AN ALCHEMY OF MIND --- THE MARVEL AND MYSTERY OF THE BRAIN
by Diane Ackerman, Scribner, 2004
    PART 1 --- MIRACLE WATERS --- evolution (p1-36)

      1) The enchanted loom (p3-6)

        Imagining the brain

      2) This island earth (p7-11)

        Evolution --- the world's tiniest reptile; our brain and the brains of other animals

      3) Why we ask "Why?" (p12-18)

        What happens in the right brain vs. the left brain; why we are driven to tell stories

      4) The fibs of being (p19-27)

        Consciousness, some definitions and theories

      5) Light break where no sun shines (p28-35)

        The unconscious; how it collaborates with the conscious mind

    PART 2 --- SWEET DREAMS OF REASON --- The physical brain (p36-74)

      6) The shape of thought (p37-40)

        Neurons, dendrites, axons; how all the parts speak to each other

        Synaptic Transmission (p40)

      7) Inner space (p41-46)

        Synapses, the plasticity of the brain; how we influence brain development; medication and the brain

      8) Attention please (p47-53)

        How we unconsciously choose what to pay attention to; multitasking; absentmindedness

      9) A passion for patterns (p54-59)

        How our brain quests for meaning in what it senses

      10) In the church of the pines (p60-62)

        The spiritual brain

      11) Einstein's brain (p63-65)

        What happened to it? Was it different?

      12) The mind's eye (p66-73)

        The brain's ability to imagine/see things that are not in view at the same time

    PART 3 --- PAVILIONS OF DESIRE --- Memory (p75-119)

      13) What is a memory? (p75-78)-19

        The importance of memory to who we are; how memories are formed; how they are influenced

      14) Reflections in a gazing ball (p79-83)

        How memories are recalled; association of pain and memory; unconscious memory

      15) Remember what? (p84-96)

        What happens when we learn; words on the tip of the tongue; Alzheimer's and the aging brain; IQ; short-term vs. long-tgerm memory; how memories affect the present

      16) Remember, I dream (p97-99)

        The role of dreams in memory

      17) "Hello," he lied (p100-104)

        True and false memories; subliminally influencing thought and memory

      18) Traumatic memories (p105-110)

        How they are stored and recalled; connections between emotions and memory

      19) Smell, memory, and the erotic (p111-119)

        Proust; perfume; love

    PART 4 --- NEVER A DULL MOMENT --- The "Self" and other Fictions (p121-171)

      20) Introducing the Self! (p121-126)

        How we think of ourself; the multiple facets of a self

      21) The other self (p127-130)

        Body and mind; immune system and brain; brain damage

      22) Personality (p131-150)

        Nature vs. nurture; genetics and experience; development as babies

      23) "Shall it be male or female? Say the Cells" (p151-158)

        Male and female brains; if they work differently; how they are shaped; how traits get passed on

      24) Creating minds (p159-171)

        Artistic minds, mathematical minds --- inherited, cultivated; how they differ; synthesia

    PART 5 --- THE WORLD IS BREAKING SOMEONE ELSE'S HEART --- Emotions (p173-199)

      25) The emotional climate (p173-187)

        Anger, stress, adrenaline, how they affect and are relieved by the brain; our brain is not made for the modern world; fear, painful thoughts (p173-187)

      26) The pursuit of happiness (p188-199)

        Happiness as hereditary and achieved; the difference in the brain between natural and forced laughter; optimistic and pessimistic brains

    PART 6 --- THE COLOR OF SAYING --- Language (p201-129)

      27) Memory's accomplice (p201-209)

        Language acquisition, use, and nonverbal thinking

      28) Metaphors be with you (p210-217)

        How words organize experience

      29) The color of saying (p218-220)

        The origin of words; how we reveal ourselves through words; the brain finding relations among things

      30) Shakespeare on the brain (p221-229)

        How Shakespeare's brain was different (p221-229)

    PART 7 --- THE WILDERNESS WITHIN --- The world we share (p121-171)

      31) Oasis (p231-234)

        Evolution of life; how our brain came to be

      32) Conscience and consciousness (p235-240)

        Are we the only conscious animals? Some theories about consciousness

      33) A kingdom of neighbors (p241-249)

        Animal minds

      34) The beautiful captive (p250-258)

        Imaging the brain; brain research; celebration of the uniquely human brain

    ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLS (p250)

    NOTES, ADDENDA, AND AFTERTHOUGHTS (p261-280)

    SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY (p281-286)

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (p287)

    INDEX (p289-300)

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR (p301)
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