Medicine Books

Book Features

• Author: Sharon Begley
• Language: English
• ISBN10: 1400063906

Book Overview

>>>Is it genuinely probable to alter the structure and function of the brain, and in so doing alter how we think and feel? The answer is a resounding yes. In late 2004, leading Western scientists joined the Dalai Lama at his property in Dharamsala, India, to address this really question–and in the approach brought about a revolution in our understanding of the human thoughts. In this fascinating and far-reaching book, Wall Street Journal science writer Sharon Begley reports on how cutting-edge science and the ancient wisdom of Buddhism have come together to show how we all have the energy to literally change our brains by altering our minds. These findings hold exciting implications for personal transformation.

For decades, the conventional wisdom of neuroscience held that the hardware of the brain is fixed and immutable–that we are stuck with what we had been born with. As Begley shows, even so, recent pioneering experiments in neuroplasticity, a new science that investigates whether or not and how the brain can undergo wholesale change, reveal that the brain is capable not only of altering its structure but also of generating new neurons, even into old age. The brain can adapt, heal, renew itself after trauma, and compensate for disability.

Begley documents how this basic paradigm shift is transforming each our understanding of the human mind and our method to deep-seated emotional, cognitive, and behavioral troubles. These breakthroughs show that it is achievable to reset our happiness meter, regain the use of limbs disabled by stroke, train the mind to break cycles of depression and OCD, and reverse age-connected alterations in the brain. They also recommend that it is feasible to teach and learn compassion, a important step in the D…