Review by Booklist Review
While few neuroscientists still believe the timeworn urban myth that we use only 10-percent of our brains, contemporary research unequivocally demonstrates that so-called smart drugs and other interventions can dramatically increase our proficiency in using what we have. For this follow-up to his memoir about OCD, The Man Who Couldn't Stop (2014), British science writer Adam used his personal experiences as a springboard for delving into the latest research on cognitive enhancement techniques, including pills and electrical brain stimulation, both of which he tried firsthand to tweak his own mental prowess. Adam begins with a probing inquiry into controversial intelligence measures, such as IQ scores and MENSA membership (which Adam says he cheated his way into), noting that despite the cultural biases tainting such tests, cleverness is a definite attribute society rewards over dullness. Along with side trips exploring the extraordinary abilities of savants and brain autopsy clubs for gentlemen scientists, Adam provides readers with a lucidly written and enticing look at cutting-edge neuroscience discoveries that may eventually benefit us all.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Cognitive enhancement to increase brain function is the neuroscience frontier of the future, argues Adam (The Man Who Couldn't Stop). Currently, there are two main avenues doctors and scientists are exploring in their efforts to enhance brain function, namely through drugs and brain stimulation using magnets and electrical currents. Adam claims that enhancing brain functionality is possible; he's a living example, having undergone the treatments himself. With the aid of cognitive enhancing drugs and electrical brain stimulation therapy, Adam took the Mensa exam for a second time and significantly raised his IQ score. Assuming cognitive enhancement increases intelligence, what are the potential implications for society? What are the ethical considerations? Adam discusses these questions and also explores our attempts to understand and categorize human intelligence since the 19th century. Writing in an imminently accessible style, he treats readers to countless fascinating anecdotes, such as the advent of the IQ test. VERDICT A fun and at times disturbing romp through the history of brain science and society's attempts to measure intelligence. If cognitive enhancement is in our future, this is an entertaining place to begin to understand what it entails.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's Sch., Brooklyn © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exploration of how "modern brain science is not just observing anymore," but can now "intervene, to change the way the brain and the mind works."Despite the perfervid title, this is not just another cheerful guide to spiritual self-improvement, but rather a fine journalistic account of how science can make you smarter. British science writer Adam (The Man Who Couldn't Stop: OCD and the True Story of a Life Lost in Thought, 2015), an editor at Nature, emphasizes that modern medicine, not content with curing the sick, is turning its attention to improving the already healthy. Viagra, the fastest-selling drug of all time, has been working its magic for 20 years. More to the author's point, even if your ability to concentrate is normal, Provigil will make it better. Adam begins by defining intelligence and discovers that experts disagree bitterly. Ignorance hasn't discouraged them from trying to measure it for two centuries, with generally deplorable results. The best of a bad lot turns out to be the widely denounced IQ test. Whatever it measures, people with more do better in school, careers, and life than those with less. Genetics influences intelligence, but so many genes are involved that, despite dramatically improved techniques for altering DNA, no one has figured out a viable approach. Delivering electricity or magnetism to the brain seems to work. Adam recounts studies that have reported dramatic results treating mental illness as well as boosting mood, focus, and even learning abilityso much so that amateur enthusiasts are zapping themselves, often with kits purchased over the internet. The author tried one and thinks that he benefited.Except for a taste for anecdotes describing individuals experiencing a miraculous transformation, Adam delivers a sensible, often skeptical review of his subject. Most readers will agree that techniques to supercharge our brains are inevitablebut not yet. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
