Top

Published in:

01-06-2009 | Book Review

Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves. By Sharon Begley. 283 pp. Balantine Books, New York, 2008. $14.95

Author: Jeffrey H. Boyd, MD, MPH, MDiv

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 2/2009

Excerpt

We have been taught that much of the brain is hardwired to perform specific tasks. The visual cortex, for example, occupies one-third of the brain and is located at the back of our head. According to this traditional view, we would never expect that the “visual cortex” could process sound or language. However, the science of neuroplasticity demonstrates that this hardwired picture is wrong. The so-called visual cortex is able to process sound and language, but only if it is challenged (Begley 2008, pp. 5–11, 73–109). …

Amedi, A., Floel, A., Knecht, S., Zohary, E., & Cohen, L. G. (2004). Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the occipital pole interferes with verbal processing in blind subjects. Nature Neuroscience, 7, 1266–1270. doi:10.1038/nn1328.PubMedCrossRef

Amedi, A., Raz, N., Pianka, P., Malach, R., & Zohary, E. (2003). Early ‘visual’ cortex activation correlates with superior verbal memory performance in the blind. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 758–766. doi:10.1038/nn1072.PubMedCrossRef

Begley, S. (2008). Train your mind, change your brain: How a new science reveals our extraordinary potential to transform ourselves. New York: Balantine Books.

Cohen, L. G., Celnik, P., Pascual-Leone, A., Corwell, B., Falz, L., Dambrosia, J., et al. (1997). Functional relevance of cross-modal plasticity in blind humans. Nature, 389, 180–183. doi:10.1038/38278.PubMedCrossRef

Elbert, T., Pantev, C., Weinbruch, C., Rockstroh, B., & Taub, E. (1995). Increased cortical representation of the fingers of the left hand in string players. Science, 270, 305–307. doi:10.1126/science.270.5234.305.PubMedCrossRef

Pascaual-Leone, A., Amedi, A., Fl Fregni, & Merabet, L. B. (2005). The plastic human brain cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 28, 377–401. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144216.CrossRef

Pascaual-Leone, A., & Hamilton, R. (2001). The metamodal organization of the brain. Progress in Brain Research, 134, 427–445. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(01)34028-1.CrossRef

Peterson, D. A., & Gage, F. H. (1998). Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nature Medicine, 4, 1313–1317. doi:10.1038/3305.PubMedCrossRef

Sedato, N. (1996). Activation of the primary visual cortex by Braille reading blind subjects. Nature, 380, 526–528. doi:10.1038/380526a0.CrossRef

Taub, E., Uswatte, G., King, D. K., Morris, D., Crago, J. E., & Chatterjee, A. (2006). A placebo-controlled trial of constraint-induced movement therapy for upper extremity after stroke. Stroke, 37, 1045–1049. doi:10.1161/01.STR.0000206463.66461.97.PubMedCrossRef

Title: Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves. By Sharon Begley. 283 pp. Balantine Books, New York, 2008. $14.95
Author: Jeffrey H. Boyd, MD, MPH, MDiv
Publication date: 01-06-2009
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 2/2009
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-008-9216-8

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves. By Sharon Begley. 283 pp. Balantine Books, New York, 2008. $14.95

Excerpt

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Excerpt

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2009

Job’s Story and Family Health

What’s the 411? Assessing the Feasibility of Providing African American Adolescents with HIV/AIDS Prevention Education in a Faith-Based Setting

“And Let Us Make Us a Name”: Reflections on the Future of the Religion and Health Field

Coming to Terms with Our Regrets

The Huichol Offering: A Shamanic Healing Journey

Re-conceptualizing the Factor Structure of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality