This book is about the discovery that the human brain has its own unique way of healing. For centuries we believed that the price we paid for our brain's complexity was that, compared to other organs, it was fixed and unregenerative - unable to recover from damage or illness. In his revolutionary new book, Norman Doidge turns this belief on its head.
Norman Doidge, MD, is the author of the best-selling book, The Brain That Changes Itself- personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science, which has sold over one million copies worldwide. Dr Doidge is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, author, essayist and poet. He is on the Research Faculty at Columbia University's Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, in New York, and the University of Toronto's Department of Psychiatry. He is a native of Toronto. Visit him at www.normandoidge.com.
`Brilliant and highly original. Neurology used to be considered a
depressing discipline with patients often displaying fascinating
but essentially untreatable symptoms and disabilities. Drawing on
the last three decades of research, Doidge challenges this view,
using vivid portraits of patients and their physicians. The book is
a treasure-trove of the author’s own deep insights and a clear
bright light of optimism shines through every page.’ —V.S.
Ramachandran MBBS, Ph.D., Neurologist, Neuroscientist, and author
of The Tell-Tale Brain, Director of the Center for Brain and
Cognition, University of California, San Diego
`A tour de force. In one of the most riveting books on the human
brain and its mystery powers ever written, Doidge addresses the
role of alternative medical therapies to reset and re-sync the
dynamic patterns of `energy’ in our brain, with the ability to
restore relatively normal health to those whose fate seems hopeless
… These are people that traditional medicine all but abandoned as
hopeless, untreatable. But they were rescued … It’s possible to
start anywhere in the book and be mesmerised.’ —The Huffington
Post
`Bold, remarkable … paradigm challenging. The Brain’s Way of
Healing is brilliantly organised, scientifically documented, and a
beautifully written narrative that captivates the reader, who is
left with the profound message that the brain, similar to other
organs, can heal.’ —Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. Distinguished
University Scientist, Indiana University Bloomington; author of The
Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions,
Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation
`Stunning … The Brain’s Way of Healing is another ground breaking
book by Norman Doidge. His style keeps you going into the deep dark
secrets of how the brain works … his reframing of remarkable
treatments that I had categorised as gimmicky left me fascinated
and humbled. He brings a whole new level of insight into the body,
brain, mind connection that will impact any reader.’ —John J.
Ratey, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard
Medical School, author of Driven to Distraction
`A vivid, robust and optimistic read … an essential addition to our
growing understanding of the mind-brain-body connection. Doidge
argues quite convincingly that when the brain is damaged or
incompletely formed, whether from stroke, multiple sclerosis,
traumatic brain injury, autism, ADHD or a host of other conditions,
it’s entirely possible to `rewire’ the circuits by training a
different part of the brain to take over the task … Doidge has an
uncanny knack for addressing questions just as they arise in the
reader’s mind … An award-winning literary writer and journalist as
well as a psychiatrist, Doidge has achieved a fine blend here
between scientific substance and literary style. While never
dumbing down the science, he’s positively elegant in his
crystalline explanations of brain science for a lay audience.’ —The
Toronto Star
`The Brain’s Way of Healing is a stunner — the sort of book you
want to read several times, not because it is difficult to
understand, but because it opens up so many novel and startling
avenues into our potential to heal. Norman Doidge enthrals us with
a rich combination of lucidly explained brain research and
pioneering … approaches to recovery. With an eloquence reminiscent
of Oliver Sacks, Doidge bolsters the latest advances in brain
science with a series of extraordinary case histories of people for
whom all hope seemed to be lost, but who healed as a result of
great personal courage, and by changing the ways their bodies and
brains processed sensations and movement. This hopeful book
demonstrates that a variety of sensory inputs — light, sound,
electricity, vibration, movement, and thought — can awaken the
brain’s attention processors, and thereby allow even the most
afflicted to (re)gain ownership of their lives.’ —Bessel van der
Kolk M.D., medical director, the Trauma Center, Brookline MA;
professor of psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine; and
author of New York Times bestseller The Body Keeps the Score
`Doidge’s book is filled with compelling stories about radical
improvements in conditions often deemed hopeless. It points to a
future of remarkable and unprecedented brain healing.’ —Martha
Herbert, M.D., Ph.D., neurologist, Harvard Medical School and
Massachusetts General Hospital, and author of The Autism
Revolution
`Doidge is such a bright star in the firmament of scientific
storytelling … more than any other writer, [he] has shown us how we
can seize control of our brain’s destiny.’ —The Sydney Morning
Herald
`This is a book of miracles: an absorbing compendium of unlikely
recoveries from physical and mental ailments offers evidence that
the brain can heal. Fascinating … brings to mind Oliver Sacks.’
