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A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain |  | Author: John J. Ratey
Publisher: Vintage
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $4.53
as of 11/23/2009 10:42 CST details
You Save: $12.42 (73%)
New (28) Used (48) from $4.53
Seller: big_river_books
Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 21788
Media: Paperback
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0375701079
Dewey Decimal Number: 612
EAN: 9780375701078
ASIN: 0375701079
Publication Date: January 8, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Before consulting with customer service, it's always a good idea to read the manual. Psychiatrist John Ratey has condensed years of research on one of the most intimidating yet ubiquitous pieces of hardware in the world into the ever-handy User's Guide to the Brain. More intellectually stimulating than day-to-day practical, the Guide uses tales from Ratey's practice and other clinical venues, tidbits from neuroscientific research, and plain common sense to suggest how the brain develops and manifests personality and behavior. With section titles like "Free Will and the Anterior Cingulate Gyrus," many readers will feel intimidated, but Ratey is careful to direct his explanations to all--even those without a PhD in neuroanatomy. His interesting four-theater theory of mental function is the most directly practical section of the book, incorporating the author's years of experience with patients into a sensible framework that readers can use to better tune their own systems. Describing the changing of the guard from psychoanalysis to a more biological paradigm, Ratey writes: Neuroscientists have, in a sense, simply taken over the elite, almost clerical office once held by analysts. The language used to describe the brain is, if anything, more opaque than any of the old psychoanalytic terminology, which was itself so obscure that only trained professionals could wade through the literature. Most people never even bother to learn such terminology, deeming that, like the language of the computer scientists of the early 1970s, it is better left to the nerds. Determined to help us overcome our sense of helplessness in matters cranial, Ratey has shown that we can understand ourselves better and can learn quite a bit from the nerds. --Rob Lightner
Product Description
John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives.
In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 42
 Checkin' in with your brain May 29, 2009
M. Duensing (Victorville, CA)
Ever wanted to know if your grey matter is functioning properly or at all? Do you wonder why your brain makes you react in that crazy way? This little book is truly "user friendly" and not a complicated 3rd year residency text. It is very interesting just as a book but also if you are questioning behaviors, reactions, state of mind, you may well find the answers or find the proper words or questions to present to your doctor. John Raty is a VERY well known authority of brain studies so you can feel comfortable that the material that your reading is of the highest caliber.
buy it March 4, 2009
c_hristy (Riverside, CA United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Hands down one of the best pop-neuro books I have ever read. I'm working on a PhD in neuroscience and while this book obviously does not contain any of the molecular biology relevant to my career, I re-read it continuously.
I'm somewhat of a connoisseur of pop-neuro books, having read well over 100 of them in the past four years. And the only book that compares with in terms of overall quality is Ian Glynn's Anatomy of Thought.
Whether you are in the field or not, you should find Ratey's book to be an enjoyable read.
The best December 18, 2008
Thomas A. Liese (Salt Lake City, Ut United States)
Ratey makes clear that the an individual's brain is under continuous development from conception to death, and is affected by influences on the mother, such as smoking, before conception. The brain has many parts which work together in changing combinations to perform various functions. The book has many diagrams explaining these facts. Many similarities of other animals to humans are explained. Also, how the brain affects behavior and is affected by it. It is also made clear that the story is still being written by researchers around the world. The reader is challenged to absorb this densely-packed information.
Disorders Run In My Family, Interesting and easy to read December 4, 2008
Bird dog (tx)
I initially bought this book for the chapters on perception. In living with a bipolar and alcoholic father, ADHD niece, Asperger nephew, depressed sister, and an "at wit's end" mother trying to hold it all together, I am now glad I bought the book for much more. It doesn't go into details about how to cope with these kind of issues, but gives a great understanding of the "how" it was possible for these issues to be derived in the first place. It is not a book for disorders nor does it give advice. It simply helps you understand how the brain works from infancy onward. I think if you have the need to buy any book for disorders, this would be a great supplement for a more fundamental basis. I only wish it had more "real life" stories like the first chapter, which I think you can view online.
Use your brain - change your life August 31, 2008
Linda Palmstrom
This book is insightful, very readable and inspirational. Understand the working of your brain and live life to the fullest.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 42
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