find this a really stimulating and enjoyable read.
Thank you to the author and publishers for an advanced reading of this via NetGalley, in return for my honest thoughts and review.
I knew the brain had all sorts of complex interactions and one thing didn’t necessarily always mean and lead onto something else in a way we thought it would, but ‘Overloaded’ definitely opened up my eyes to just how much this was the case.
The brain is such a complex organ and things that were thought were straight forward are most definitely not. I think we’ve all heard serotonin is the ‘happy hormone’ but just how correct is this? How much of a role does dopamine play in reward responses and the effects into addiction and emotion were incredibly interesting to read, as well as be chapters on sleep, food and how we make decisions as well.
This is the sort of book you can learn an awful lot about and I loved how the author emphasised that neuroscience is a massively growing field and can really change from one week to the next with just what we know and learn about the brain. I really loved reading about all sorts of difference ongoing research and experiments in this field too.
The book was written really well in terms of teaching the reader all about brain anatomy, chemistry and physiology meaning you don’t need any prior or previous knowledge to help in your understanding - it just means it’s very detailed so there’s plenty to read and understand. It made for a very enjoyable read and it was definitely humorous and funny in places with the footnotes having me laugh out loud on many an occasion.
I love reading about the brain and think anyone else with an interesting in psychology, neuroscience or brain studies would find this a really stimulating and enjoyable read.
Thank you to the author and publishers for an advanced reading of this via NetGalley, in return for my honest thoughts and review.
April 4, 2021
This fascinating book highlights both how much we know about the brain and how it works – and how little. We are beginning to understand for instance that it is networks that matter, not different defined “areas” of the brain. But the way in which brain chemicals interact and (for instance) why the same chemical can sometimes cause totally different effects are still not fully understood.
The author trained as a natural scientist at Cambridge – specializing in neuroscience – then became a science communicator, educating, speaking and writing about psychology and neuroscience topics. Those communication skills help her put over some quite advanced topics clearly and she has done a very good job of researching the current position. She talks to many scientists who are working at the leading edge of brain science, and puts all this information and knowledge into clear language so the book is accessible to any interested and reasonably bright reader. You don’t need a PhD in neuroscience to enjoy it and learn something!
What you won’t get is certainty in some areas, and while you will learn a lot about sleep, for instance, it is not a self-help book that guarantees you 8 hours a night once you have read it. Similarly the chapter on hunger provides great explanation for what is happening in our brain, but can’t stop you reaching for that extra slice of cake! But as long as you read it for the right reasons, this is an enlightening and stimulating read for anyone interested in how our amazing brains actually work.
The author trained as a natural scientist at Cambridge – specializing in neuroscience – then became a science communicator, educating, speaking and writing about psychology and neuroscience topics. Those communication skills help her put over some quite advanced topics clearly and she has done a very good job of researching the current position. She talks to many scientists who are working at the leading edge of brain science, and puts all this information and knowledge into clear language so the book is accessible to any interested and reasonably bright reader. You don’t need a PhD in neuroscience to enjoy it and learn something!
What you won’t get is certainty in some areas, and while you will learn a lot about sleep, for instance, it is not a self-help book that guarantees you 8 hours a night once you have read it. Similarly the chapter on hunger provides great explanation for what is happening in our brain, but can’t stop you reaching for that extra slice of cake! But as long as you read it for the right reasons, this is an enlightening and stimulating read for anyone interested in how our amazing brains actually work.
September 26, 2021
I quite enjoyed reading this book on how the brain works in the term of the neurotransmitter substances. The complex subject is in this book made as easy to understand as possible. The book has great illustrating stories and is upfront with the fact that we do not have all of the information on how things work. The engaging content can still be challenging to understand and i found myself immediately re-reading sections of particular interest for clarification. The book contains lots of terminology that a normal reader may not have come across before. There is however a glossary and a few illustrations at the end of the book that readers will find helpful to look at when encountering an unfamiliar term.
I would recommend this book to anyone wondering what happens when we learn, think, feel and react to the world around us. The subject area is rapidly evolving, and impossible to cover fully in a single book, but I would expect the information to remain current for a long time. I hope there will be a follow up some time in the future.
I would recommend this book to anyone wondering what happens when we learn, think, feel and react to the world around us. The subject area is rapidly evolving, and impossible to cover fully in a single book, but I would expect the information to remain current for a long time. I hope there will be a follow up some time in the future.
