ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY OUTLINE OF THE BOOK THE BRAIN: the story of you by David Eagleman. Pantheon Books, 2015 (218 pages) [A companion to the six-part PBS series. Color illustrations throughout] BOOK OUTLINE INTRODUCTION (1-2) 1) WHO AM I? (3-34) 2) WHAT IS REALITY? (35-66) 3) WHO'S IN CONTROL? (67-97) Consciousness (69-97) 4) HOW DO I DECIDE? (99-129) Decision-making and dopamine (118-129) 5) DO I NEED YOU? (131-158) "Normal brain function depends upon the people around us." (132) 6) WHO WILL WE BE? (159-201) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (202-203) ENDNOTES (204-213) GLOSSARY (214-216) IMAGE CREDITS (217-218) BOOK REVIEWS AUTHOR NOTES = Dr. David Eagleman is a neuroscientist who specializes in brain plasticity, time perception, synesthesia, and the intersection of science with social policy. He has authored over 90 scientific publications and holds several patents. He has also written two international bestsellers, the novel Sum and the non-fiction book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. He is the writer and presenter of the companion PBS television series The Brain. SUMMARY = Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. What is reality? Who are "you"? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human? In the course of his investigations, Eagleman guides us through the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, facial expressions, genocide, brain surgery, gut feelings, robotics, and the search for immortality. Strap in for a whistle-stop tour into the inner cosmos. In the infinitely dense tangle of billions of brain cells and their trillions of connections, something emerges that you might not have expected to see in there: you. This is the story of how your life shapes your brain, and how your brain shapes your life. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW = Neuroscientist and novelist Eagleman (previous book = Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain) reports on many big, recent neuroscience developments in this deceptively simple look at the universe's most complex known object: the human brain. Much of Eagleman's work covers scientists' ever-increasing appreciation of human brain plasticity. He addresses how brains rewire themselves in response to practice and discusses devices that help the brain regain damaged functions such as vision and hearing. Eagleman also shows how new technologies have revealed the reach and limits of human empathy, noting that seeing others in physical pain lights up the same neurons activated by experiencing physical pain directly-though they light up less brightly when the observed victims are from a different social group. Those same brain areas even 'light up in response to emotional rejection.' Remarking that human brains are essentially 'peripheral plug-and-play devices," Eaglman shows that no matter what sort of data comes in, 'the brain figures out what to do with it.' And he effectively unveils the stunning degree to which "we can now hack our own hardware" in order to understand, and better, ourselves. This is a straightforward, stimulating companion book to the recent PBS TV series on brain science. Illus. INSTANTLY GO TO: QUOTES FROM THE BOOK THE BRAIN OR INSTANTLY RETURN TO: FACT FINDER BOOK SOURCES FOR CONSCIOUSNESS #1 OR RETURN TO: DETAILS ABOUT CONSCIOUSNESS #1 OR RETURN TO: LIST OF 15 FREE BRAIN FLASH CARDS