Brainscapes

The Warped, Wondrous Maps Written in Your Brain - and How They Guide You

By: Rebecca Schwarzlose

Narrated by: Rebecca Schwarzlose

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

A path-breaking journey into the brain, showing how perception, thought, and action are products of "maps" etched into your gray matter - and how technology can use them to read your mind.

Your brain is a collection of maps. That is no metaphor: Scrawled across your brain's surfaces are actual maps of the sights, sounds, and actions that hold the key to your survival. Scientists first began uncovering these maps more than a century ago, but we are only now beginning to unlock their secrets - and comprehend their profound impact on our lives. Brain maps distort and shape our experience of the world, support complex thought, and make technology-enabled mind reading a modern-day reality, which raises important questions about what is real, what is fair, and what is private. They shine a light on our past and our possible futures. In the process, they invite us to view ourselves from a startling new perspective.

In Brainscapes, Rebecca Schwarzlose combines unforgettable real-life stories and cutting-edge research to reveal brain maps' surprising lessons about our place in the world - and about the world's place within us.

©2021 Rebecca Schwarzlose (P)2021 Recorded Books

Rare situation of author being excellent narrator

This was a very good book that I think is one of the best overviews of brain mapping. You don’t come across a good science book that is narrated well by the author, but this hits a home run.

High ly informative

clear and coherent explanation of the inner workings of the brain focusing on brain maps

Well presented introduction to the Brain’s Operations.

Schwarzlose does a very good job of laying out the concept of brain maps and how they allow us to process the signals sent by the senses. Sometimes, though, I was not sure of whom she considered to be the audience for her words as she descended into the weeds of the details of their operation. At other times she illustrated her points with clear and interesting stories from patient cases and research.

There was some repetition since the mechanism of mapping is very similar for one sense and another. At the same time, her stories made the functions ever more clear.

I’d make one last observation as an Audible Reader. The author makes repeated references to the various locations of areas of the Brain as S1, V1 etc. I tried to determine from Apple or Kindle versions of the eBook whether there was an illustration of the Brain showing these labeled areas, but could not find one. While it wasn’t critical for the reader to know where exactly the area was, a PDF accompanying the text would have helped our visualization. Perhaps a Neuroscientist or Brain Surgeon would not have needed it, but I did.

All in all, this book definitely added to my appreciation of the awesome complexity of the Brain. Four Stars. ****