The Three-Pound Enigma: The Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock Its Mysteries

by Shannon Moffett and Shannon Moffet

The average human brain weighs three pounds--80 percent of which is water--and yet it's capable of outstripping the computational and storage capacities of the most complex computer. But how the mind... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565124235
• ISBN13: 9781565124233
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 309 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant - Thought Provoking

Out of all the neuroscience books I have read, I must acknowledge Shannon Moffett's as most readable and thought-provoking; it truly conveys the nature of the enigma dwelling in our own heads, the enigma that is assigning meaning to these very words. I have read many books on the subject of the mind; however, this is one of the few that I felt compelled to pick up again after several months. The best part about this book is that it remains thought provoking for people of a wide range of ages and intellectual background - academic or not, I am confident that anyone can enjoy this book and gain not only useful knowledge, but a genuine curiosity about the mysteries of our own minds.

Exploring the Brain -and mind- with Shannon Moffett in The Three Pound Enigma

Moffett's book takes the reader on two simultaneous journeys: a textbook presentation of the development of the human brain from conception to death, and a series of meetings with some of the world's most prominent neuroscientists and neurosurgeons. Intersected in the chapters profiling the scientists are interesting anecdotes and humorous quotes, providing the reader with a sense of the scientist's personality, not just their research. Moffett begins by describing her fascination with the mind and the brain. During a medical school gross anatomy dissection, Moffett begins to wonder about the brain before her. What is the connection between the brain, a physical lump of tissue, and the mind, the theoretical seat of human personality? Moffett's book explores this connection during meetings with scholars and scientists who are seeking the answers to neuroscience's biggest questions. After the introduction, a textbook-like chapter describes the early development of a human embryonic brain. Chapters describing brain development are alternated with chapters describing scientists and their research. Dr. Roberta Glick is the first portrait featured in Moffett's book. Glick, a female neurosurgeon, works in a busy county hospital. Glick specializes in brain tumors and her research focuses on new ways to fight brain cancer. Moffett describes a day in Glick's life: Glick visits her patients, which include a man who had a pituitary tumor removed and a baby who had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, picking up her children, operating on a man with a bullet lodged in his skull, and attending temple. Glick describes sexism in the field of neurosurgery, and describes the way she has personally integrated her scientific profession with her personal religious convictions. After another textbook chapter describing the mapping of the cerebral cortex, Moffett profiles Dr. John Gabrieli. Gabrieli is professor of neuroscience and psychology at Stanford University, and is considered an expert on memory. Gabrieli's lab (Gab Lab) is devoted to the field of cognitive neuroscience - the study of how and where we think and feel. The Gab Lab investigates memory, olfaction, and learning disorders. Gabrieli describes a famous patient known as HM, who, upon having his hippocampus removed in an attempt to cure his epilepsy, cannot remember a new event for longer than a few seconds. One of the most interesting phenomena that Gabrieli describes is the ability of amnesiacs like HM to acquire new skills without remembering their acquisition. Gabrieli states that, "we might be moving around daily, driven by these kinds of memories all the time, but we don't realize it's a memory that's driving us to do something or believe something or say something... we're operating on a system that doesn't even know where we learned something, just like HM." Next, Moffett describes her encounters with Dr. Christof Koch and his research partner, Francis Crick, of Watson and Cri

Insightful

I read this book about a year ago. I was recently found it again on my bookshelf and, after rereading it, decided to write a review. For anyone who has an interest in medicine of any kind, this is a great book. Even for the lay person without any medical knowledge, it will prove to be thought provoking and inspiring. I myself found this in a library and decided to check it out on a whim. After this, I have developed an interest in neuroscience and have read many books on the topic. Still, this remains my favorite out of all of them. The reader friendly and occasionally humourous style of writing is appealing to readers of many ages and backgrounds. The book covers different topics such as consciousness, dissociative identity disorder (DID), the mystery of sleep and dreaming, neuroethics and even neuromarketing. I really enjoyed how the author went into detail about each person she met with and talked to. If you've ever had questions about your own mind and wish to dig deeper into how your brain works, I suggest reading this book.

An excellent research-and-literature-review on the problem of brain and consciousness

This is a most readable review of the work and praxis of front line researchers and writers on the subject of the relationship between brain and consciousness. It was a great experience to read this book especially while trying to read simultaneuously the much more detailed and specific book by Christopher Koch. Both readings illuminated each other. The recently deceased Francis Crick comes into a splendid light.

INCREDIBLE BOOK about an INCREDIBLE ORGAN of the Body

Not to mention that the author wrote this book WHILE she was in medical school. She became enamored, if that's a good word, maybe fascinated, curious, are better words, when she took the Gross Anatomy class. She had to open up the face of the cadaver she was studying and her life has never been the same once she started to learn about the brain. She provides some historic perspective about what was previously thought about the brain and now what is known and what still needs to be known. She also relates the biochemistry of the brain to personality and mental illness.