Innovative octopuses, half-brained birds, and more animals with magnificent minds

Insights into how our brains resemble, and are different from, those of other animals. With this lively overview of the animal kingdom's "most extraordinary organ," Couch delivers lucid descriptions of how humans and other creatures perceive the world, interact with their bodies, sleep, learn, remember, and communicate. Punctuating her narrative with comments from a large and racially diverse group of brain scientists and other workers, she visits research sites ranging from an outdoor squirrel lab to a trauma center where people with PTSD form mutually beneficial relationships with abused birds. She explores natural mysteries, such as an apparently immortal jellyfish and another species that sleeps even though it has no brain. The author expands her focus with profiles of a DNA researcher studying the remains of victims of the slave trade on St. Helena and an entomologist whose passion for roller derby has helped her become a better scientist, among others. As if all this isn't stimulating enough, Couch also provides instructions for keeping a dream journal, testing short-term memory, and tackling other brain-related projects for hands-on readers before closing with a substantial bibliography, source notes, and further reading. Duncan includes anatomical cutaways, charts, and cartoon spot art featuring a diverse cast of young enquirers into the already generous mix of animal photos and portraits. Widely angled and unfailingly intriguing. (index)(Nonfiction. 10-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Introduction In a Chicago aquarium, an octopus chips away at a block of ice, trying to get the frozen food inside. Her brain makes most of the decisions, but her sucker-covered arms make some choices all by themselves. A bird nesting in Hawaii's high rocky cliffs catches a quick nap before heading out to hunt. Even as she's snoozing, half of her brain might be awake. In a very special backyard in California, a squirrel decides where to stash food for the winter. She uses mind tricks to remember her hiding places. And as you're reading this, a marvelous and mysterious organ inside your skull is working all day and all night to give you amazing abilities. Large or small, smooth or wrinkly, brains of all shapes and sizes do extremely complicated work. Your brain weighs only about as much as a cantaloupe or a small pineapple, but crammed into that space is an electrically charged, lightning-fast biological machine with more processing power than the world's fastest supercomputer. Your mind-blowing brain is the command center for your physical functions, sensory systems, emotions, and thoughts, and even after centuries of studying it, scientists still have so much to learn and explore. The same is true for brains of other creatures, too. Brains vary a lot throughout the natural world, and their unique structures give animals abilities we just don't have. In this book, you'll get to know six animals with incredible brain-powered talents and dive into the science behind these superpowers. You'll also learn about some of the things that happen between your own ears. On top of meeting a tortoise that seems to defy death, a parrot that helps humans mentally heal, and a whale that has its own wild way of communicating, you'll also learn about the people who study these creatures and the strategies they use to try to uncover the brain's many secrets. Plus, you'll get to put your own mind to the test with activities at the end of each chapter. So put on your thinking cap and get ready to explore the animal kingdom's most extraordinary organ. Excerpted from Innovative Octopuses, Half-Brained Birds, and More Animals with Magnificent Minds by Christina Couch All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.