Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain

The last chapter of David Eagleman’s newest book should be the first as well as required reading for everyone. Would’ve given this one five stars if it wasn’t for the author’s tendency to generalize from very limited studies and anecdotal examples. His discussion of great musicians, for instance, ignores the fact that any number of maestrae and maestros did not begin playing until their teens, which Eagleman says is impossible. Readers should carefully investigate each footnote as many contain information that weakens theories presented in the text. Overall, however, a stunning achievement. Fans of Incognito and The Brain will be thrilled.

Let's say there's a kid who has the worst case of epilepsy ever. Like, seizures every 20 minutes. Doctor says the only treatment is a hemispherectomy, which is exactly what it sounds like — removal of half the kid's brain. What do you think happens after the operation? How will the kid do?If you said, "Well, the kid's going to lose his ability to walk, talk, do anything really," you'd be correct — but only for a few months. Because what actually happened to Matthew was that with intensive rehab, the remaining half of his brain adapted itself to take over the missing functions of the other half. And now, when Matthew serves you at a restaurant, you can't tell him apart from a normal person. If that doesn't blow your mind, check out the picture of his brain with half of it a black void."Livewired" is the catchy term David Eagleman has coined to describe the miraculous ability of the brain to adapt in concert with its environment and make sense of the world. With fluid prose and crystal-clear analogies, Eagleman explains the function of the cerebral cortex as a general computing machine that can take any kind of input from environmental sensors — e.g. the light sensors in your eye, the air-pressure sensors in your ear, or vibrations from a wrist band — and turn it into meaning.Eagleman is particularly qualified to talk about this not only a neuroscientist, but also as an inventor creating a whole new frontier of livewiring via his company NeoSensory. Using vests and wristbands that transduce outside information like sound or light into mechanical vibrations, NeoSensory is not only giving back some sight and hearing ability back to those who have lost it; it is also creating whole new senses that didn't even exist before: "We tapped into the lidar stream [at Google headquarters] and hooked it up to the Vest. Then we brought in Alex, a blind young man. We strapped the Vest on him, and now—just like the soldiers in Westworld—he could feel the location of those moving around him. He could see in 360 degrees, going from blind to Jedi. And there was zero learning curve: he immediately got it." Ladies and gentlemen — this is science fiction made real.Taking the idea further, Eagleman makes us wonder whether a livewired, self-adapting home and electric grid could be right around the corner. Trippy, sure, but why not? And that's what I particularly appreciate about Eagleman's work: he provokes us to think about *both* the stuff we take for granted *and* the radical "adjacent possible". This is especially fun since the book is talking about the very same thing you're using to read it (not the Kindle, silly — I mean your *brain*). For example, if the brain's so damn changeable, how can we even hold on to any memories before they get overwritten by new stuff?The book is Eagleman's platform for some big new scientific ideas, e.g. the brain as an information-maximizing machine; the basis of synesthesia; and the purpose of dreaming (hint: so you don't go blind). It's also very entertaining. Along the way you will meet: a surfing dog, a skateboarding dog, and a bipedal dog; an armless archery champ; people who hate their limbs; a man with no short-term memory; and a woman who forgets nothing. Astonishing visual illusions will make you doubt your own sanity, and the stories will make for excellent fodder for all the cocktail parties you're not attending. (Note for future generations: this review was written during the 2020 pandemic. We don't get out much.)With masterful storytelling, lucid analogies and thought-provoking new ideas, "Livewired" is a mind-expanding masterpiece of popular science. It's also one of the most hopeful books I've ever read, particularly needful in these uncertain times. Read it to renew your faith in not just the human spirit, but also to appreciate the gifts of your own miraculous brain.-- Ali Binazir, M.D., M.Phil., Happiness Engineer and author of  The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible , the most-highlighted book on Amazon, and  Should I Go to Medical School?: An Irreverent Guide to the Pros and Cons of a Career in Medicine

Beautiful book and a great read

Although I do not like the neologism of the title word (livewired), I highly recommend this book as a clear popular science introduction to the fascinating ability of the mind to adapt to the changing body and environment.The writer is optimistic about the future of research and applications in this field advancing some ideas that may sound stranger than science fiction, but he explains the basis of his ideas as an authority in the field talking to the intelligent lay reader. This is NOT neuroplasticity for dummies!

I have mixed feelings about this book:On the one hand, the book has a lot of interesting and even practical information. There are many places in the book where I was very engaged.On the other hand, this book has too many advertisements. Some claims do not have sufficient scientific support.I can't even recommend this book to somebody to hear -"Do you sell neosensory vests?" -"Not only vests, but the book as well."

The science behind resilience and adaptability. The book is filled with stories of people who have had to overcome incredible adversity: the loss of a limb, sight, hearing… And more. Eagleman points towards the resilience and resourcefulness that is part of our DNA. Wondering if you can cope with change, or difficulty, or adversity? Turns out we all have capabilities that are part of our wiring - and the ability to adapt and create is part of the uniquely human system that we can all access. Can science inspire? It can when it comes from a gifted writer like David Eagleman.

If I trusted everything I read in this book the human brain is on track to be on par with God. The author, Eagleman, has much more education and experience than I have, but with my limited reading about the human brain over the last two years (I'm 78-I need to stay occupied) we seem to have a long way to go in knowing about the function of our brains before some of his hypotheses become reality.Since Dr. Eagleman is at Stanford U., just a 40 minute drive from San Francisco, where another brain expert, Dr. Michael Merzenich has his office; I'm sure he is aware that his book title "Livewired" flies awfully close to Merzenich's book title "Soft-Wired". Merzenich's book preceded Dr. Eagleman's.

If you are completely new to neurology and neuroscience you may enjoy this other wise , I don't know what to say I am definitely the audience the author had in mind when writing this book, but I am not sure who is either.I wished this was a new updated version of Oliver Sacks books, but it is definitely not even close.

Pretty good. Not convinced about the idea that the main purpose of dreaming is to stop the visual cortex from reconfiguring after sunset. If that was the sole purpose, I think there would be more energy efficient ways to achieve the same goal (like shutting down for example). Whilst the ideas are good, there’s not a lot there to use constructively and there’s no mathematical or information theoretical analysis presented to demonstrate learning in a competitive neural substrate.

Amazingly insightful book that's delivered in an accessible way. Drop everything you think you knew, this book will show you that our brains are even more amazing than we realise, and there's so much more potential for them in the future.

Really good book.I have full knowledge neuro anatomy and physiology and still learnt many things.

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Gave me some good branches of insight that has helped some research. Nicely written and enjoyable. If your interested in some fresh knowledge, this books worth reading.