Brain Sense: The Science of the Senses and How We Process the World Around Us

by Faith Hickman Brynie

Have you ever wondered why you remember color images and scenes so much better than those in black and white? The answer is in the way our brains interpret and process the sights, smells, tastes, and touches that make up our lives. "Brainsense" explores brain function and the senses, and offers new insight about what makes us tick. Based on new research and interviews with renowned scientists, readers will discover how the brain really works. Divided into chapters, one for each sense, "Brainsense" offers a new perspective into how we process the world around us. Both enlightening and engaging, this book will help us understand the elusive mysteries of the brain.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Neuroscience

274 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2009

Reviews

[YHC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book described in detail how our 5 senses form, taste, sight, touch, smell, and sounding. it's rather a very medical or professional terms on each small organ that shapes our sense.
If you need to give up one sense, which would you give up? That is really hard to choose, but many people in this world actually lack some/ certain of these senses but still survive well.
In this book, it extends to a term called :Synesthesia, is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Some see words with colors, or listen to music makes them seeing colors..but this is genetic.
Another is sensing supernatural. This part the author doesn't develop further, after all too few people actually this feeling and we really don't know if what they feel is real or just their imagination.

Over all this book is fun to read, except the terms on how the senses form got too professional.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a bit heavy on the terminology, but that didn't really hinder my progress or annoy me in any way. The book is a combination of a few things as is related in the preface. It is a collection of stories about people who have lost a sense such as sight or hearing and it describes how their lives are affected. I probably won't read it again, but the collected stories are pretty good.

The terminology comes into play when the author describes how a gene expresses itself and other such things.

All in all it was quite interesting. Four out of five.

[Samsara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feel like a magazine rather than books. Besides the basic anatomy and nerve functions, mostly are speculations, because we don't know much on our sense. Skin through it briefly.

Sense of body location: The receptors more important for proprioception lie deeper—in the joints, tendons, and muscles.

Smell could be distinguished by vibration instead of shapes.

We can sense so many distinct smell, much not than the type of olfactory nerve because the brain make up different smell according to different combination of active olfactory sensory cells.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tidbits -- liked the short sections for each topic, but light on some descriptions, which left me with questions and doubts. Still interesting.

[Reem Al-firm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read it again