ranahabib's review
4.0
Good but not the best!
I’d give it an overall 8/10.
I love reading about neuroplasticity and I figured I’d give this book a shot. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be.
It’s a good book and it’s well written, but some of the case studies were a bit boring. I found the first half of the book more interesting than the second half.
I’d give it an overall 8/10.
I love reading about neuroplasticity and I figured I’d give this book a shot. I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be.
It’s a good book and it’s well written, but some of the case studies were a bit boring. I found the first half of the book more interesting than the second half.
thecharmofit's review
informative
medium-paced
2.0
Interesting facts presented with a lot of problematic worldviews and questionable conclusions on the author’s part (colonialism, Freudian, etc). Be prepared for a ton of able-ism. There’s some weirdly hero-worshipping descriptions of some of the (male, presumably white) scientists the author interviews. Also there’s descriptions of horrific lab experiments on animals, presented as normal or brilliant depending on who created the experiment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Ableism
stevenjpitt's review
4.0
“There are many things that go on that can affect me that are beyond my control. I can’t control them, only how I react to them.”
gerapago's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
2.5
some interesting stories and insights, but i was turned off by the misleading conclusions and unsupported speculation doidge made constantly
sewstars's review
2.0
I don’t typically write reviews, but there was some misinformation and bias in this book, so I do feel it’s necessary to make that known.
I was very excited to read this book, and ultimately very disappointed by it. 2 stars instead of 1 for being an easy read on a more technical subject. The major problems with this book being: misinformation and bias.
While I don’t know much about all areas of this book, as a Speech Pathologist, I do have some background knowledge on both language disabilities and treatment, and in particular stroke and brain injury rehabilitation and treatment (more of my speciality area).
As far as misinformation goes for language disabilities and treatment, I feel the author does a great disservice to SLPs and teachers working with students with these disorders, indicating that they can be simply remediated by computer programs. He seems overly zealous about the program Fast ForWord. Unfortunately, when you review the research, this program simply doesn’t hold up (see a systematic review from 2011 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061204/, quote from the abstract: “Meta-analyses indicated that there was no significant effect of Fast ForWord on any outcome measure in comparison to active or untreated control groups.”).
As far as stroke rehabilitation goes, I was disappointed by his major focus on constraint-induced therapy. While I can’t speak to constraint-induced therapy for physical and occupational rehabilitation (although I know from working with some fantastic PTs and OTs that they do much, much more than this with good results), I can speak a bit to it for Constraint Induced Language Therapy (CILT) for Aphasia, as I did some research on this in graduate school, and do use it sometimes in my practice. While it is a good therapy technique, it is not for everyone, and certainly not the only technique with research behind it for improvements in stroke survivors! There are certainly patients for whom it is not an appropriate technique who still make great progress. I wish he would have looked into other treatments and their efficacy, as well! That was very disappointing to me.
Overall, based on some of the misinformation, bias and generalizations made in the above areas, I found it very difficult to believe other parts of the book. I would need to do further research into each area (looking at both sides of an argument, evaluating more research than only that presented by those he interviewed) to determine the truth behind the statements made.
I was very excited to read this book, and ultimately very disappointed by it. 2 stars instead of 1 for being an easy read on a more technical subject. The major problems with this book being: misinformation and bias.
While I don’t know much about all areas of this book, as a Speech Pathologist, I do have some background knowledge on both language disabilities and treatment, and in particular stroke and brain injury rehabilitation and treatment (more of my speciality area).
As far as misinformation goes for language disabilities and treatment, I feel the author does a great disservice to SLPs and teachers working with students with these disorders, indicating that they can be simply remediated by computer programs. He seems overly zealous about the program Fast ForWord. Unfortunately, when you review the research, this program simply doesn’t hold up (see a systematic review from 2011 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061204/, quote from the abstract: “Meta-analyses indicated that there was no significant effect of Fast ForWord on any outcome measure in comparison to active or untreated control groups.”).
As far as stroke rehabilitation goes, I was disappointed by his major focus on constraint-induced therapy. While I can’t speak to constraint-induced therapy for physical and occupational rehabilitation (although I know from working with some fantastic PTs and OTs that they do much, much more than this with good results), I can speak a bit to it for Constraint Induced Language Therapy (CILT) for Aphasia, as I did some research on this in graduate school, and do use it sometimes in my practice. While it is a good therapy technique, it is not for everyone, and certainly not the only technique with research behind it for improvements in stroke survivors! There are certainly patients for whom it is not an appropriate technique who still make great progress. I wish he would have looked into other treatments and their efficacy, as well! That was very disappointing to me.
Overall, based on some of the misinformation, bias and generalizations made in the above areas, I found it very difficult to believe other parts of the book. I would need to do further research into each area (looking at both sides of an argument, evaluating more research than only that presented by those he interviewed) to determine the truth behind the statements made.
fazekaszs's review
5.0
This is the first book I have ever read about psychology, psychiatry and I must say, I really enjoyed it. I really like the idea of neuroplasticity since I get really excited when something is about expanding our knowledge, our abilities, and our perceptive and thinking skills, as humans, as a species. During reading this book it came to my mind, that the funny thing is, that reading a book about neuroplasticity triggers the neuroplastic behaviour of the brain and as a positive feedback loop, it changes the picture about its own. Also, Doidge emphasizes the importance of neural connections, the connections between extrinsic and intrinsic events (for example in a holistic context), and connections in general, and by this, he helped to give me different views on my current scientific project. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes the idea of the forever changing brain.
neela's review
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
some chapters i enjoyed more than others, mostly just found it fun to slowly read non fiction
i really like how they describe neuroplasticity as responsible for both flexibility and rigidity in the brain, like how it contributes to disorders based on stimulation.
the chapter about rehab for stroke patients! and the girl with half a brain, amazing 🤩
i really like how they describe neuroplasticity as responsible for both flexibility and rigidity in the brain, like how it contributes to disorders based on stimulation.
the chapter about rehab for stroke patients! and the girl with half a brain, amazing 🤩
dixiet's review
5.0
This is an amazing book, recommended to me by a friend who has been doing brain research since suffering a major stroke about seven years ago. It's incredible how much the brain can change itself, with the right input. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in cutting edge brain research.