Brain Science

While cells are commonly considered the building block of living things, it is actually the communication between cells that brings us to life, controlling our bodies and brains, determining whether we are healthy or sick, and directly influencing how we think, feel, and behave. In The Secret Language of Cells, doctor and neuroscientist Jon Lieff lets us listen in on these conversations, and reveals their significance for everything from mental health to cancer.

Should you really read to your baby? Can teaching a baby sign language boost IQ? Should you pipe classical music into the nursery? Dr. Jill Stamm translates the latest neuroscience findings into clear explanations and practical suggestions, demonstrating the importance of the simple ways you interact with your child every day. It isn't the right edutainment that nurtures an infant's brain. It is as simple as attention, bonding, and communication, and it's within every parent's ability to provide.

Just over 125,000 years ago, humanity was going extinct until a dramatic shift occurred—Homo sapiens started tracking the tides in order to eat the nearby oysters. Before long, they’d pulled themselves back from the brink of extinction. The human brain, and its evolutionary journey, is unlike anything else in history. In A History of the Human Brain, Bret Stetka takes listeners through that far-reaching journey. He also tackles the question of where the brain will take us next, exploring the burgeoning con­cepts of epigenetics and new technologies like CRISPR.

Who are you? It’s the most fundamental of human questions. Are you the type of person who tilts at windmills, or the one who prefers to view them from the comfort of an air-conditioned motorcoach? Our personalities are endlessly fascinating—not just to ourselves but also to our spouses, our parents, our children, our co-workers, our neighbors. As a highly social species, humans have to navigate among an astonishing variety of personalities.

To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact. This blinds us to the physical realities of mental function. We ignore bodily influences on our psychology, from chemicals in the blood to bacteria in the gut, and overlook the ways that the environment affects our behavior, via factors varying from subconscious sights and sounds to the weather.

A strong memory and healthy brain aren't as difficult to maintain as one might think; combining the latest neuroscience research with age-old wisdom about resilience, mindfulness, and stress reduction, Drs. Henry Emmons and David Alter show that vibrant aging is within reach.

Do you love head-scratchers, trivia, and strange history? Then this book is a must-listen! We’ve all heard wild stories that seem too impossible to be true - this book contains stories you’ve likely never heard of but need to listen to....

In his new book, leading neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd expands on the startling discovery that the brain creates the taste of wine. This approach to understanding wine's sensory experience draws on findings in neuroscience, biomechanics, human physiology, and traditional enology. Shepherd shows that creating the taste of wine engages more of the brain than does any other human behavior.

Epilepsy is a lightning storm in the brain - shocking isn't it. A photographer friend once said that epilepsy is a shocking development. Seizures are silent, unless you saw them having a seizure or they told you that they had epilepsy you'd never know. That is why it is called the hidden disability or hidden handicap. Mr. Miller now has had epilepsy for 43 years and four months and has gained, unwanted by him, epilepsy expertise.

The human brain can actually grow - and a bigger brain means better memory, creativity, speed of learning, and ability to concentrate. Boost Your Brain is the only book that uses groundbreaking advances in neuroscience to present a clear explanation and prescriptive plan for how to access the benefits of significantly enhanced brain performance - at any age.

Joshua R. Eyler identifies five broad themes running through recent scientific inquiry - curiosity, sociality, emotion, authenticity, and failure - devoting a chapter to each and providing practical takeaways for busy teachers. He also interviews and observes college instructors across the country, placing theoretical insight in dialogue with classroom experience.

What does your brain have to do with experiencing joy? A lot more than most of us realize. In this breakthrough book, Dr. Earl Henslin reveals how the study of brain imaging turned his practice of psychotherapy upside down—with remarkably positive results. Listen to this practical, easy-to-understand, and often entertaining book, and you'll know exactly how to nourish your mind, balance your brain, and help others do the same. After all, the capacity for joy is a terrible thing to waste.

Suzy Smith and her friends have gathered again for the re-launch of the Impossible Postal Express. The celebrations don't last long though, before Trollville is rocked by a violent tremor - one of a series growing more powerful by the day. It's clear something sinister is underfoot. Nevertheless, Suzy's got a long-overdue package that the Express must deliver, and it may just lead her to some answers.

Throughout history, two perspectives on the world have dueled in our minds: the extrinsic—that of mechanism and physics—and the intrinsic—that of feelings, thoughts, and ideas. The intrinsic perspective allows us to tell stories about our lives, to chart our anger and our lust, to understand our psychologies. The extrinsic allows us to chart the physical world, to build upon it, and to travel across it. These perspectives have never been reconciled; they almost seem to exist on different planes of thought.

In the early days of the Cold War, a spirit of desperate scientific rivalry birthed a different kind of space race: not the race to outer space that we all know, but a race to master the inner space of the human body. While surgeons on either side of the Iron Curtain competed to become the first to transplant organs like the kidney and heart, a young American neurosurgeon had an even more ambitious thought: Why not transplant the brain?

Aphasia is a language disorder often brought on after a stroke that causes a loss of ability to understand or express speech. There are a number of different types of Aphasia, including Broca's and Wernicke's. In this book, you will find explanations for these types of aphasia, among others. It will also tell you who is at risk for aphasia. Learn about the various medications and treatments, both medical and natural.

Critical thinking can be defined as "finding out how to think better by enhancing one's thinking skills". People who are critical thinkers use the thinking procedure to evaluate, consider, reflect on, and piece together what they have learned or are currently learning. Unfortunately, much of everybody's thinking tends to be prejudiced, imprecise, uncertain, uninformed, or even sexist or racist. Since this ends up being significantly limiting, critical thinking is needed to improve its quality and value.

What happens when we accept that everything we feel and think stems not from an immaterial spirit but from electrical and chemical activity in our brains? In this thought-provoking narrative - drawn from professional expertise as well as personal life experiences - trailblazing neurophilosopher Patricia S. Churchland grounds the philosophy of mind in the essential ingredients of biology. She reflects with humor on how she came to harmonize science and philosophy, the mind and the brain, abstract ideals and daily life.

The 1950s were a transformative, even revolutionary decade in the history of brain science. Using new techniques for probing brain activity and function, researchers in neurosurgery, psychiatry, and psychology achieved dramatic breakthroughs in the treatment of illnesses like epilepsy and schizophrenia, as well as the understanding of such faculties as memory and perception. Memory was the site of particularly startling discoveries.

Research shows that people cannot reach their full potential unless they are in healthy connection with others. Dr. Amy Banks teaches us how to rewire our brains for healthier relationships and happier, more fulfilling lives. This groundbreaking book gives listeners the tools they need to strengthen the parts of their brain that encourage connection and to heal the neural damage that disconnection can cause.