Electric Brain by R. Douglas Fields

Electric Brain by R. Douglas Fields ISBN-13: 9781946885456 Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: BenBella Books Released: Feb. 4, 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
From the moment a reclusive German doctor discovered waves of electricity radiating from the heads of his patients in the 1920s, brainwaves have sparked astonishment and intrigue. Now, it is clear that these silent broadcasts can actually reveal a stunning wealth of information about any one of us. Neuroscientist and author R. Douglas Fields takes us on a journey into the world of brainwaves in this in-depth look at the most recent findings in brain science.

Fields explores groundbreaking research that shows brainwaves can: Reveal the type of brain you have—its strengths and weaknesses and your aptitude for learning different types of information, allow scientists to watch your brain learn, glean your intelligence, and even tell how adventurous you are, expose hidden dysfunctions—including signifiers of mental illness and neurological disorders, render your thoughts and transmit them to machines and back from machines into your brain, meld minds by telepathically transmitting information from one brain to another, and enable individuals to rewire their own brains and improve cognitive performance.

Written by one of the neuroscientists on the cutting edge of brainwave research, Electric Brain tells a fascinating and obscure story of discovery, explains the latest science, and looks to the future—and the exciting possibilities in store for medicine, technology, and our understanding of ourselves.


My Review:
Electric Brain talked about the past, present, and potential future of brainwave research. This book was written by someone who is actively researching in this field, so he provided in-depth scientific detail about how the brain works and what the latest research has found. This is not a popular science book. The book started off with a rather gross history of the sometimes unethical research done to discover what brain waves are and how they can be manipulated. If you don't like descriptions of things like kittens having their brains scooped out, skip the first 15% of this book. The author also described his visits to some of the research labs (past and present).

He described the current research being done on brain waves and the debates among experts about what is causing what. He went into detail about the many things that can go wrong with the brain and what might be done to fix them. He described things like brain waves during a coma, general anesthesia, and sleep. The last half of the book talked about applying the current research to create brain to computer interfaces, crude telepathy, thought control of an animal or another human, and in identifying potential abilities or diagnosing neurological disorders. He also talked about future applications that people are dreaming about developing and ways people are currently altering brain waves (neurofeedback, electrical brain stimulation, magnetic stimulation, meditation, and brainwave gadgets). The main thing I learned from this book is that we really don't know what we're doing yet, but that's not stopping anyone.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.