Great Myths of the Brain

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Praise for Great Myths of the Brain
3. Great Myths of Psychology
4. Title page
5. Copyright page
6. Dedication
7. Acknowledgments
8. Introduction
   1. The Urgent Need for Neuro Myth-Busting
   2. About This Book
   3. The Need for Humility
   4. A Primer on Basic Brain Anatomy, Techniques, and Terminology
9. 1 Defunct Myths
   1. Myth #1 Thought Resides in the Heart
   2. Myth #2 The Brain Pumps Animal Spirits Round the Body
   3. Myth #3 Brain Cells Join Together Forming a Huge Nerve Net
   4. Myth #4 Mental Function Resides in the Brain's Hollows
10. 2 Myth-Based Brain Practices
    1. Myth #5 Drilling a Hole in the Skull Releases Evil Spirits
    2. Myth #6 Personality Can Be Read in the Bumps on the Skull
    3. Myth #7 Mental Illness Can Be Cured by Disconnecting the Frontal Lobes
11. 3 Mythical Case Studies
    1. Myth #8 Brain Injury Turned Neuroscience's Most Famous Case into an Impulsive Brute
    2. Myth #9 The Faculty of Language Production Is Distributed Through the Brain
    3. Myth #10 Memory Is Distributed Throughout the Entire Cortex
12. 4 The Immortal Myths
    1. Myth #11 We only use ten percent of Our Brains
    2. Myth #12 Right-Brained People Are More Creative
    3. Myth #13 The Female Brain Is More Balanced (and Other Gender-Based Brain Myths)
    4. Myth #14 Adults Can't Grow New Brain Cells
    5. Myth #15 There's a God Spot in the Brain (and Other Lesser-Spotted Myths)
    6. Myth #16 Pregnant Women Lose Their Minds
    7. Myth #17 We All Need Eight Hours of Continuous Sleep (and Other Dozy Sleep Myths)
    8. Myth #18 The Brain Is a Computer
    9. Myth #19 The Mind Can Exist Outside of the Brain
    10. Myth #20 Neuroscience Is Transforming Human Self-Understanding
13. 5 Myths about the Physical Structure of the Brain
    1. Myth #21 The Brain Is Well Designed
    2. Myth #22 The Bigger the Brain, the Better
    3. Myth #23 You Have a Grandmother Cell
    4. Myth #24 Glial Cells Are Little More Than Brain Glue
    5. Myth #25 Mirror Neurons Make Us Human (and Broken Mirror Neurons Cause Autism)
    6. Myth #26 The Disembodied Brain
14. 6 Technology and Food Myths
    1. Myth #27 Brain Scans Can Read Your Mind
    2. Myth #28 Neurofeedback Will Bring You Bliss and Enlightenment
    3. Myth #29 Brain Training Will Make You Smart
    4. Myth #30 Brain Food Will Make You Even Smarter
    5. Myth #31 Google Will Make You Stupid, Mad, or Both
15. 7 Brain Myths Concerning Perception and Action
    1. Myth #32 The Brain Receives Information from Five Separate Senses
    2. Myth #33 The Brain Perceives the World As It Is
    3. Myth #34 The Brain's Representation of the Body Is Accurate and Stable
16. 8 Myths about Brain Disorder and Illness
    1. Myth #35 Brain Injury and Concussion Myths
    2. Myth #36 Amnesia Myths
    3. Myth #37 Coma Myths
    4. Myth #38 Epilepsy Myths
    5. Myth #39 Autism Myths
    6. Myth #40 Dementia Myths
    7. Myth #41 The Chemical Imbalance Myth of Mental Illness
17. Afterword
18. Index
19. Supplemental Images
20. End User License Agreement