Brain Wars: The Book Report
The Scientific Battle over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof that Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives
Author: Mario Beauregard, Ph.D., Associate Research Professor in the Departments of Psychology, Radiology and Neuroscience Research at the University of Montreal. Dr. Beauregard has studied the distinctions between mind, brain, and consciousness for almost 30 years.
Publisher: HarperOne 2012. Hardback; jacket price $26.95US. 214 pages exclusive of notes and index; 250 total.
Author's stated purpose: The author's central thesis is that "[m]ental activity is not the same as brain activity[.]" That is, there is a mind separate from the brain, and our human experience is more than the currently known state of so-called exterior reality.
Discussion: Dr. Beauregard reprises the metaphysical searching for the scientific and factual basis our of human experience. As humans, we experience our internal reality as something more than our physiology, but does this "something more" come from our interpretation of our physiology, or is there really "something more" to us? We know that we have brains, that health and circumstances can influence our brain power, but we also know that that our minds likewise can influence both our health and our circumstances. Dr. Beauregard includes examples of mind control in areas of the placebo/nocebo effect (the best explanation I have seen), neuroplasicity, near-death and mystical experience. Includes descriptions of research in individual cases.
Rating: Readability: Professional/conversational. Achievement of purpose: Achieved. Recommentation
