An excellent research-and-literature-review on the problem of brain and consciousness

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	• The Three-Pound Enigma: The Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock Its Mysteries Shannon Moffett Algonquin Books, 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Good Start

This is an excellent overview of current mainstream research and a balanced look at
other views. The link to her website for demonstrations was novel and make the book
a better than average read. For those interested in further study I would suggest:
The Field and The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart; The Biology of Belief by
Bruce Lippton and Edgar Cayce: On Mysteries of the Mind by Henry Reed.

An excellent research-and-literature-review on the problem of brain and consciousness

This is a most readable review of the work and praxis of front line researchers and writers on the subject of the relationship between brain and consciousness. It was a great experience to read this book especially while trying to read simultaneuously the much more detailed and specific book by Christopher Koch. Both readings illuminated each other. The recently deceased Francis Crick comes into a splendid light.

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a guided tour of tomorrow's brain science, for beginners and experts alike

How does "the mind" emerge from the brain? We are closer to a coherent answer than ever before, thanks to accumulating evidence from a variety of fields - including cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, internal medicine, somnology, and even modern philosophy. In "The Three Pound Enigma", Shannon Moffett explores the cutting-edge of these disciplines, literally: from the risky operation by neurosurgeon Roberta Glick described in the first chapter, to penetrating theoretical discussions with the sharpest researchers around (including vision scientist Christof Koch and philosopher Daniel Dennett), this book provides a cross-section of current brain research.

Unlike so many popular science books, "The Three Pound Enigma" has something for novices and experts alike. Clear explanations of everything from fMRI technology & K-complexes to anterograde amnesia & dissociative identity disorders will dazzle the layperson, and yet Moffett also provides something for the professional audience: a glimpse into the personalities of some of the field's most successful scholars, sufficiently detailed to give additional insight on their (in)famous theoretical perspectives.

For example, although many can lay claim to having late-night conversations about consciousness, very few (other than Moffett, and her readers) have had such a conversation in a crowded Memphis nightclub with renowned consciousness philosopher Daniel Dennett. Or, perhaps a better example may be the anecdotes related by somnologist Robert Stickgold, who traces his career from undergraduate neurobiology research at Harvard, to a stint as a computer programmer, first on Wall Street ... and then in one of the country's preeminent sleep labs. Or, better yet, Moffett gives fascinating context to one of the most unlikely collaborations in modern neuroscience: that between red-haired iconoclast Christof Koch and the late Francis Crick, a 1962 Nobel Laureate and the co-discoverer of DNA's double-helix structure.

Between clever quips (e.g., cognitive neuroscience: the expensive branch of philosophy) and penetrating insights about the current state of brain research, Moffett also includes "interludes," each of which documents a different stage in cognitive development, from conception to death. Although these sections are not tightly integrated with the text, they're useful grounding for both neuro-novices and experts alike. There's even a good deal of freely available web content, available for those who want to delve a little deeper into the topics discussed in the book.

In summary, Shannon Moffett's book is a wonderful introduction to the ideas underlying modern brain research, as well as a revealing portrait of several of the individuals driving these developments. The book comes highly recommended to laypeople with an interest in learning more about major players in brain research, and even to more experienced readers who desire a more personal view of the biggest names in the field.

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INCREDIBLE BOOK about an INCREDIBLE ORGAN of the Body

Not to mention that the author wrote this book WHILE she was in medical school. She became enamored, if that's a good word, maybe fascinated, curious, are better words, when she took the Gross Anatomy class. She had to open up the face of the cadaver she was studying and her life has never been the same once she started to learn about the brain. She provides some historic perspective about what was previously thought about the brain and now what is known and what still needs to be known. She also relates the biochemistry of the brain to personality and mental illness.

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Insightful

I read this book about a year ago. I was recently found it again on my bookshelf and, after rereading it, decided to write a review. For anyone who has an interest in medicine of any kind, this is a great book.
Even for the lay person without any medical knowledge, it will prove to be thought provoking and inspiring. I myself found this in a library and decided to check it out on a whim. After this, I have developed an interest in neuroscience and have read many books on the topic. Still, this remains my favorite out of all of them. The reader friendly and occasionally humourous style of writing is appealing to readers of many ages and backgrounds.
The book covers different topics such as consciousness, dissociative identity disorder (DID), the mystery of sleep and dreaming, neuroethics and even neuromarketing. I really enjoyed how the author went into detail about each person she met with and talked to.
If you've ever had questions about your own mind and wish to dig deeper into how your brain works, I suggest reading this book.

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Can we know something without being aware that we know it? How does someone with severe amnesia still recognize himself in the mirror? How are we able to erase a traumatic event from our memory? And, how, at only three pounds (80 percent of which is only water), does the human brain give rise to consciousness? How is it capable of outstripping the computational and storage capacities of the most complex computer?

To many of us, the human brain is a mystery. To Shannon Moffett, a Stanford medical student, and to the experts she?s interviewed, it is an irresistible enigma. Moffett takes us down the halls of neuroscience to the front lines of cutting-edge research and medicine to meet some of today?s most extraordinary minds, including

? Dr. Roberta Glick, a neurosurgeon who takes us into the operating room to remove a bullet lodged in a patient?s skull;
? Dr. John Gabrieli, a cognitive neuroscientist who illustrates how and where in the brain we experience emotion;
? neuroscientist Dr. Christof Koch, who worked with the late Nobel Laureate Francis Crick and is on a quest to find the cellular basis of consciousness by studying how we see;
? Dr. Robert Stickgold, a pioneer in dream research who shows how waking life influences dreaming life and vice versa.

With illustrations and extraordinary case histories, The Three-Pound Enigma is engaging, enlightening, and thought-provoking.

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