Brainscapes

"Enlightening and ambitious... a book that travels into rich terrain, charted by a smart and eager tour guide."--New York Times Book Review

A path-breaking journey into the brain, showing how perception, thought, and action are products of maps etched into your gray matter--and how technology can use them to read your mind.

Your brain is a collection of maps: detailed representations, scrawled across your brain's surfaces, of the sights, sounds, and actions that hold the key to your survival. Although scientists began discovering these maps over a century ago, we are only now beginning to unlock their secrets--and comprehend their profound impact on our lives. Brain maps distort and shape our experience of the world, support complex thought, and make technology-enabled mind reading a modern-day reality. They shine a light on our past and our possible futures. In the process, they invite us to view ourselves from a startling new perspective.

In Brainscapes, Rebecca Schwarzlose combines unforgettable real-life stories, cutting-edge research, and vivid illustrations to reveal brain maps' surprising lessons about our place in the world--and about the world's place within us.