We are nearing the end of the book "The Brain's Way of Healing" by Norman Doidge, MD. This is the 2nd book by Doidge we have read aloud together. His "The Brain that Changes Itself" was good and informative but I think "Brain's Way" is better. In the 2nd chapter (which is long), Doidge discusses the case of a South African who seemed to keep his Parkinson's disease from progressing by doing quite a bit of walking. The man joined a program of running/walking aimed at getting people to exercise for the sake of their health. This man took the idea to heart and walked steadily.
He has been sufficiently successful that whether he ever actually had Parkinson's is questioned by some. While the brain is being understood more and conceptions of how the brain works are emerging, not all that much is really known, about the brain or about Parkinson's. This is the disease that the actor Michael J. Fox, of "Back to the Future" fame and other films and tv shows, is fighting. It tends to be an older person's disease but as in anything biological and involving many people, there are statistical outliers.
The area of brain studies is undergoing a change. Besides the Doidge books, I read "Soft-Wired" by Prof. Michael Merzenich. I learned that he was able to show that doing things intentionally causes the brain to change to become more efficient at doing, whether or not the thing done is healthy or helps a person's life. I learned there was doubt that intention was "real" enough to matter but Merzenich was able to show that it really does matter. Merzenich and many others have shown convincingly that the brain is malleable and that whatever is done repeatedly tends to be facilitated.
There are 8 chapters in "The Brain's Way of Healing" and I intend to write a little about each for the next few days. I recommend the book not only for the very interesting and unusual stories covered but because the whole area of the brain is a very tricky one. I read guidelines for local discussions by a well-known organization months ago that warned to avoid areas of "neuro"-this and "neuro"-that since it is too easy to get into areas of charlatans, false claims and ideas and procedures that don't work. It may be wise to keep in mind, though, that what may work for one person might not for another for multiple reasons. Any new idea, especially one that contradicts long-standing positions such as that older brains cannot really change, will face opposition. As some of my thinking friends like to point out, there is still a flat-earth society. So, as we say in the north during an ice storm, "proceed with caution."
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
