Brainscapes

The Warped, Wondrous Maps Written in Your Brain—And How They Guide You

Rebecca Schwarzlose

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9780358699323
• eBook ISBN: 9781328949981
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Biology
• Index: Psychology

An exploration of how perception, thought, and action are products of maps etched into your brain—and how technology can use them to read your mind.
Your brain is a collection of maps. That is no metaphor: scrawled across your brain's surfaces are actual maps of the sights, sounds, and actions that hold the key to your survival. Scientists first began uncovering these maps over a century ago, but we are only now beginning to unlock their secrets—and comprehend their profound impact on our lives. Brain maps distort our experience of the world, shape how we think and imagine, and open the door to mind-reading technologies. Their idiosyncrasies shine a light on our past and offer clues to our possible futures. In Brainscapes, Rebecca Schwarzlose combines unforgettable real-life stories, cutting-edge research, and vivid illustrations to reveal brain maps' surprising lessons about our place in the world—and about the world's place within us.
Praise for Brainscapes
"A profoundly illuminating account of how the brain works. . . . Rebecca Schwarzlose is a neuroscientist with a novelist's literary flair." —Cass R. Sunstein, author of Too Much Information
"Deeply enjoyable and thoroughly researched. . . . Schwarzlose's presentation of cutting-edge science is consistently accessible and precise." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
" Brainscapes will change how you think about the brain and how you understand your own mind." —Tali Sharot, author of The Influential Mind

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

#

1-octen-3-ol, 104

2, 3,5-trimethyl-3-thiazoline, 100

2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, 104

2-phenylethanol, 100

A

A1 (primary auditory cortex)

attention to sound and, 188, 189

in developing brain, 165

development of, in hospitalized infants, 140

distributed codes and, 95

fetal brain development and, 133

in hospitalized human infants, 140

imagination of sounds and, 178

local processing in, 77

mind reading and, 226

in mustache bats, 81

overview of, 75, 75–77

in rat pups, 135–38, 136, 143

of rats, 135

rat vocalizations and, 80

sound frequencies represented in, 75–76

visual space prompted to develop in, 247

words related to sound and, 202–3

A1 sound-frequency map. See A1 (primary auditory cortex)

action, maps for, 107–30

M1 movement map, 110–25

parietal cortex maps, 125–30

seizure patients and, 107–15

action and perception, 190

Adrian, Edgar, 61–64, 67, 215

adults

approximate number maps in, 192–93

crystallized organization of brains in, 247–48

learning and adapting by, 142–43, 168–69

world of infants and children compared to that of, 248–49

albatrosses, 96

alien hand syndrome, 125–26, 129–30

Alphabet (Google’s parent company), 239

Alzheimer’s disease, 240

amino acids, 87, 98–100, 99

amplitude of vibrations/sounds, 72–73

animals. See also specific animal names

A1 sound-frequency maps in, 80

brain implants in, 235–36

M1 movement maps in, 110–11, 1...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Introduction
• An Atlas of You: What Is a Brain Map?
• The Tyranny of Numbers: Why Brain Maps Exist
• How Brain Maps Determine What We See and Feel
• Out of the Ether: Brain Maps for Hearing
• Brain Maps and Codes for Taste and Smell
• On the Move: Brain Maps for Action
• Maps in the Making: How Brain Maps Develop and Adapt
• Knowing Again: Brain Maps for Recognition
• Imagining, Remembering, and Paying Attention with Brain Maps
• Comprehending and Communicating with Brain Maps
• Maps as Portals: Mind Reading and Mind Writing with Brain Maps
• How Brain Maps Weigh Us Down and How We Rise Above Them
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author