|
Featured Books
We always feature three books, but there is much more to explore! Just click on the Blog link and the top of the page for over 100 more exciting book reviews and activities. Click on the photo of the book you are interested in and you will be taken directly to the blog posting for that book. |
The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a student submission by Aneesha Pathak from Montgomery High School in New Jersey.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Olive Sacks describes case studies of individuals with rare neurological disorders. The individual who is the focus on the book's title had visual agnosia in which the brain's occipital lobe was deteriorating. As a choir teacher, he could no longer recognize his students, but could instantly tell who they were when they sang. He could describe a rose or a glove perfectly, but no longer had the ability to put the whole object together to identify what it was. In a post-mortem analysis of his brain, it was discovered that the brain's occipital lobe was actually eating away at itself which was causing the problem. Sacks has a great ways of telling these entrancing stories, it is a book for anyone interested in a great story about science.
|
Dr. Bruce Perry is a neuroscientist and child psychiatrist who has spent decades studying brain development, stress response systems, and the effects of trauma on human behavior. He believes that the brain is shaped by what happens to us, and understanding those influences allows for compassion, healing, and change. The book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, is written as a dialogue between Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey, drawing on more than thirty years of conversations about the brain, trauma, resilience, and healing. It brings together these long-standing discussions through personal narratives, reflections, and real-world examples to make complex neuroscience accessible.
|
Patric Gagne shares her own experiences from growing up as a child knowing that the way she experienced emotions was different from others. She did not experience grief, remorse, or fear the way that her family or peers did. Others noticed this as well, but it was difficult to put a name to what she experienced. A college psychology class helped her understand the differences between psychopathy and sociopathy and how these were different emotional experiences from an Antisocial Personality Disorder which was recognized as a clinical disorder by the DSM. Patric eventually learned how to better manage the tension she often felt and to match the emotions of others to appear more like them emotionally even if she could never make herself feel what others felt. She now has a successful career helping others who experience the same lack of feelings and helps them find more successful ways to cope.
|
If you are interested in learning more about these books and many others, click on the Blog link at the top of the page. Each of the book review postings includes a brief explanation of the book, a related classroom activity, key psychological concepts referenced in the book, and other resources such as websites or podcasts.