November 2, 2018

The Plasticity® Brain Book Review Series – Part #1

Author: Dr. Emily Kalambaheti, Staff Clinician

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson

With so many brilliant people in the world, there’s always something to learn. I would love to pass along resources that I have found to be educational and inspirational.

As the first part of Plasticity® Brain Center’s three-part book review series, I would like to share with you a novel that re-inspired and re-invigorated me as a doctor and as a life-long student. “The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science,” by Norman Doidge M.D. dives into the research, application, and life-changing effects of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the foundation of everything that we do daily with our patients at Plasticity® Brain Centers.

As with many events that occur daily, I had started to take for granted the miracles that happen when plasticity takes hold. As I read Dr. Doidge’s book, the tools and technology that we use at Plasticity® Brain Centers took on another light.

Tongue (Trigeminal Nerve) stimulation, which we perform on many of our patients via non-invasive neuromodulation, was discussed in the very first chapter of Dr. Doidge's book and drew me into the life of a woman whose vestibular system was not functioning correctly — something that I see daily with my patients. Patient after patient that Dr. Doidge described sounded so familiar, yet unique. In “The Brain that Changes Itself” Dr. Doidge talked about people that have learning disabilities, strokes, cerebral palsy, and chronic pain, all conditions I have treated but with each case he presented, I learned something new. After finishing Dr. Doidge’s first book, I immediately picked up his second book, which I will review in part 2.

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