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You are here A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain
A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain
List Price: $16.95Amazon.com's Price: $11.53 You Save: $5.42 (32%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 612
EAN: 9780375701078
ISBN: 0375701079
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: January 08, 2002
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: January 08, 2002
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
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.
Average Rating: 
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Who would have thought a book about the brain could be so deeply interesting? Dr. Ratey draws a line between brain structure and chemistry straight to psychology - emotions, behavior, thoughts, feelings, etc. The case examples illuminate the narrative and help the reader understand how the brain functions translate into real-life factors. Anyone who wants to get a better, more applied understanding of the brain should read this book.
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If you are a complete novice to brain and perception, this is the book for you - that is, if you can stay awake long enough to get through it. If you took a course in perception or physiological psychology or physiology - or if you did self-study in these areas, skip this book and go on to something less broad. Though the author promises lots of illustrations (case histories), there are not many - and most of which are old and have already been written up in your college textbook.
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Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry John Ratey's "A User's Guide to the Brain" is a competent and well-written introduction to neuroscience, but it feels flawed and incomplete and superficial.
There are some interesting insights and hypotheses in the book, such as that consciousness is attention and body movement is the basis for thought. What was frustrating reading the book is that the too few examples and anecdotes don't really clarify and strengthen the author's arguments. ... Read More
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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 ... Read More
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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 ... Read More
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