The Neuroscience of You

Move over, outer space-this book is a dazzling tour through inner space. Chantel Prat has a rare, remarkable gift for making neurons sing and dendrites dance, and she's written the smartest, clearest, and funniest book I've ever read about the brain. -Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife Prat wants to help readers understand their brain.... She does so in a friendly, personable voice that makes the complexities of the brain accessible.... A highly readable, entertaining, and authoritative book. Recommended for all non-specialists interested in how the brain works. -Library Journal (starred) Numerous candidly written footnotes add comedic flair to the narrative, which will be appreciated by readers eager but intimidated to learn how and why their brains generate thoughts, feelings, and decision-making patterns..... [Prat] shines a positive light on how the brain operates from the inside out and from the outside in. An informal, highly accessible tour of neuroscience for general readers. -Kirkus In The Neuroscience of You, Chantel Prat pulls off the nearly impossible feat of writing a book that is authoritative, personal, technically astute and charming. Prat offers a profound thesis: that there is wonder and beauty in understanding the variation in how brains function. Prat teaches us that these differences should not be fuel for division, but rather, the object of fascination, appreciation, and celebration. -C. Brandon Ogbunu, Yale University, Ideas contributor for Wired Magazine Smart, funny, irreverent... reading this book is like downloading a PhD in neuroscience in one exuberant sitting. It's a must read for any budding neuroscientists out there, and anyone else who wants to know how our brains work and why it matters. -Anna Lembke, author of New York Times bestseller Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence We're all the same: human beings. At the same time, we're all different individuals. In her marvelous, accessible, often funny and always informative book, Chantel Prat reconciles this seeming paradox. Read this book; you'll understand - and admire - your species and your brain as never before. And you'll have a hell of a lot of fun getting there! -David P. Barash author most recently of Threats: Intimidation and its Discontents Neuroscientists emphasize how most brains work, but finally here's a book that emphasizes how your brain works! Chantel Prat artfully describes why and how our brains differ - skillfully interweaving accessible facts about genetics, environment, and brain science to help explain what makes you uniquely YOU! The book is a joy, the footnotes are hilarious, and the topic is of central importance to all those interested in human uniqueness, cognitive science, and how much we share and differ from the rest of humanity. -Patricia K Kuhl, cognitive neuroscientist, Member of the National Academy of Sciences, and author of The Scientist in the Crib