The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding the Brain

by Arthur Bard, Mitchell G. Bard Ph.D.

Overview

You’re no idiot, of course. You know your own mind, but when it comes to understanding what’s really going on in your head—all those synapses! all those neurons!—you feel like you’re just about brain-dead.

Don’t let it unnerve you! The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Understanding the Brain proves that you don’t need to be a genius to be in the know—and gives you lots of fun stuff to think about, too. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide®, you get:
•  The history of human knowledge of the brain.
•  Insights into what causes brain disorders—and how best to treat them.
•  Thoughtful tips about the many different ways we learn new information.
•  Fascinating, little-known facts about the nervous system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440625763
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	07/01/2002
Series:	COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE Series
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

ARTHUR S. BARD, M.D., is the former chief of neurosurgery at Mercy and Sutter Hospitals (and a staff neurosurgeon for 30 years) and a past president of the Sacramento (CA) Neurological Society. He helped establish the neurosurgery residency program at the University of California Davis School of Medicine and then served as a clinical assistant professor at the medical school for many years.

MITCHELL G. BARD, Ph.D., is one of the country’s foremost experts on U.S.-Middle East policy and the author of 14 books, including The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to World War II. Dr. Bard has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, and other television and radio outlets. His work has been published in academic journals, magazines, and newspapers.

 

