Brain Sense: The Science of the Senses and How We Process the World Around Us

Complex and crucially important, the senses collect the massive amount
of information we need to navigate daily life, and serve as a filter
between our inner selves and the larger world. But the science of how
the senses work has been little understood—until now. New research is
rapidly uncovering fascinating insights into how the brain processes
sensory information. It’s not simply a matter of the brain controlling
the senses; the senses actually stimulate brain development. For
example, the brain’s sound-processing centers mature properly only when
sound impulses trigger them to do so—which is why cochlear implants are
best used before the age of three.

Brain Sense reveals this and a wealth of findings on how the
brain and senses interact, as it examines each of the five major senses:
touch, smell, taste, vision, and hearing. With eloquent writing and
gripping stories, the author deploys a rare gift for explaining complex
scientific ideas in a way that is clear and comprehensible. She
introduces the scientists at the forefront of “brain sense”
studies—neurologists, brain mappers, bio­chemists, physicians, cognitive
psychologists, and others—as well as real-life people who are
contributing to the research and benefiting from its practical
applications, such as haptic devices to assist people who have lost
limbs or rehabilitative software for those who have suffered impairments
to their motion vision. You’ll find new research that explains:

• Why placebos work by changing the way the brain processes pain

• How humans respond to pheromones in the same manner as other animals

• How taste is highly influenced by expectations of taste

• Why color significantly aids the ability to remember an object

• How the capacity for language is already at work in newborn babies

• What happens in the brain to produce sensory experiences such as déjà
vu and phantom limb pain

• And much more

Expansive and enlightening, Brain Sense shows us that the brain
is both flexible and variable, and the reality that we construct based
on inputs gathered from the senses differs from person to person. It
sheds a much-needed light on the elusive workings of the extraordinary
human brain.