The Human Brain Book Hardcover – Illustrated, March 3, 2014

I work in mental health and fascinated with h the brain. This is the best book of the brain! Beautify illustrations! Quality materials. Lots of information that is useful and also an enjoyable read for a brain fan!! I highly recommend this book especially for visual learners!

This review will assess the effectiveness and quality of Rita Carter's "The Human Brain Book" in describing the anatomy and function of the human brain. The book is a very illustrated introduction to the world of neuroscience. The book also included a DVD disk, but that component will not be included in this review.Overall, the book does an excellent job of presenting detailed information in an easy to understand and digest way. The illustrations are wonderful tools in understanding the complex material, though the text does not get into the level of detail that it could. One must keep in mind that this is a cursory look at the whole system, how it works, what it does, what happens when things go wrong or don't function correctly, etc. To truly understand the mechanisms of the brain and all the interactions that occur, the reader would need to look for a textbook or research on the topic. I gave the book a rating of four stars because it easily and effectively accomplishes its goal of introducing users to the material, but it does pass over some important information and makes a few statements that are questionable considering current research.The book is broken up into chapters that start with general information about the brain and body, moves to anatomy of the brain, then discusses the senses and how the brain interacts with the environment. Next, it covers the more abstract topics such as memory, thinking, and consciousness. The final couple of chapters involve development and diseases of the brain. This progression makes sense from the reader's perspective because it first teaches the general information that is necessary for understanding the later material. For instance, one should know basic neuroanatomy to really grasp the effects of diseases and disorders of the brain.The strengths:"The Human Brain Book" contains hundreds of spectacular illustrations that really do help convey the information in a more concise and understandable way. For readers who learn more from visual sources, this is a perfect resource for getting basic familiarity with the human brain. Some of the illustrations used could even be referred to in order to understand more complicated material than what is presented.The organization of the book is also a key strength. I never felt as though I was getting lost, because all prerequisite information to understand a topic had already been presented by the time I got to it. The seamless flow and logical progression make this book a quick, easy, and informative read (though the large pictures certainly don't hurt).The book also presents many interesting bits of trivia that, while not crucial to the topic, is an interesting aside. For example, in the "Intelligence" chapter, the book associates intelligence with the brain's ability to process and information accurately and efficiently. Later on the page, a box addresses the topic of "Why We Can't Do Two Things At Once", which states that the brain can only process one source of information at a time and must switch between tasks, thus creating a "processing gap". This is just one of the many examples of how the book integrates interesting bits of information and trivia that might answer those questions that people have always wondered about.The weaknesses:This book is not a good resource if you are looking for a lot of information, or detailed information on any one topic in neuroscience. It is perfect for beginners and those looking to get a very general understanding of how things work, but it is certainly not meant for anything beyond that, due to several errors in the diagrams as well as the surface level of detail it achieves. I don't see this book being on the shelf of a neurologist's bookcase. If you need specific information, your best bet would be to bypass this book and go straight for a textbook. I say that because, while this book accomplishes its purpose very well, that is a very limited purpose and should not be used beyond that introductory level.It seems as if the book attempts to analyze the findings of the most recent research and present those results and limited conclusions as they fit into our current understanding of the mechanisms of the brain. Way too much emphasis is put on some of these findings as they are experimental and may not stand. The field of neuroscience is always changing and it is not uncommon at all for the results of one study or experiment to be completely contrary to those of another. In reading this book, one must really keep that in mind because some of these theories and ideas are presented as facts. It is an issue mostly in the central chapters exploring concepts such as consciousness, sleep, perception, etc. Because of these claims, we may find that several pieces of information in the book are obsolete in a few years time. Especially at an introductory level, I would caution the reader to take such statements into consideration, but don't view everything as undeniable fact.The final issue with the book is that it seems to turn away from the methodical and scientific way it presents information in earlier sections and becomes more speculative and more of a commentary towards the more abstract sections. There is a lot of time spent speculating and explaining how the brain may be a factor in current social issues. For example, the section on handedness presents only statistics and hypotheses around the origins of the preferences of right or left hand. Because no hard evidence is presented and because this section really doesn't make any points that haven't been made elsewhere, I feel that it could be taken out. This is just one example of several that give the book the feeling of being longer than necessary and containing information that isn't terribly relevant.So in conclusion, "The Human Brain Book" did a wonderful job of presenting a lot of complicated information in an easy to follow and easy to remember way. Though there were a few issues, they were minute compared with the benefit that could be derived from giving this book a read. I would strongly encourage anybody seeking to learn about the brain, what it is, how it works, what it does, etc. to give this book a try.