Table of Contents

Part 1	The First Brain	1
1	It All Starts Here	3
	Nature's Marvel	4
	The Baby Brain	7
	You Were Smarter As a Kid	8
	Assembly Not Required	9
	The Specialists	10
	Daily Revelations	11
	The Great Unknown	12
2	From Stone Age to Sculptors	13
	Prehistoric Brain Surgery	13
	Mummies Weren't Too Bright	14
	The Great Greeks	15
	Science Takes a Holiday	18
	From Darkness to Light	19
	A Form of Barbarism	22
3	Knowledge of the Brain Evolves	23
	I Think Therefore	23
	A Place in the Heart	25
	Out of Sight	26
	What Do You See?	27
	Quack, Quack	28
	You're Electric	30
	Oops! I Mean, Eureka!	31
	Finding the Controls	32
	Pavlov's Dogs	33
	We're All Scientists Here	34
	Finding the Bugs	35
	An Engaging Case	36
	"The Book That Shook the World"	37
	Real Brain Surgery	38
	Restricted Area	38
	The Century's Crazy End	39
4	"Modern Thinking"	41
	Sex, Dreams, and Psychoanalysis	42
	Mind Matters	43
	I'm a Surgeon, Neurosurgeon	46
	Controversial Cures	48
	New Tools for the Trade	50
	Your Own Painkiller	53
	Decade of the Brain	53
Part 2	Anatomy 101	55
5	The Commander-in-Chief	57
	Your Hard Hat and Other Protective Devices	57
	The Thinking Part	60
	Multiple Brains	62
	Small but Important	65
6	The Coordinator	67
	Lobes: They're Not Just for the Ears	67
	Walking a Straight Line	69
	Not Really the Middle	70
	At the Base of It All	71
	Remembering the Limbic System	72
	The Glands Have It	73
7	The Real Information Superhighway	77
	Thinking Systematically	78
	100 Billion Cells Can't Be Wrong	78
	Closing the Gap	81
	Now for the Hard Part	84
8	You've Got Nerve(s)	85
	What's Your Function?	85
	Numero Uno	87
	For Your Eyes Only	87
	A Sensitive Face	89
	Testing 1, 2, 3 ...	90
	Gulp and Inhale	91
	Stick Out Your Tongue	93
Part 3	The Human Computer	95
9	Speak Now!	97
	The Origin of Babble	98
	From the Mouths of Babes	98
	Back to Broca and Wernicke	101
	The ABCs	102
	Say What You Hear	103
10	Making Sense of It All	105
	Mind's Eye	105
	An Ear for It	110
	On the Scent	114
	Yum and Yuck	115
	How Touching	117
	The Sixth Sense: More Than a Movie	118
11	Life's Necessities	119
	Eat, Drink, and Be Merry	119
	Sweet Slumber	120
	Sex Is a Drive	126
12	The Body's Autopilot	129
	Your Internal Thermostat	130
	Energize!	131
	Stressed Out	133
	The Conservationist	135
	Knee-Jerk Reactions	136
	Holding It	138
	Really Letting Go	138
13	It's Your Choice	141
	On Balance	141
	More Than Five Senses	142
	Turning Green	144
	The Pyramids	146
	Penfield's Map	147
	Put the Hammer Down	148
	Now Draw!	149
	From Physical to Mental	149
Part 4	Acting Out	151
14	Blackboard of the Mind	153
	Memories ...	154
	Hidden Messages	154
	Pigeonholes	155
	Time to Decide	158
	Drawing a Blank	162
	Going, Going, Gone	163
	Bulking up Memory	164
	Eat Smart	166
	Try to Remember ...	167
15	The Feeling Brain	169
	Feelings First?	170
	Going Ballistic	174
	Oh Happy Day	174
	The Prickly Things on Your Neck	176
	Life-Changing Stress	177
	Lie Detector	177
	Emotional Intelligence	178
16	You've Got Brain	181
	What Is Intelligence?	181
	How Smart Are You?	185
	What's Your Gift?	188
	Low IQ	190
	The Real Rain Man	191
	Size Matters	191
	Two Brains Are Better ...	193
	Da Vinci, Mozart, and You	193
	Einstein's Brain	194
	The 10 Percent Myth	195
	Mad Genius	196
	Formula for Thought	197
Part 5	The Sick Brain	199
17	The Computer Crashes	201
	Trauma: More Than a Little Bump	202
	Two Scary Words: Brain Tumor	206
	Catching a Brain Disease	209
	Hereditary Degenerative Diseases	214
	Congenital Anomalies	214
	Brain Attack	216
	Brain Death	219
18	Headaches and Neurological Disorders	221
	Your Aching Head	222
	Trigeminal Neuralgia	224
	Cerebral Palsy	224
	Parkinson's Disease	225
	Dudley's Disease	226
	Epilepsy	227
	Multiple Sclerosis	229
	Alzheimer's Disease	230
	Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus	232
	Mad Cow Disease	233
	Tics and Tones	234
	Facing the Fear	234
19	Drugs and Demons	237
	Society's Problem	238
	Alcoholism	239
	Nicotine	241
	Marijuana	242
	Cocaine	242
	Heroin	244
	Hallucinogens	245
	Uppers and Downers	247
	The "Date Rape Drug"	249
20	Crossed Wiring	251
	It's All in Your Head	252
	From Behind Closed Doors	253
	No Shortage of Disorders	254
	Psychosis and Schizophrenia	255
	Anxiety	258
	Phobias	260
	Beyond the Blues	261
	Bipolar Disorder	263
	Autism	264
	ADHD	264
Part 6	Treatment (Couches, Shocks, Pills, and the Knife)	267
21	Say "Ahh!"	269
	Getting to Know You	270
	A Stab in the Back	271
	How Electrifying	272
	Checking Your Potentials	272
	Waves Don't Lie	273
	Take a Little Piece	273
	A Bunch of "Ographies"	274
	Scans Galore	274
22	Trick or Treatment	279
	Better Living Through Chemistry	280
	The Placebo Effect	280
	Let's Talk	281
	Off With Your Brain	285
	Under the Knife	286
	Brain Tumors	289
	Cerebral Aneurysms and Arteriovenous Malformations	293
	Stroke	294
	Treatments vs. Cures	294
23	We're Getting Smarter	297
	Mistaken Science	298
	Genius for Genes	298
	Ethical Dilemmas of Modern Science	298
	From the Stem	300
	Hello Dolly!	301
	Deep Blue	302
	A New Brain?	303
	From Our Brains to Yours	304
	Appendixes
A	Glossary	305
B	Food for the Brain: Resources	311
C	Test Your IQ	315
	Index	321