There is a lot to like about Dr. Norman Doidge's second volume on neuroplasticity. For one thing, he tells entertaining stories about physicians, their patients, and the progression of medicine. Who could fail to appreciate the adventures of a holocaust survivor who becomes infatuated with judo, uses touch to heal the sick, becomes a physicist, and head of Israel's top spying agency? On a deeper level, who cannot fail to appreciate that light, touch, smell, and hearing hold the keys to some of the most debilitating maladies we know? The book does meander somewhat, sometimes losing focus on who the reader is likely to be: like me a complete laymen, or sometimes someone with a little more professional knowledge, like other physicians. There are more footnotes than I cared to read. Another thing I really liked about the book was its shifting focus between the maladies of the elderly, of mature accident victims, and those of children. What that tells me is that the researchers and physicians Doidge profiles are not probing another specialty. They are pushing science forward toward universal ends: a better understanding of man and his environment. A better grasp of where human intelligence comes from and where it is going. I like happy endings. And while this book does sound a little like "Lives of the Saints," i think we can all do with a few more happy endings. What I must ask Dr. Doidge some day is whether his books are a hobby for him, or whether they represent the evolution of his own thought and practice of medicine. After all, he is a psychiatrist. This stuff is pretty far from Sigmund Freud. ( )

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Doidge-Guerir-grace-a-la-neuroplasticite/910350

Boy, when they say "remarkable" they mean remarkable. I was astounded by these recovery stories based on therapies I'd never heard of before. The book is a fascinating read, and I ended up just buying it as a reference when I got near the end of it. I found a lot of information that had potential applications for myself or my loved ones.
I've been hearing references to neuroplasticity for about a year now, and this is the first book I've read about it. It does get rather in-depth in spots, alternating between technical details and anecdotal examples. Science is not my strongest subject, but I was still able to follow.
I have two complaints. The first one is that he kept referencing his other book [b:The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science|570172|The Brain That Changes Itself Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science|Norman Doidge|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1431402537s/570172.jpg|557215], which I plan to eventually read, but I didn't need to be reminded of so often. The second complaint is the animal testing that was spoken of with absolutely no empathy or apology. There has to be a better way to test a therapy than dropping a magnet on a mouse's head to simulate a brain injury, or severing a rat's spinal cord, or sewing a monkey's fingers together. That mouse one particularly, on top of being cruel, didn't even seem like it would guarantee any accuracy. I should clarify that the author wrote about this testing but wasn't the one actually performing any of these tests himself. I just didn't appreciate that it was presented so prosaically.
Still a good book though, and highly recommended.
( )

The author relates a variety of case studies in which people overcome significant neurological injuries. He touts this as the brain being able to regenerate new pathways counter to general scientific understanding about the plasticity of the nervous system.
In some ways the stories are little bit like Oliver Sacks books such as [The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat]. However, there is a bit of a danger in implying that anyone can overcome significant neurological damage if they just try hard enough, or find the right vendor of the latest treatment regime.

I prefer my medical literature to stick to the science and avoid the outliers and hyperbole. ( )

Fascinating! ( )