The Custom-Made Brain

Two leading neuroscientists introduce the concepts of "cerebral plasticity" and the "regenerating brain," describing what we know now about the processes through which the brain constantly reconstructs itself and the potential benefits this knowledge could have in addressing concerns for neurological, cognitive, and emotional health.

The authors begin with a survey of the fundamental scientific developments that led to our current understanding of the regenerative mind, elucidating the breakthrough neurobiological studies that paved the way for our present understanding of the brain's plasticity and regenerative capabilities. They then discuss the application of these findings to such issues as depression, dyslexia, schizophrenia, and cognitive therapy, incorporating the latest technologies in neuroimaging, optogenetics, and nanotechnology. Their work shows the brain is anything but a static organ, ceasing to grow as human beings become adults. Rather, the brain is dynamic, evolving organically in relation to physical, cultural, historical, and affective stimuli, a plasticity that provides early hope to survivors of trauma and degenerative disorders.

Jean-Didier Vincent is professor emeritus at the University of Paris-Sud-Orsay and a member of the Faculty of Medicine, Paris-Sud-Kremlin-Bicêtre. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Voyage extraordinaire au centre du cerveau (Extraordinary Voyage to the Center of the Brain) and Biologie des passions (The Biology of Emotions) and belongs to the French Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medicine.

Pierre-Marie Lledo is a research director specializing in neuronal stem cells and brain plasticity at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and chair the department of Neuroscience at the Pasteur Institute. He is recipient of a CNRS bronze medal and several Prizes from the French Academies of Medicine and Sciences. He belongs to the European Academy of Sciences.

Laurence Garey has translated several works from French and German, including Korbinian Brodmann's Localisation in the Cerebral Cortex, and publications by Jean-Pierre Changeux, Michel Jouvet, and Michel Meulders.

Other works have addressed all these issues separately, but no other single book integrates them into one cohesive volume... Highly recommended.

The Custom-Made Brain furnishes us with a fascinating narrative about brain structure and development along with some challenging issues related to future developments and possibilities.

Gordon M. Shepherd, Yale University School of Medicine, author of Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters:
Building on their lifetimes of brain research, Jean-Didier Vincent and Pierre-Marie Lledo explain the brain in an intellectual tour de force from Descartes to Ray Kurzweil and the future, from medieval cathedrals to modern molecular biology and psychology. To those whose brains are ravaged by disease, they bring hope for new possibilities of repair, and they discuss the latest advances in brain nanotechnology that bring inspiration for enhancing our mental and emotional lives.

Lawrence Whalley, University of Aberdeen, author of The Aging Brain:
This book is written to simplify the facts about synaptic plasticity and its application to restorative neurology. Our thinking about the use of science to repair or even regenerate the human mind is experiencing a revolution in how we understand the potential of our brain to make good the harmful effects of aging and even neurodegenerative disease. This short account succeeds in an original and thought-provoking manner. It will become a valuable resource for clinicians who manage the care of those disabled by stroke, brain injury, or dementia. Many young scientists will be encouraged to take up the challenge of brain repair in the face of decades of therapeutic pessimism.

Israel Rosenfield, City University of New York, author of The Invention of Memory: A New View of the Brain:
Highly informative, up to date, and entertaining, The Custom-Made Brain emphasizes that the brain is constantly being constructed during an individual's lifetime, like a medieval cathedral that is never finished and yet ages without reaching 'maturity.' The brain, like the cathedral, is forever being repaired and restored. A stimulating read.