Miriam Boleyn-Fitzgerald

This book is a quick survey of new discoveries about how the brain works, based on newer imaging techniques like fMRI scans and PET scans. When I was in school the best information about what brain structures were involved with what activities and disorders was based on studies of patients with injuries to particular parts of the brain. The more recent techniques allow researchers to actually see what brain areas are involved and in some cases to infer what is going on there.

The book was published in 2010 and of course based on research several years older, so it's not up to the minute. But it covers a wide range of topics in human mental life, such as emotion, addiction, chronic pain, meditation, dementia, empathy, and more. The new methods in many cases has completely changed ideas about what is happening in these processes. There is a detailed focus on what happens during meditation that I found quite interesting. It has an extensive bibliography and in many cases internet links for those who want more detail on the research.… (more)