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The Big Questions of Neuroscience  By  cover art

The Big Questions of Neuroscience

By: Suzana Herculano-Houzel
Narrated by: Suzana Herculano-Houzel
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About the Creator and Performer

Suzana Herculano-Houzel, PhD, is a biologist and neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University, where she is Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Biological Sciences. Her research focuses on what different brains are made of; what that matters in terms of cognition, energy cost, and longevity; and how the human brain is remarkable, but not special, in its makeup. She is the author of The Human Advantage, in which she tells the story of her discoveries on how many neurons different species have—and how the number of neurons in the cerebral cortex of humans is the largest of them all, thanks to the calories amassed with a very early technology developed by our ancestors: cooking. She spoke at TEDGlobal 2013 and TEDxNashville 2018 and is an avid communicator of science to the general public.

What listeners say about The Big Questions of Neuroscience

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A good science read..

I truly enjoyed the book as well as the narration and it has stored up my interest in more such as this one.

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1 person found this helpful

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Interesting, Relevant, and Fun!

The author presented her information in an interesting way, with stories, myths, and I love the cats/dogs intelligence differences explained! I learned more in this book than I learned in any other book. Thank you!

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2 people found this helpful

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A fantastic listen

Every chapter is captivating. The author does a masterful job explaining the complexities in of the human brain.

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Surprised

This was surprisingly entertaining and answered a lot of my existential questions in a scientific manner! Awesome listen!

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Informative, clear, and concise. With no annoying anecdotes

This book explores several questions (Why do we sleep? What makes human “smart?” Etc) and answers them using evidences from how our brains and neurons behave.

What I found amazing about this book is how concise and informative it is. With these kind of “did you know” nonfiction, you typically see failed attempts to made the topic “interesting” with anecdotal stories and linking them to some long winded experiments. You might know what I’m talking about here, for example: “this group of blind runners were the fastest in 17th century England, and you know what, research by Harvard in 2012 <insert 2 long paragraphs here> found that XX resulted in better muscle development! Wow!”

None of those crap happened here.

All the experiments involved are explained clearly but quickly. The author just get to the point: “we feel XX because AA caused BB to happen with your brain. And the resulting CC hormones made you feel that”

The end, now you know something new with clear explanation.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in a quick listen on why our brain is the way it is. You don’t even have to like or understand to follow and appreciate the author’s answers.

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4 people found this helpful

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Excellent course to learn more about your brain

Well spoken and you can hear how much she loves the subject in her voice.

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1 person found this helpful

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One of my favorites!

So interesting facts narrated smoothly and easy to follow. It's too interesting that you will struggle falling asleep with this one.

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great choice.

love it helped me to understand many of my questions about why and how we do what we do.
Gratitude!

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Educational and interesting

I liked this being strutted like a series of lectures and found it thought provoking and insightful.

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Perfect for non-neuroscientists!

I've listened to (and am still listening to) quite a few audiobooks aimed at explaining consciousness, the brain, and human behavior in a deterministically ordered world. They've ranged from pure philosophy of mind to purely biological explication. Most contain portions worth listening to, although I had to mentally filter out some hot air, repetition, and pontification.

Then I accidentally came across this title and took a chance on it. I'm happy I did: all the bits and pieces are starting to come together, even the neuronal and evolutionary aspects. It breaks down a dense, multi-layered subject into understandable learning blocks, all without being condescending. Most importantly for me, it presents very basic, necessary facts that are, for some odd reason, neglected in the other books.

And too, the narration is enjoyable. I find that can make a big difference in feeling connected to a subject. Learning about what makes us thinking beings becomes both personal and universal.

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3 people found this helpful