This engaging and informative book describes the latest
scientific understanding of the brain, primarily in humans, but also in other
animals. The author, a leading brain researcher, writes clearly and often with
humor.
As Barrett explores the deep history of brains, she emphasizes that as much as some
humans may prize thinking, the brain’s central task is not thinking but
monitoring and guiding—day and night—the many systems of the body. Brains of
all creatures manage a “budget” for various factors such as water, salt,
glucose, blood gases, etc., to create an on-going fitness against any future
threats.
Our brains and bodies are interlinked, interactive, and unified, not the
“triune” brain Carl Sagan popularized in 1977. All animal brains have
similar neurons, and all mammals share a “single manufacturing plan” for brain
development after birth. Babies’ brains develop according to their genes and in response to
their environment, especially to their caregivers. Human brains have flexible
networks much like the global air-travel system and can vary from person to
person and, individually, over time because of brain plasticity.
Our individual brains influence—even create—our perceptions and relate to
brains of other people through family, language, gesture, culture, and more.
Barrett concludes, “Social reality is a superpower that emerges from an
ensemble of human brains. It gives us the possibility to chart our own destiny
and even influence the evolution of our species” (p. 123).
