A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain
by John J. Ratey

List Price: ~~$15.95~~
Our Price: $9.01
You Save: $6.94 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.29 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Compare Prices for A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: John J. Ratey
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2002-01-08
ISBN: 0375701079
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Vintage

Book Reviews of A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

Book Review: Definitely not a user's guide. It's much better than that
Summary: 5 Stars

The introduction to this book captivated me, where the author describes the plasticity and flexibility of the neuronal connections and the "reconnections" that can take place after brain injuries. This book is awe inspiring when talking about the marvelous mechanisms at play and the grandeur of our brains.

This was the first book on neurosciences that I read and it proved a very good and complete introduction to the topic. The book is extensive and covers a wide range of aspects. I would not regard it as a user's guide to the brain, since it definitely is not a "How to use your brain..." book. Advise and recommendations for the care of your brain are scarce and only to be found in the last chapters.

I would say that it is a comprehensive science book that outlines and summarizes the investigations done in neurosciences. I know too little on this subject to say this, but the topics that I have read in other books are covered at least briefly in this one. Starting with this book, you can read more detail on any brain function or process that you are interested in.

This book introduces perception and the 5 senses, attention and consciousness, memory (long and short lived), motion, mathematical and musical abilities, language, emotions, etc. along with several clinical cases in each section which lead to a better understanding of how the various parts of the brain work and interact.

It is a long and sometimes difficult to read book, but every bit of it is worth the effort.

Write your own review

All A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain Customer Reviews

Summary of A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

Before consulting with customer service, it's always a good idea to read the manual. Psychiatrist John Ratey has condensed years of research on one of the most intimidating yet ubiquitous pieces of hardware in the world into the ever-handy User's Guide to the Brain. More intellectually stimulating than day-to-day practical, the Guide uses tales from Ratey's practice and other clinical venues, tidbits from neuroscientific research, and plain common sense to suggest how the brain develops and manifests personality and behavior. With section titles like "Free Will and the Anterior Cingulate Gyrus," many readers will feel intimidated, but Ratey is careful to direct his explanations to all--even those without a PhD in neuroanatomy. His interesting four-theater theory of mental function is the most directly practical section of the book, incorporating the author's years of experience with patients into a sensible framework that readers can use to better tune their own systems. Describing the changing of the guard from psychoanalysis to a more biological paradigm, Ratey writes:

Neuroscientists have, in a sense, simply taken over the elite, almost clerical office once held by analysts. The language used to describe the brain is, if anything, more opaque than any of the old psychoanalytic terminology, which was itself so obscure that only trained professionals could wade through the literature. Most people never even bother to learn such terminology, deeming that, like the language of the computer scientists of the early 1970s, it is better left to the nerds.

Determined to help us overcome our sense of helplessness in matters cranial, Ratey has shown that we can understand ourselves better and can learn quite a bit from the nerds. --Rob Lightner

John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives.

In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.

Bringing order and relevance to the cascade of recent brain-search findings, the author makes clear how the brain responds to the guidance of the user.

General Books

Book Subjects

Most talked about in Terry Matlen's Top ADHD Book Choices

1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 (123 Magic)
by Thomas W. Phelan
Parentmagic, Inc.; Published: 2004-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.21
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Living With ADD: A Workbook for Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder
by M. Susan Roberts, Gerard J. Jansen
New Harbinger Publications; Published: 1997-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.86
Price in other shops: ~~$21.95~~

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (The Latest Assessment and Treatment Strategies)
by C. Keith, Ph.D. Conners, Juliet L. Jett
Compact Clinicals; Published: 1999-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Understanding Women With AD/ HD
by Kathleen G. Nadeau
Advantage Books; Published: 2002-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.47
Price in other shops: ~~$24.95~~

10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD: How to Overcome Chronic Distraction & Accomplish Your Goals (10 Simple Solutions)
by Stephanie Sarkis
New Harbinger Publications; Published: 2006-01-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.29
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

How To Reach And Teach Children with ADD/ ADHD: Practical Techniques, Strategies, and Interventions
by Sandra F., M.A. Rief
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2005-03-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops: ~~$32.95~~

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adult ADHD: An Integrative Psychosocial and Medical Approach (Practical Clinical Guidebooks)
by J. Russell Ramsay, Anthony L. Rostain
Routledge; Published: 2007-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.87
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD
by Daniel G. Amen
Berkley Trade; Published: 2002-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: ~~$15.95~~

Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals
by Dorothy Lehmkuhl
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1993-12-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults, 4th Edition: A Different Way of Thinking
by Lynn Weiss
Taylor Trade Publishing; Published: 2005-11-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.31
Price in other shops: ~~$16.95~~

Similar Books and other products

The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life
by Joseph Ledoux
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1998-03-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: ~~$15.00~~

Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work
by David Rock
Collins; Published: 2006-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.75
Price in other shops: ~~$23.95~~

The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind
by Elkhonon Goldberg
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2002-12-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: ~~$19.95~~

Mapping the Mind
by Rita Carter
University of California Press; Published: 2000-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops: ~~$25.95~~

Shadow Syndromes: The Mild Forms of Major Mental Disorders That Sabotage Us
by John J. Ratey
Bantam; Published: 1998-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.85
Price in other shops: ~~$16.00~~

Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves
by Sharon Begley
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-11-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)
by Norman Doidge
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-12-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops: ~~$16.00~~

The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force
by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Sharon Begley
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.55
Price in other shops: ~~$16.95~~

Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are
by Joseph LeDoux
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.37
Price in other shops: ~~$17.00~~

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
by John J. Ratey
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-01-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.48
Price in other shops: ~~$24.99~~