May 21, 2021
This book provides an entertaining and easy-to-read overview of the latest findings in the field of neuroscience. Covering topics as diverse as addiction, falling in love, and pain perception, the book is like a user manual for the human brain. I especially appreciated how the author pointed out weaknesses in the science regarding things that are supposedly common knowledge (like human perception of pheromones). As she points out, this is a snapshot of a rapidly changing field, and knowledge will evolve over time. Much of the information in this book is eye-opening—our knowledge of the brain is incomplete, which can lead to oversimplifications or faulty conclusions. If you have any interest in how the brain works, this is a must-read.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
April 13, 2025
Smith’s aim is to add complexity to the simplified stories of brain neurochemistry that dominate any popular rendition of the subject. The very nature of her endeavor ensured that not all explanations were as understandable as the reader might have wished, but enough of them were to still make the work worthwhile. One topic that stands out is her explanation of the effective mechanism of SSRI medication, why it works, why it doesn’t on some people and what the latest research is indicating regarding this general area of medicine. Other topics were more or less comprehensible depending how much background the reader brought to the discussion, or the ease with which multiple conflicting pathways could be kept in mind.
May 23, 2021
Thank you Bloomsbury and Netgalley for this wonderful advanced copy in exchange for my honest review
This was a wonderful and fairly easy explanation of how the brain works in detail. Coming from someone who loves neuroscience, I very much enjoyed this book. It was written so anyone from any background could understand it and it was fascinating. I give it 5 stars and recommend this to anyone especially those interested in the brain and behavior.
This was a wonderful and fairly easy explanation of how the brain works in detail. Coming from someone who loves neuroscience, I very much enjoyed this book. It was written so anyone from any background could understand it and it was fascinating. I give it 5 stars and recommend this to anyone especially those interested in the brain and behavior.
January 19, 2022
A seriously gifted presenter of science. Ginny Smith has an uncanny ability to make state-of-the-art medical insight simple, while retaining subtlety - and not going beyond what the research suggests. Her playful narrative style distracts with coaxing tributes to snacking (damn you!), peppered with folksy Britishisms and l’appel du vide - which is sure to amuse.
The influence of neurochemistry on our daily thoughts, emotions and behaviours are undeniable. Our interaction with reality being fundamentally chemical should make anyone nervous. There’s simply no getting around the fact that the unique mixology our body serves up, determines what we will do and who we will be. And it can be even more frightening than that, because it always has without our being consciously aware of it.
This was the tach I was expecting Ginny Smith to take throughout. After all, it’s not a terribly uncommon or mysterious interpretation of what’s happening, when you begin taking an interest in neuroscience. I was delighted this didn’t represent the bulk of her exploration.
While she does draw this relationship between neurotransmitters and Parkinson’s, OCD or Depression, say, Smith is perceptive to point out that vastly diverse medical diagnoses - and forms of mentation even - share strikingly similar biological signatures.
What is the physiological difference, for instance, between early ‘cupidity’ (infatuated preoccupation) and full-blown, clinical OCD? What separates thrill from terror? Or how can a certain neurotransmitter acting upon one region, or on different types of receptors, manifest sweeping experiential range?
These kind of inquiries spark immense philosophical speculation. Is our biology in control? Are our minds? Or is it both? Plotting the arrow of causation is the cartograph of a mirror maze.
Ginny Smith carefully navigates the topic without resorting to lifeless determinism or the ‘victim-blaming’ of free-will absolutists.
The rating of this book will clearly depend on your interests. For the sake of honesty, I’m giving it 4 stars. I’m not knocking the author. It’s a fantastic work! I’ve read voluminously and if I gave 5 stars for every great book I enjoyed…the rating would soon be meaningless. Thank you for the ARC.
The influence of neurochemistry on our daily thoughts, emotions and behaviours are undeniable. Our interaction with reality being fundamentally chemical should make anyone nervous. There’s simply no getting around the fact that the unique mixology our body serves up, determines what we will do and who we will be. And it can be even more frightening than that, because it always has without our being consciously aware of it.
This was the tach I was expecting Ginny Smith to take throughout. After all, it’s not a terribly uncommon or mysterious interpretation of what’s happening, when you begin taking an interest in neuroscience. I was delighted this didn’t represent the bulk of her exploration.
