The Brain That Changes Itself - Review

The Brain That Changes Itself challenges ideas surrounding localized brain function. Norman Doidge describes the brain as being plastic and able to make great shifts in utility. Stories of brain adaptation fill the pages and paint a complex picture of the most mysterious organ in the human body.

The book is filled with interesting anecdotes about brain trauma and survival. The plastic brain is central to each story and is relentless in proving the theories of Doidge. The idea of dynamic brain function, that you can train the brain to function differently, flies in the face of decades of work. But Doidge presents it in a way that seems obvious and straight forward.

I would not recommend reading this book. It was curious at first but quickly fell into repetition. Brain science interests me but this mono theme went on far too long. If the author was forming a different argument towards the end of the text it was lost on me.