—The Guardian
`A dazzling collection of stories about neuroplasticity and the
ever-changing brain … cutting-edge treatments that use the body’s
senses to access, and improve, neurological functioning. In
friendly vignettes reminiscent of Oliver Sacks’ case studies,
Doidge chronicles the heroic efforts of patients with a wide
variety of apparently intractable ailments, from chronic pain to
multiple sclerosis … Doidge truly takes a holistic approach to his
subjects, getting to know them and their doctors and sharing every
detail with his readers … Each of Doidge’s examples suggests
tangible treatment ideas for patients who may have thought they
were out of options. Doidge’s penchant for considering
unconventional approaches to healing offers hope for all.’
—Bookpage
`Beautifully written … inspiring … By merging scientific
information into timeless and fascinating personal stories, Doidge
makes his discoveries extremely readable … In some cases, the
results are completely astounding and unexpected … The Brain’s Way
of Healing grabs onto the reader at once and compels them to keep
reading. This is an important and encouraging book.’ —The Vancouver
Sun
`Exhilarating science… In an era of ever-increasing medicalisation
of the human mind, and the medication of it, the appeal of
neuroplasticity outlined by Doidge is addictive. It is inspiring,
page-turning stuff.’ —Sunday Times
`Reviewers hailed Norman Doidge’s 2007 The Brain That Changes
Itself as a book that showed its author’s rare talent to explain
science to the rest of us: `You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to
read it—just a person with a curious mind.’ Now the physician who
was then paired with Oliver Sacks and Stephen Jay Gould returns
with a captivating new tome about neuroplasticity, the brain’s
astonishing capacity to repair itself after injury or illness. Dr.
Doidge’s clear descriptions of exciting breakthrough brain research
will give readers a heartening new sense of the dynamism of the
body we live with daily.’ —Barnes & Noble Review
`Doidge is the master of explaining how the brain’s plasticity can
be harnessed to improve the symptoms of brain-related disorders,
ranging from stroke to autism’ —The Independent
`An exciting overview of powerful new neuroscience theories that
connect mind, body, and soul … In this age of distraction and
unnatural environments and actions — like staring at screens all
day — brain science offers all kinds of useful techniques to care
for our infinitely complex selves. Norman Doidge’s work is a
Michelin Guide to this hopeful new trove of knowledge and insight.’
—Boston Globe
`Doidge is persuasive and curious as a writer, and rigorous as a
thinker, though what he writes about is at the edge of our current
understanding of mind and body.’ —The Observer
`A powerful and brilliant book that gives hope to those with
illness and creative inspiration to the whole medical community.’
—Jack Kornfield PhD, author A Path With Heart
`The Brain’s Way of Healing starts with a superb description of the
former axiomatic belief in the neuroscience community of the
immutability of the CNS and the more recent research that has slain
that conceptual dragon. The articulation of the ideas in the book
is a model of exposition; the language is direct, simple yet
elegant, which is no mean trick when conveying the meaning of
technical research studies. The book offers real hope to
individuals suffering from diverse chronic conditions. It shows in
terms of graphic personal stories that we truly do not yet know the
limits of what is possible in rehabilitation. The book also has a
number of creative integrations of the data that will be of
interest to neuroscientists.’ —Edward Taub, Ph.D., Behavioral
Neuroscientist, University Professor,University of Alabama at
Birmingham Director, UAB CI Therapy Research Group and Taub
Training Clinic
`Doidge explains the processes of the brain and body in a clear and
understandable way, even to those of us who previously couldn’t
distinguish a hippocampus from a hippopotamus. He tells of patients
who hobble into labs and medical offices on canes and leave without
them after their first visit … For someone who suffers — or knows
someone who suffers — from an injury or illness related to the
brain, both this book as well as Doidge’s previous will provide
information — and perhaps hope — that the brain can heal itself.’
—The Seattle Times
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