While she does draw this relationship between neurotransmitters and Parkinson’s, OCD or Depression, say, Smith is perceptive to point out that vastly diverse medical diagnoses - and forms of mentation even - share strikingly similar biological signatures.
What is the physiological difference, for instance, between early ‘cupidity’ (infatuated preoccupation) and full-blown, clinical OCD? What separates thrill from terror? Or how can a certain neurotransmitter acting upon one region, or on different types of receptors, manifest sweeping experiential range?
These kind of inquiries spark immense philosophical speculation. Is our biology in control? Are our minds? Or is it both? Plotting the arrow of causation is the cartograph of a mirror maze.
Ginny Smith carefully navigates the topic without resorting to lifeless determinism or the ‘victim-blaming’ of free-will absolutists.
The rating of this book will clearly depend on your interests. For the sake of honesty, I’m giving it 4 stars. I’m not knocking the author. It’s a fantastic work! I’ve read voluminously and if I gave 5 stars for every great book I enjoyed…the rating would soon be meaningless. Thank you for the ARC.
December 9, 2021
A very good look into the strange chemistry happening inside our brains. Each chapter is well-researched and well-organized, and can stand on their own as essays. However, there wasn't much of a flow chapter-to-chapter -- no overarching narrative or outline -- so I think I won't retain as much as I'd have hoped.
I do appreciate Smith's instistance that the science is ever-evolving.
I do appreciate Smith's instistance that the science is ever-evolving.
August 10, 2022
Ótimo livro para quem possui interesse na área das neurociências ou psicologia. Embora eu tenha bases de neurociências, a autora consegue escrever e explicar os assuntos de uma forma muito simples e direta. Assim sendo, qualquer homo sapiens sapiens consegue entender facilmente as temáticas abordadas.
Dou por isso 4 estrelas!
Dou por isso 4 estrelas!
November 1, 2021
Found it a very interesting read though some parts are very science-heavy so some concentration was needed to understand. Only just noticed the diagrams in the back of the book, they would of been better to have been throughout the book to refer to as you read.
June 9, 2024
Incredibly interesting insight into the brain and human psychology. Loved how it covered so many different aspects. Would not shut up about all the interesting things I learned while reading it, probably annoyed most of my friends I can't lie.
July 30, 2024
This book is fantastic. The author's ability to explain in simple concepts the complexity between brain hormones and human decisions makes it special. A book I recommend to anyone who wants to understand how grey matter works.
October 7, 2024
This is a fascinating insight into how our brain chemicals shape almost every aspect of our lives. Sprinkled with stories from real life, it is a brilliant addition to the popular science literary canon.
October 22, 2024
For me that didnt know anything about the subject iy was AMAZING, really useful!!
And I loved the personal parts that the author put in there to make it more real, like experiences that she had and with her husband!!
I need to find more! Thank uuuu
And I loved the personal parts that the author put in there to make it more real, like experiences that she had and with her husband!!
I need to find more! Thank uuuu
February 5, 2026
3.5. I knew some of this beforehand, which made me tune out during parts, but overall this is a good book to start with if you want to understand how the brains naturally occurring chemicals affect us, as well as what artificial chemicals can do.
July 17, 2021
Informative and entertaining, but lacking acknowledged reference/resources.
January 30, 2022
Interesting topic, and how it reflect in our brains and attitudes. However, technical book which is more focus on operation process instead of outcomes.
May 18, 2022
3.5 rounded up to 4.
October 27, 2022
This book seriously lacks a list of references, but otherwise, it is a nice and easy-to-read summary of what is known atm about various neurotransmitters.
November 11, 2022
Great book focusing on the neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for memory formation, motivation, emotions, fear, sleep, love, hunger and pain.
March 15, 2023
Such an interesting look at the brain and it's chemicals. Ginny Smith manages to write about in a way that feels friendly and easy to digest, a great book to help you understand how the brain works!
July 9, 2023
Favourite book of the year so far.
May 27, 2024
I listened to the audiobook which was read aloud by Ginny Smith herself. It was such an entertaining and interesting read. The information was accessible and the book really delivered on it's title.
January 10, 2025
An interesting view of our brain, how it works, how it can be manipulated as also us. Bit complex, not easy to read, but interesting
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews