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Override: my quest to discover the truth about brain training and rewire my imperfect mind

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( 158 ratings, 19 reviews)
Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Can you really rewire an adult brain? In theory, the answer is 'yes', but there's a problem: no one seems to know exactly how to do it.

In Override, Caroline Williams sets off on a mission to find out. Delving into the latest studies on brain plasticity, which indicate that brain games don't actually do much to make you smarter, she tries to square that finding with the reality of brain plasticityβ€” that the brain adapts physically as we learn something new.

Visiting top neuroscientists in their labs, she volunteers herself as a guinea pig in neuroscience studies, challenging researchers to make real changes to herβ€”functioning, but imperfectβ€”brain. She seeks to improve on her own weaknesses, such as a limited attention span and a tendency to worry too much, and then branches out into more mysterious areas such as intelligence, creativity, and the perception of time.

Trying everything from high-tech brain stimulation to meditation, adding bolt-on senses and retraining her stress response, Override is a very intimate, fascinating journey into discovering what neuroscience can really do for usβ€”and, crucially, whether it's worth all the bother.

'A delightful book. Smart, spirited, personal, and stocked with well-researched psychological and neural facts, woven together in an original tapestry.' - Marc Lewis, award-winning author of The Biology of Desire

'If your mind has a mind of its own, this is the book that will teach you how to discipline it and stop it wandering off. Caroline Williams has written an entertaining, smart self-help book for people who hate self-help books. Her great skill is in navigating the complexity of neuroscience to produce a practical, no-nonsense guide to brain-training that is also a page-turner.' - Gaia Vince, award-winning author of Adventures in the Anthropocene

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781925321906

Publisher: Scribe Publications

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 January 2017

Country: Australia

Imprint: Scribe Publications

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 27.0mm

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 233.0mm

Weight: 370g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Caroline Williams is a science journalist and editor. A feature editor, and regular contributor to New Scientist, her written work has also appeared in The Guardian, BBC Future, and BBC Earth, among others. She has worked as a radio producer and reporter for BBC Radio and was the regular co-host of the New Scientist podcast from 2006 to 2010. She holds a BSc in Biological Sciences from Exeter University and an MSc (Distinction) in Science Communication from Imperial College London. She lives in Surrey, UK.

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