ElaineColliar - World Mind Mapping Champion

An Excellent Introduction to the Brain   August 26, 2004

Not what i expected but wonderful   May 1, 2004

Note that this book focuses on functionality and puts relatively less emphasis on mechanism. Yes, synapses, sheathing, neurotransmitters and reuptake are covered, but don't expect in-depth coverage of the role of glial cells or calcium influx. This is not your MCAT study guide and isn't a references for neurosurgeons doing their residency. But it does have some good information for people who work in or near the field and is easy enough and enjoyable enough for anyone of practically any age to read


Great Reference Book, Very Pedagogical   December 15, 2003
  9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I started my interest in neurobiology in December 1998 after reading a discussion by Rita Carter in the FT showing that rational behavior under uncertainty and rational decision making can come from a defect in the amygdala. Since then I've had five years of reading more technical material (Gazzaniga et al is perhaps the most complete reference on cognitive neuroscience) and thought that I transcended this book.
But it was not so. I picked up this book again last weekend and was both astonished at a) the ease of reading , b) the clarity of the text and c) the breadth of the approach! I was looking for a refresher as I am trying to capture a general idea of the functioning of that black box and found exactly what I needed without the excess burden of prominent textbooks. Very pedagogical.
I read here and there comments by neuroscientists dissing the book over small details perhaps invisible even to experts. I just realize that Carter should keep updating it, as it is invaluable in my suitcase when I travel! I do not conceal my suspicion of "science writers" and journalists more trained in communicating than understanding and usually shallow babblers but Carter is an exception. Perhaps the science of the mind requires breadth of knowledge that she has. She is a thinker in her own right not just a "medical journalist".


The matter that makes mind   August 17, 2003
  6 out of 6 found this review helpful

_Mapping the Mind_ is a comfortable and engaging introduction into what is known so far about how the brain works. You will learn (or review) the different parts of the brain, their place in human evolution, and the role of each in the myriad of activities and abilities we all take for granted. Revealing case studies are cited of how damage to a particular part of the brain may impair the sufferer in a very specific and sometimes bizarre way. Carter poses pointed questions about human free will, and to what extent we really have such. This book is a good launchpad for further reading on the brain, e.g. by Damasio and Ramachandran.

The illustrations all have a surrealistic, computer-generated look about them which doesn't entirely appeal to me, but does help unify the overall page design. Most are clear, but for some it may take a while to establish the orientation - L to R, R to L, or looking up from underneath.

Actually, I would give this book four and a half stars; there are various glitches of editing, like repeated material in the same chapter, and some very minor typos and formatting quirks. And the prose takes on just a faint shade of purple here and there, in the spirit of Diane Ackerman (_A Natural History of the Senses_), though I realize this was part of Carter's effort at enhanced readability, and mostly it comes off OK.

Overall, this book is a good plunge to take if you're interested in yourself and why and how you do what you do - and who isn't?


A Truly Outstanding Book   May 27, 2003
  0 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is a truly outstanding book. I thought it would be all fluff, but it was incredibly informative. Much better than anything else I have seen out there, AND it was immensely readable. A true pleasure to read.