BOOK IS GREAT WITH LOTS OF FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATION. BUT NOT ONLY IS IT A PICTURE BOOK BUT LOADED WITH LOTS OF USEFUL INFORMATION PRECISE AND CORRECT. I BOUGHT IT FOR AN ILLUSTRATION OF BRAIN AVM AND SURE ENOUGH IT WAS IN THE BOOK. DESCRIPTION ARE EXPLAIN WELL READY. EASY TO READ BUT HAS LOADS OF USEFULL INFORMATION GREAT BOOK FOR STARTER IN THE BRAIN REALM. LOVE JPGELOI... AND PRICE IS RIGHT CAN'T MISS.

It was a gift for my granddaughter

It has a lot of information. The brain is such a mystery, isn’t it?

I liked the graphics and the general introduction that the author gave me into the brain. It gave me an elementary introduction to the brain, its regions, functions and components. I also found fundamental information into disorders that I can use to research in more depth from this guide. The graphics are wonderful. It’s also an atlas to the brain.

The Human Brain by Rita Carter looks into the brain, literally. I read this book because I wanted to understand at least how the brain is supposed to work, and the different sections of brain, because mine is dysfunctional, and not working right due to trauma and emotional affects. This book gives a lot of information about brain and how it related to the body, and what parts of the brain affect other parts. I learned a lot about dreaming, and how the brain puts the dreams together, as some can be remembered, and some can't. It discusses a lot of information, gives examples and has magnificent graphics. I wanted a book that wasn't filled with medical jargon, I wanted a book that was clear, and even though there are so many things about the brain that is a mystery, I will keep this book with me forever, and when I'm gone, someone can study my brain. Not to sound morbid, and to me, it's not. I have a bit more information about myself, and learned a lot from this book. There is a part of me that needs to know the science, as the other part of me, tries to figure out how to go on, day to day. I learned a lot about this book, and I recommend it for anyone who has issues that start and maybe end with the brain, and want to know more about yourself.

Full of information - helps me with my neuroscience articles in locating and remembering where the various parts are.

Present for hubbie, he thinks it is an amazing book

A mio parere può benissimo integrare un trattato di Anatomia Umana! Le tavole sono molto chiare, direi quasi in 3D, sulla carta! Stupende le pagine, tutte a colori. Molte le notizie recentissime anche sulla Fisiologia e sulla Medicina, ecc. Figuratevi che ci sono anche due pagine dedicate ai gesti e al liguaggio del corpo, alle origini del linguaggio. Quasi un'enciclopedia! Un "neo"? La tavola delle pietre miliari dell'evoluzione del corpo e della mente (Developmental milestones) si limitano all'età da 0 a 5 anni.Non c'è mai da pentirsi acquistando un volume della casa editrice Dorling Kindersley.

In some ways I preferred a volume entitled Psychobiology (Scientific American) I owned in the 1970s because it demonstrated a wider range of experimental outcomes on the brain. Second to that, however, is this. It is beautifully illustrated, and very broad. It is repetitive, which is pedagogically quite good, but I think the space could have been better used to address further issues, such as how the dentrites and axons work together, and some issues that have appeared in the last 24 months in National Geographic. Extensively illustrated. The book inspires the reader to pursue a further interest in neuroscience.

This book was informative but I had some difficulties with it since it assumes that I was already familiar with a lot of medical terms. Even though the authors included a glossary of medical terminology at the end of the book, it did not help much, for a laymen like me. I would need more information than that which was given.However, having said that, I do not regret having bought it. The illustrations are well done. Also, I used it as one of many sources of references whenever I need more information on a component of the brain.

El libro en si esta muy bien y es muy didáctico tanto visual como esquemáticamente, le puse tres estrellas porque no es el primer libro que me llega maltratado por parte del servicio de entrega de amazon. Añado imagenes para ejemplificar.