[.ca] Mapping the Mind (ISBN 0520224612)

From Amazon.com:
In the last decades of the 20th century, scientists have come to believe that the human brain is almost completely modular. Every bit of the brain does something in particular, and surprisingly specific abilities, memories, and responses are in localized areas. Journalist Rita Carter has drawn a map of what is known (and speculated) about the mind in a heavily illustrated field guide to the human brain. Carter and her scientific editor, neuropsychologist Christopher Frith, cover the state of the mind in a reasonably accurate, accessible way. They emphasize topics that are likely to be of some practical interest--such as Alzheimer's or attention deficit disorder--but not so much as to give a distorted picture of the field. Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book are the sidebars written by a variety of leading names in mind-brain science. Roger Penrose writes on computer minds, Francis Crick on consciousness, Steven Rose on memory, John Maynard Smith on social evolution, William Calvin on mosaic minds, Kay Redfield Jamison on creativity and bipolar disorders, and more. It's a stellar assortment, more than worth the price of admission--and there's a map of the mind on the cover, in case you misplace yours. --Mary Ellen Curtin

The matter that makes mind:
_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?

Not what i expected but wonderful:
A book by an award winning graphics artist. i figured it would be a bunch of pictures of the brain with some text. Nope, it's a ton of text with a fair number of pictures (maybe 1 per 2 pages). Wonderful illustrations but it's hardly a picture book. i'm a graduate student who builds software that mimics the human mind. i'm not a neurologist so i can't claim to review this book the way an expert would, nor can i claim to be particularly interested in the neurology and biology. But the information in here, which explains what all these parts do and what the impact is if they get damaged was really useful to be as a computational cognitive modeler. So what do i like about this book? Two things. First, it's pretty comprehensive and integrates the information well. It hits most of the significant parts of the brain and explains the relationships between them. Second, it's really easy to read, which is great when you have readers like me with a minimal background in this stuff. i've since read a lot of books on psychology, cognitive science and neurology. Few are as easy to understand as this one and few put all the information together as this one. 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

Mapping the Mind Review:
This book allowed me to update my knowledge in neurospychology 10 years after leaving neurosciences studies for engineering. The illustrations are probably the best in the domain for both their artistic quality and their content. Rita Carter wrote a little masterpiece that I regret not to find when I was a student.

Great Reference Book, Very Pedagogical:
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".

A Truly Outstanding Book:
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.