See What I'm Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of Our Five Senses

by Lawrence D. Rosenblum

Overview

"Eye-opening…memorable…Rosenblum's enthusiasm is contagious and his prose accessible." —Kirkus Reviews

In this revealing romp through the mysteries of human perception, University of California psychologist Lawrence D. Rosenblum explores the astonishing abilities of the five senses—skills of which most of us are unaware. Drawing on groundbreaking insights into the brain's plasticity and integrative powers, Rosenblum examines how our brains use the subtlest information to perceive the world. A blind person, for example, can "see" through bat-like echolocation, wine connoisseurs can actually taste the vintage of an obscure wine, and pheromones can signal a lover's compatibility. Bringing us into the world of a blind detective, a sound engineer, a former supermodel, and other unforgettable characters, Rosenblum not only illuminates the science behind our sensory abilities but also demonstrates how awareness of these abilities can enhance their power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393339376
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/21/2011
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	672,005
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Lawrence D. Rosenblum, an award-winning Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, is the recipient of multiple National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health grants for his research on lipreading and multimodal integration and a grant from the National Federation of the Blind for his research on the audibility of hybrid cars. Rosenblum’s work has been featured in The Economist, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and on National Public Radio. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Part I Hearing

Chapter 1 The Sounds of Silence 3

Chapter 2 Perfect Pitches, Beeping Pitches 29

Part II Smelling

Chapter 3 You Smell like a Dog 59

Chapter 4 Like Marvin Gaye for Your Nose 79

Part III Tasting

Chapter 5 Cold Leftovers with a Fine North Dakota Cabernet 101

Part IV Touching

Chapter 6 Rubber Hands and Rubber Brains 127

Chapter 7 Touching Speech and Feeling Rainbows 151

Part V Seeing

Chapter 8 Facing the Uncanny Valley 175

Chapter 9 The Highest Form of Flattery 203

Part VI Multisensory Perception

Chapter 10 See What I'm Saying 239

Chapter 11 All of the Above 267

Epilogue 295

Notes 297

Photograph Credits 331

Index 333

Editorial Reviews

"[An] appealing and compelling look at new findings about the powers of our less-conscious brain, the realm of the senses."

Booklist

"Rosenblum provides hundreds of fascinating examples of the ways in which our sensory entanglements influence our daily lives and make us, well, us."

Scientific American

Blind mountain bikers who use batlike echolocation. A restaurant where diners eat in total darkness. People who can follow a scent trail across a lawn. Psychologist Rosenblum (Univ. of California, Riverside) describes in language accessible to lay readers a quirky collection of sensory wonders, which he then explains scientifically and also describes how to duplicate easily. His main neurological points are that the brain can adjust to new conditions throughout life via the concept of neuroplasticity and that the senses work together. VERDICT Fans of Steven Pinker's How the Mind Works will find a cousin in this science book for nonscientists. Followers with an interest in parapsychology and/or human potential movement ideas may also want to try out the you-can-do-these-at-home experiments. Bright teens might also get hooked—hint, hint, teachers and parents! [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/09.]—Mary Ann Hughes, Shelton, WA

Library Journal

An eye-opening look at the mechanics of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Rosenblum (Psychology/Univ. of California, Riverside) begins with a memorable scene, as he accompanies a troupe of bicyclists through a suburban street. All are blind. Like bats, they navigate through echolocation, making sounds and detecting their reflection from nearby objects. The author emphasizes that this requires no special gift. Following his instructions, readers with eyes shut will have no trouble sensing a wall; bicycling requires practice. As encouragement, he points out that an entire league of blind baseball players exists, assisted by bases and balls that emit sounds. Casting his net widely, Rosenblum interviews individuals with sensory skills (master sommeliers, film and architectural sound designers, professional tasters), those who have lost senses but adapted (blind artists, deaf lip readers) and, perhaps most important, scientists who work in this field. It turns out that no sense works in isolation (food eaten in the dark tastes bland), our bodies react to stimuli too faint to detect and practice not only makes perfect, it produces detectable changes in our brains, sometimes within hours. Readers will have to pay closer attention to the book's second half, which recounts an avalanche of sensory research, aided by new high-tech scanners that reveal an amazingly plastic brain whose local areas once assigned to specific senses routinely exchange responsibilities. We can see speech, hear shapes, touch flavor, taste odors and smell affection. Rosenblum's enthusiasm is contagious and his prose accessible, and he is mostly successful in explaining massive amounts of information about sensoryabilities we take for granted. Agent: Richard Pine/InkWell Management

Kirkus Reviews

"This is the first book I’ve seen that expertly draws the non-scientist into the fascinating world of sensory experience and perception. Until now, the popular science of sensation and perception has been less sexy than neuroscience, but See What I’m Saying will change that. Rosenblum engages the reader with many lively personal experiences and stories of intriguing individuals and he does this while melding in lucidly explained hard science."

Rachel Herz

"This terrific book might have been subtitled Tales of Perceptual Versatility! Combining extraordinary cases, classic studies and the latest reports from the laboratory, See What I'm Saying exposes the psychological dynamics of perception. With great charm, Lawrence Rosenblum describes the functions of five senses in noticing and knowing objects and events. His book treats these intricate phenomena in a deft and appealing way."

Robert Remez