Your body has a mind of its own. You know it's true. You can sense it, even though it may be hard to articulate. You know that your body is more than a vehicle for your brain to cruise around in, but how deeply are mind and body truly interwoven? Answers can be found in the emerging science of body maps. Just as road maps represent interconnections across the landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your bodily self. Your self doesn't begin and end with your physical body but extends into the space around you. When you drive a car, your personal body space grows to envelop it. When you play a video game, your body maps automatically track and emulate the actions of your character onscreen. If your body maps fall out of sync, you may have an out-of-body experience or see auras around other people. The Body Has a Mind of Its Own explains how you can tap into the power of body maps to do almost anything better: play tennis, strum a guitar, ride a horse, dance a waltz, empathize with a friend, raise children, cope with stress. Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even parlor tricks that you can use to reconfigure your body sense, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way you think about what it takes to have a conscious mind inside a feeling body. Praise for The Body Has a Mind of Its Own NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD "You'll never think about your body-or your mind-in the same way again." -Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence "A fascinating exploration of senses we didn't even know we had." -Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses "A delightfully original, understandable, and mind-stretching work." -William Safire, columnist, The New York Times Magazine "A marvelous book." -V. S. Ramachandran, M.D., director, Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego "[An] accessible, practical overview of an important scientific story." -Antonio Damasio, author of Descartes' Error
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
The Body's Mind Can Changed:
Revolving around the general idea of "Body Maps," or your brain's awareness of your body and personal space, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own provides insight into the way we perceive almost every sensation, action, or emotion. In a more attention-keeping and conversational tone that most non-fiction, fairly complex psychological ideas are explained quite concisely, and in the lexicon of the average person. Starting with the basic underlying principle of how the brain maps out your person, usually with very... more info
Interesting relationships between the body and brain for all readers:
The Body has a Mind of its Own was an enjoyable read and was not at all a "textbook," as some science non-fiction writing can be. As a student in a Neuroscience class, I could scientifically appreciate what the Blakeslees were saying, but also as someone who doesn't find time to sit down and read a book often, I found that they managed to keep my attention through their interesting examples and obvious enthusiasm. The underlying theme of the book, as portrayed in the text's subtitle, is how the... more info
current neuroscience:
This well organized and clearly written book presents complex information on the brain and nervous system in an articulate and clear fashion that is comprehensible for the laymen but not in any way "dumbed down". The authors use many fascinating anecdotes to illustrate the incredible neural systems of primates, and how indeed the body does have its own mind. This is accessible and intriguing neuroscience.
The mandala of the mind:
Research on the brain has come far since the 1930s when Wilder Penfield of the University of Montreal was compelled to cut open the skulls of epileptic patients. The process meant the epileptic victim remained awake. It was the only way Penfield could learn from the subject who would describe their reactions to his gentle probing. The information, however, often led to relief resulting from Penfield's later precise surgery based on his mappings. In this comprehensive account, the authors - a mother-son... more info
