THE NEURO-REVOLUTION --- HOW BRAIN SCIENCE
IS CHANGING OUR WORLD by Zack Lynch, 2009
OUTLINE OF BOOK'S FACTS & IDEAS
    INTRODUCTION --- Into a narrow tunnel (1- 6)

      1) Time's Telescope (7-18)

      2) The Witness on Your Shoulders (19-46)

      3) Marketing to the Mind (47-73)

      4) Finance with Feelings (74-113)

      5) Trust (97-113)

      6) Do You See What I Hear? (114-132)

      7) Where Is God? (133-152)

      8) Fighting Neurowarfare (153-180)

      9) Perception Shift ( 181-201)

      10) Our Emerging Neurosociety (202-210)

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (211-212)

    NOTES (213-216)

    BIBLIOGRAPHY (217-226)

    INDEX (227-245)
BOOK'S DESCRIPTION AND REVIEWS
    Publishers Weekly Review = Neuroscience entrepreneur Laursen, founder of a global trade association and a market research firm, is a futurologist with his feet on the ground. After an eight-year struggle to diagnose a painful back injury, Lynch's condition was pinpointed by a full-body MRI scan; the experience convinced him that emerging tools will improve our "control over the mental environment" in the same way we've managed the physical environment. Examining emerging tech, Lynch reports on lie detectors like a portable system for rapidly scanning and detecting involuntary facial tics, and a developing method called "brain fingerprinting."

    Emerging marketing techniques include functional MRI scanners for focus groups, allowing researchers to look directly at the brain of the subject, rather than depend on verbal responses. Lynch predicts that brain scan information will improve performance, and may become vital to professionals like stock brokers and specialized military forces; he also sees mental face-lifts attaining the popularity of cosmetic surgery. The exciting news is tampered by warnings that such devices could also be used for "cultural or economic bondage." Lynch is passionate, knowledgeable and fully engaged with the world of neurotechnology, and his overview makes absorbing material. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

    Booklist Review = Brain-imaging technology has come a long way since the first MRI scanners hit the market in the late 1970s. Today, there are devices with limited thought-reading tools for patients with locked-in syndrome, and foolproof lie detectors are just around the corner. Yet according to Lynch, executive director of a leading neuroscience organization, these machines are just the tip of the mammoth iceberg constituted by a coming revolution in neurotechnology every bit as sweeping as the agricultural and industrial revolutions in their days.

    In 10 lucid chapters, Lynch takes the reader into the laboratories of researchers exploring solutions to common brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's, and novel methods of manipulating human emotions. Potential innovations include everything from biochip-assisted stock trading to enhanced religious experiences.

    While Lynch's preview of the possibilities is fascinating, it includes an important caution. Just as nuclear energy and genetic engineering carry their own risks, managing neurotechnology "intelligently and benevolently is going to be one of the most important things the human race will ever do." Hays, Carl. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Return to Essay-Set #1: Focus on the Self-Liberation Philosophy